Insulation for Fermenting Cupboard

[FutureBrewer]

So, here's the plan:

I've commandeered one of the kitchen units to convert into a temperature controlled fermenting cupboard. I've read a few posts here and Kingspan panels seem to be the weapon of choice for insulation - but, it's 1. pricey and 2. comes in BIG panels so I'd waste most of it.

What about cutting up (cheaper) camping mats and sticking them to the inside of the cupboard?

Or is that daft?

Comments welcomed!

FB.

[Kev888]

No not daft, perhaps less easy being curly rather than flat and rigid but I'm sure you could manage.

Though to get the same level of insulation as kingspan or celotex you'd need a similar thickness of good quality closed cell foam mats (I believe their performance is in the same ball-park), so the price may not actually be less unless you were happy with less insulating effect. Which you may be, of course - even one mat will do something useful, and much of the loss could be through the gaps around the door anyway, unless you can seal it well.

Cheers
kev

[FutureBrewer]

Good points Kev...

If I'm going to the expense of heater & thermostat, probably best not to scrimp on the insulation really...

FB.

[haz66]

You could also use thick polystyrene as that is a good insulator,just a thought as its quite cheap compared to kingspan.

[BrewingAgain]

Try Wickes. They have polystyrene insulation panels which are much cheaper than Kingspan/Celotex. Ok, they won't have the same insulation properties as Kingspan/Celotex but they'll do the job. You could buy a 2400x1200x25mm sheet and cut it so you double or treble it up and have 50mm, 75mm, 100mm etc of insulation thickness.

[Russ]

You might also look at Jewson's
Sure they do 8' x 4' x 1'' or 2'' thick sheets for less than a tenner a go (or did last time I got some) It might be even cheaper in a decent builders merchants!

I've also seen some stuff similar to celotex in B&Q recently that might be OK, stock just inready fror the winter .....

I saw a sheet of 8 x 4 Celotex in a local skip recently nearly stopped to fish it out but didn't need it or have room to store it so I left it I often see offcuts round building sites, so get scrounging

Cheers

Russ

[FutureBrewer]

Hi all,

Thanks for the good advice, I'll let you know how I get on...

Cheers,
FB.

[FutureBrewer]

Here's the result:


An unsuspecting kitchen unit

After the good advice from forum members, I had a mooch around Wickes and found some Celotex Cavity Wall panels for a fiver each -

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Celotex-Cavity- ... nvt/190546

Bought 3 and chopped 'em up...


Measured and chopped

Thought it was best to reuse the cupboard shelf so the fermenter has a sold base to sit on, so I put a layer of Celotex underneath and fixed a 60W tube heater to it.


Shelf, Celotex layer & heater

I used some foil tape to seal the joins and neaten the edges...


Almost done!

I've since put Celotex on the door too, which seals the chamber nicely...

I bought a STC 1000 from Ebay due to their popularity on this forum - and because the ATC 800+ is a bit too pricey
It's the first time I've risked buying something from a Hong Kong seller, but it arrived safely!


Electronic thingy

Checked out other forum posts and stole ideas from knowledgeable members to put this together:


It's alive!

I'm testing it with a fermenter full of water at the moment, with a thermometer probe in the liquid and the STC 1000 sensor taped halfway down the outside of the vessel.

Great?

Well, since finishing it, I've realised I have no practical way of keeping it cool when the summer arrives... Should I have just gone with converting a larder fridge instead? Probably...

Depressed now...

Cheers,
FB.

[Kev888]

Looks good, very smart indeed - stealth fermenting in the kitchen!!

You may find that you don't need to cool it for much of the year, or any if the kitchen is reasonably stable in temperature. The FV has so much thermal mass that it irons out the peaks and troughs in temperature to a degree, particularly if well insulated, so you could almost get an average between night and daytime temperatures. In the summer if things got too hot maybe you could help bias that by opening the door at night and closing it in the day. My klitchen gets unbearable, and even in there my FV fridge didn't need to do very much over summer.

Cheers
Kev

[FutureBrewer]

Cheers Kev, you're a good 'un...



Testing with a fermenter full of water has set my mind at ease... looking really steady temperature-wise.

What I REALLY should do is a get a brew on...

I can faff around for Britain, me

Cheers,
FB.

[awalker]

Well, since finishing it, I've realised I have no practical way of keeping it cool when the summer arrives... Should I have just gone with converting a larder fridge instead? Probably...

Depressed now...

Cheers,
FB.

Dont be, I am sure you will get some good use out of it for about 2/3 rds of the year in this country.

[Jim]

Nice job!

[Dribble]

Hi guys,

Sorry to hijack this thread but I was so impressed with the fermenting cupboard you've made and the ease with which you've DIYed it that I'm just investigating into building a similar setup myself. I've got an old bit of furniture kicking around not really doing anything which I'm going to convert, just ordered myself one of those temp controllers from Hong Kong, got some kingspan insulation hanging around too which will be perfect for this project and I'll be buying a 60w tube heater like the one in the setup detailed here.

After taking some measurements it seems I may have run into a little problem. Basically, once the insulation is fixed in the cupboard it is literally only just deep enough to fit an FV inside (depth of cupboard will be 34cm and diameter of FV is 32cm). This will make mounting my tube heater to the bottom of the cupboard (as in the setup detailed in this thread) impossible as the FV then won't fit inside.

However, there would be enough space to mount the heater to the top/ceiling or to one of the sides. Obviously fixing the heater to the bottom of the cupboard would be preferable due to heat rising (damn physics!), but if that can't happen do you think there would be any issues with fixing it to the top or side or would it be ok?

[Kev888]

Hi,

You 'could' fix it to the top or side, as you say its less thin ideal but convection will help out. If you have a small PC fan and a low voltage power supply (those built into the plug would be ideal) then you could help to circulate the air with that to boost natural convection too.

An alternative is to have the heater at the bottom and have the FV sat on a slotted shelf over it - fine if your heater is drip proof. Many people using converted fridges do this, as there's usually limited space in those too, plus a step in the base that the FV has to sit above anyway.

Cheers
Kev

[JontyR]

Could you cut a heater tube sized slot in the insulation on the base of the cupboard and sit the tube in that so the top of the tube is flush with the top of the insulation?