Upright Freezer or DIY Glycol for Texas Heat??

[Nagorg]

Hey folks! I have a Half Barrel Chronical BME which comes with an internal chiller coil. This thing also has what amounts to a fitted koozie that slips over the outside of it.

I need to keep temperatures in check and while the internal chiller coil seems neat, I'm doubtful that it will be able to deal with temps in my garage during the Texas summer. The ambient temp can get around 120 or more depending on the day.

My gut tells me to get an upright freezer and forget about the chiller coil. Looking for input from folks that may have better info than what I can find in the interwebs...

Thoughts on how to best control temps with this thing considering the high ambient temp?

 

[Rockn_M]

I have a chest freezer with an stc-1000 in my Texas garage. I've had this setup for about 3 years without any problems. I would also think about the winter temps as well. There are a few days some years that the temps get in the 30s in my garage. With the stc-1000 you can add a heat source as well.

 

[Nagorg]

Thanks Rockin_M. I should have said that I have been using a smaller upright freezer and I know that works. But, my Chronical would need a bigger one than what I have. So, I'm contemplating trying to use the chiller coil but I'm not convinced it will do the trick considering how it can get.

 

[JonW]

With that kind of heat, I think a freezer might be better. I use jacketed conicals in my garage with glycol and while my setup works well, I only see temps in the 80's. Even with that, I get a lot of sweat on the plumbing and components. I'm sure you can make it work, but a freezer seems like it would work better for that setup.

 

[Nagorg]

Alright... I guess the glycol route may be better suited for less extreme temps. I was just hoping for some guidelines like "glycol is good for keeping things ~20 degrees below ambient temp" or the sort if they exist. Perhaps it's just not that simple and there are many factors to consider.

For example, I can think of at least one Texas brewery that I've visited where their fermentor is out in a non-climate controlled warehouse. Maybe that works for them because of its size, jacket design and glycol system that's likely more efficient than something I may cobble together for a 15G conical.

Anyway, I just seem to have a hard time finding information on this topic and see plenty of references,like JonW's, where ambient temp is much lower than what I will face.

Guess I'll stay the path of finding a larger upright freezer on the cheap!

 

[Toejam792]

I would think if you add insulation around it there should be no reason glycol wouldn't work. Whats the diffrence between that and winter camping, you can be comfortable in sub-zero temps with the right gear. I could see the sweating being an issue though.

 

[augiedoggy]

With that kind of heat, I think a freezer might be better. I use jacketed conicals in my garage with glycol and while my setup works well, I only see temps in the 80's. Even with that, I get a lot of sweat on the plumbing and components. I'm sure you can make it work, but a freezer seems like it would work better for that setup.

I used cheap pipe insulation to stop the sweating in my setup which is in a spare bedroom with no AC. I control 3 conicals with one chiller with room for one more... and it runs about as much as the wine fridge I converted to a kegerator so... do have heating pads as well since I use stc1000+ units.

 

[Nagorg]

I used cheap pipe insulation to stop the sweating in my setup which is in a spare bedroom with no AC. I control 3 conicals with one chiller with room for one more... and it runs about as much as the wine fridge I converted to a kegerator so... do have heating pads as well since I use stc1000+ units.

What type of ambient temps are you dealing with?

 

[augiedoggy]

What type of ambient temps are you dealing with?

It was towards the end of the summer.. Still temps in the 80s.. Had bad sweating until I insulated my conical and the plumbing... I use a pvc manifold which is covered in the slip on foam noodles.. Also have the adhesive backed wrap. I use 2 layers of double bubble foil faced insulation for the conicals .. It works very well.

 

[Nagorg]

Thanks AugieDoggy! Yet another reference to what I'd consider mild ambient temps (compared to Texas) and glycol usage.

 

[iijakii]

I don't see why you wouldn't be fine with higher ambient temps, provided your glycol chiller was up to the task. When I was testing my setup it was maybe 80F outside, once again not hot, but I froze water in my conical accidentally when I was testing out how it cold-crashed. Barely had to cycle on.

But if this is just one conical and you don't have plans to get more, I'd go with the freezer. It'll wind up cheaper and way easier.

 

[JonW]

Ditto iijackii comments regarding if it is just one...go with the freezer. If it is more than one fermenter, then glycol becomes more reasonable. A couple of additional reasons I suggested the freezer over the glycol include the fact that you have to chill the glycol in a cooler and that ends up warming pretty fast in the high temps, thus your AC unit will run a lot to keep the bath cold even if your fermenter doesn't need more chilling at that moment. You also need two temp controllers - one to monitor the glycol bath temp and one to monitor the fermenter temp. Additionally, since you're using a coil inside the fermenter, those are a lot less efficient than a jacketed fermenter. If you go to 2+ fermenters and they're jacketed, then go glycol. For now though, you'll make out much easier with a freezer.

 

[Nagorg]

Thanks for confirming what my thoughts have been aligned with.
Anyone know of a ~20cf upright freezer for sale in the DFW area on the cheap? Lol