Evaporation cooling for fermenter

[Hogarth]

I came home yesterday to find my latest batch fermenting at 21°C, which is higher than I'd like. I thought I'd try the 'wet sheet and fan' approach. Here's a couple of pics.

The sheet, and a spray bottle of water to keep it wet. (Twice a day seems enough)


The computer fan is mounted towards the back of the cabinet, near the top.


It's controlled by the alarm output of my PID. I've set it to trigger at 19.5°C.


The door of the cabinet is kept slightly ajar, and the fan (which extracts) keeps a nice breeze flowing through.

It seems to work well. Last night it dropped by the temperature of the beer by 2°C in two hours, which is respectable. And when the fan stops, the temperature stabilizes. It'll be interesting to see how it fares when the temperatures really soar.

Anyway, just thought I'd share it with you.

[edit1now]

Excellent. Are you going to automate the sheet-dampening? You could modify one of those Airwick or Glade dispensers which squirt automatically every 15 minutes. Squirt clean water, of course, not nasty niffs.

[Hogarth]

Now there's a thought! Can't have too much automation, I always say.

Actually I was considering a wick system -- a bucket of water sitting on top of the cabinet and strips of cloth leading down to various points of the sheet. But to be honest, giving it a squirt with the bottle takes about a minute. Perhaps if the weather gets really hot and I find myself doing it every half hour I'll have a rethink.

[crafty john]

Nice idea

[Chiltern Brewer]

How about connecting the fan to a insulated chamber full of ice packs so that you draw colder than ambient air in?

[Hogarth]

Ice packs are a possibility if it gets really hot. On a muggy day they might have the added benefit of dehumidifying the air a little before it enters the cabinet, which would increase the evaporation effect.

[edit1now]

HG - why don't you use the beer line chiller from outside Argos? Have you still got it it?

[Hogarth]

I have. It didn't seem worth hooking it up just to drop the temperature by a couple of degrees. I'm saving it for more heavy-duty stuff. Plus, it makes an 'orrible noise.