Using a fridge/freezer combo for lagering

[BrewSteve]

I have been doing a bunch of searching on this website looking for how to wire up a temperature controller for a refrigerator/freezer combo.

It seems like most people that do a temp controller use a freezer, not a fridge/freezer. Is there any reason for this, or am I just not searching hard enough?

My buddy has a few temperature controllers laying around, so it shouldn't be too hard, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't something I was missing making this modification to a refrigerator/freezer.

 

[Catt22]

Either a fridge or a freezer will work. Some refrigerators are limited in how low they can go, but most of the older ones are not. First try setting the fridge thermostat to its lowest setting and see if that gets you low enough. If it won't go low enough just bypass the internal stock thermostat. IOW, remove it from the circuit altogether. You can do this with most of them by simply cutting and splicing the wires to the thermostat. This will cause the compressor to run continuously which you will over ride with an external controller. A freezer would be my preference for lagering, mostly as I think they are better insulated and more economical to operate. I don't know that for certain though; just a guess on my part.

 

[BrewSteve]

Well, I set the fridge thermostat to the coldest setting and my thermometer reads 29 degrees. Should be cold enough.

Finishing up the temperature control, I'll post pics when it's done.