yab Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Hi all, I might be upgrading my fridge and will potentially look at converting my current fridge to a brew fridge with temperature control. The most likely place I could locate this fridge is very hot in summer and very cold in winter, at least over night. Will this have any impact on the potential to use this fridge as a brew fridge or power consumption in doing so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olemate Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I reckon the poor old fridge will be working it's guts out in summer and same with the heat pad/belt in winter (with power bill to suit). Perhaps, if you are stuck with that position, some sort of reflective foil, such as an emergency blanket, positioned just so, could help reflect some of the heat. If it an older fridge with the radiator elements on the back, maybe you could put some insulation batts around the main part of the fridge. If it's one of the new fangled fridges with the internal condenser panels it's much more difficult. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worthog Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 The fridge will not work overly hard in summer while controlled to ferment at 18c or 12c. My shed gets to 40c+ at times. In winter it will probably work very little. It is well insulated so your 25W heat belt will not work that hard either. On the other hand my cold crash fridge works hard for the initial 2 days to get brew down to 0-1c. In really hot weather I allow it 3-4 days to get down simply by adjusting the fridges internal controller - I don't use inkbird for CC. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John304 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 like warthog said, the fridge wouldn't be over worked at those temps, mine is also in the garage, keeps up with no problems, in fact I have noticed the heat mat come on during the day, good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yab Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 Forgive my lack of knowledge, but would I need a heat pad in addition to the temperature controller? I live in Canberra, so it does drop well below zero regularly in winter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John304 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 either heat mat or heat belt would be an advantage in winter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porschemad911 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 14 minutes ago, yab said: Forgive my lack of knowledge, but would I need a heat pad in addition to the temperature controller? I live in Canberra, so it does drop well below zero regularly in winter... Yab, if you want it I have a heat pad I don't use. I'm in Canberra too. PM me if you're interested. Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Yeah it shouldn't use too much power keeping it at 18-20 for ales or 10-12 for lagers. Bear in mind, you would normally tape the temp probe to the fermenter underneath foam of some sort so it measures and controls the brew temp. The brew temp doesn't move quickly. For cold crashing if you do it, it would obviously have to work harder in the hotter temps to initially get it down but it should be ok once it does. Mine is out in the patio area now and it can get quite hot under it if there's no breeze. Fridge has no trouble though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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