Temperature Control

[mozza]

Can't fit a fridge or freezer in our spare room (the misses has categorically said no!) so a brew fridge is sadly out of the question.

Has anyone used a peltier system successfully? Something like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282052300395

The coolest part of the house is usually about 18 degrees so would like to have the ability to cool the FV down to about 15 degrees during fermentation or at least stop it getting much over room temperature.

Sorry if it's been asked before but I couldn't find much on here!

Cheers,

Sam

[IPA]

Can't fit a fridge or freezer in our spare room (the misses has categorically said no!) so a brew fridge is sadly out of the question.

Has anyone used a peltier system successfully? Something like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282052300395

The coolest part of the house is usually about 18 degrees so would like to have the ability to cool the FV down to about 15 degrees during fermentation or at least stop it getting much over room temperature.

Sorry if it's been asked before but I couldn't find much on here!

Cheers,

Sam

Thats what they use on cool boxes for picnics. I doubt that it will be up to the job of cooling an FV. Another solution would be to sort out which half of the house is yours and install a brew fridge in it.

[mozza]

Can't fit a fridge or freezer in our spare room (the misses has categorically said no!) so a brew fridge is sadly out of the question.

Has anyone used a peltier system successfully? Something like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282052300395

The coolest part of the house is usually about 18 degrees so would like to have the ability to cool the FV down to about 15 degrees during fermentation or at least stop it getting much over room temperature.

Sorry if it's been asked before but I couldn't find much on here!

Cheers,

Sam

Another solution would be to sort out which half of the house is yours and install a brew fridge in it.

That's a very dangerous line of conversation... I'm already in her bad books with my recent upgrade

[Fil]

If your brewery left you how many pints would the Mrs provide you with as consolation ?? IS THE WRONG WAY TO THINK ABOUT THINGS!!!! - Bad Fil!!

However what would be a much better plan would be to sus a brew that the Mrs will Lurve almost as much as complaining ( Whoops mustn't let my history colour the plan!!) Then you can NEED the brewfridge to brew that particular tipple for her.

Meanwhile some folk have had good results using a sealed insulated bag or box into which a daily exchange of hot or cold water bottles can help manage a brews temp. Also a couple of pet bottles of water in the freezer may become a bit of a nuisance after a while too

aim for a win/win solution

[Wonkydonkey]

I've used a cool box lid on the side on an insulted box I had to make. It worked for a while and was a bit noisy with the fan.then after using it to heat instead of cooling, some thing happened (Thermo paste dried or whatever) it just did not cool.
So in the end I just got on and did what I should have done in the first place.
Which would have saved me time and money. And that was, get a free fridge off of freecycle or any other free/cheap place and get an stc1000 or inkbird and of coarse a computer fan and an old phone charger to circulate to air inside the fridge.
Now I'm a happy brewer

And if you can't have a fridge in the house, get a shed in the garden

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

Meanwhile some folk have had good results using a sealed insulated bag or box into which a daily exchange of hot or cold water bottles can help manage a brews temp. Also a couple of pet bottles of water in the freezer may become a bit of a nuisance after a while too

aim for a win/win solution

I had very effective temp control on a pale ale using that method.



Changing coolant becomes a pain, and you can't crash cool that way, but it kept fermentation temps dead stable

[Kev888]

IIRC, for space reasons Gregorach (Dunc) also used a cool box of iced water to recirculate around the FV with an aquarium pump. The water was cooled by bottles of frozen water which he would swap a couple of times a day.

If you could fit a maxi110 beer cooler in the room, to automatically produce recirculated coolant, then that would be even better. They are essentially the workings of a fridge but cool a compact water bath instead of a big box. BUT they do have fans (to keep the radiator small) and pumps to recirculate the coolant - so are somewhat noisy compared to a fridge which may rule them out in some bedroom situations.

TEC/peltier based systems are certainly possible - there are commercial offerings (at a price) from a few manufacturers like more-beer and stout-tanks for their conical fermenters. A few DIY versions exist, too (Naich made an early one, one some years back), but these things are very inefficient and so quite tricky to get working very well. I doubt that small ebay one would be very brilliant, though it may be enough - but as it stands that one cools air, so an enclosure may still be needed (in which case a fridge may as well be used, and would be far better).

[AnthonyUK]

I had very effective temp control on a pale ale using that method

I've got a feeling that if a woman won't allow a fridge then she'd probably not go for this

[mozza]

Cheers for the replies!

Will I've been gently pushing the idea of a fridge and made some progress the other day when I suggested I have our undercounter fridge for brewing and she can have a new fridge freezer!

Wish me luck!

[mozza]

She must want something because the misses has now said that I can make a proper kegerator with our old fridge. I'm thinking of covering it in wood / cladding and fitting a couple of taps so that when it's not in use fermenting I can have nice cold beer on tap.
Stupid question, because the fridge will live in the house which it always hot, do I need a tube heater in the bottom? Surely i can get away with the fridge kicking in when needed to keep it cool?

[bottles]

I don't know a lot. But you will probably need some heat (eventually) to control temp within a degree or so with your stc1000. I've recently set up my brew fridge in the shed. For heat I've used an old incandescent light with a 60watt bulb. Which seems to work ok as the temp is very stable. With no heater the fluctuations in heat maybe greater but should never go over your max temp.
My first attempt at fermentation control was putting the keg into a large bucket of water with a fish tank heater connected to the stc 1000. Worked ok till the heater stopped.
Andrew

[tourer]

She must want something because the misses has now said that I can make a proper kegerator with our old fridge. I'm thinking of covering it in wood / cladding and fitting a couple of taps so that when it's not in use fermenting I can have nice cold beer on tap.
Stupid question, because the fridge will live in the house which it always hot, do I need a tube heater in the bottom? Surely i can get away with the fridge kicking in when needed to keep it cool?

mozza, i think you'll find it's us men who think it's hot. Anyway it cools down at night so you may need a heater.

[Matt in Birdham]

I had very effective temp control on a pale ale using that method

I've got a feeling that if a woman won't allow a fridge then she'd probably not go for this

On the other hand, it's probably the ideal "solution" because after a few weeks of that she'll be begging him to just put a fridge in there

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

Yup. That plan worked for me.

[mozza]

Been tinkering away this weekend and the kegerator is getting there slowly! Managed to get a load of reclaimed timber at a good price.


Need to fit some hinges for the doors and then sand down the boards for the worktop