Deep Freezer for Temp Control

Contemplating buying a deep/chest freezer to house my fermentation vessels. Figured it's time I paid more attention to fermentation temperatures. My only concerns before I drop the money is: is this a suitable method? I read somewhere that since a freezer is meant to maintain very cold temps, when coupled with a regulator its turning on and off too frequently, wearing out the compressor. Also, what would be the next best solution? ie. cheap, DIY. Thanks for any help!

There was a thread here a few weeks back about a similar question and a guy who works repairing freezers and compressors and all that stuff said basically using it for a fermentation chamber is actually better for the compressor then keeping stuff frozen all the time. If i can find it i'll edit this post for ya.

You can also normally save alot of $$$ by scoping out craigslist or hitting up lowes/home depot for open box deals and sales.

What type of room do you have? My suggestion would be to get a dorm fridge and construct something to house your vessels. Can insulate it and make it the right size you need. Not sure if thats possible or not, but it would be less stress than trying to lift the full carboys out of the chest freezer all the time. Just a thought

Fast on/off/on cycling is bad for any compressor but using a freezer for a fermentation chamber would not be bad as you will not need the extreme cold temperature and you will put the sensor for the controller on the fermenter so it will turn on and stay on while the temperature of the beer goes down that amount that you set the offset for, then turn off while the beer slowly warms up again. Since this should take some time, the cycling is minimal.

It will certainly work, but is HUGE.

Inevitably, you will be using the thing for kegs, and will wish you had gotten a bigger one.

I bought a small, about 5 cubic ft, chest freezer of craigslist for $40. I added a 1 foot tall collar so that the carboy would fit with an air lock on it. I think this size is probably a little small. A 6 gallon Better Bottle will not fit down into the hole next to the compressor hump. I had to build a shelf in it. This works okay. The freezer will hold two 6 gallon Better Bottles and a blow off bottle.

I found myself today looking through craigslist for freezers. I guess what I'm trying to say is get one big enough the first time.

As far as lifting a full carboy out of it, a brew hauler works pretty well. I also did not attach the collar so when it comes time to remove a carboy, I just set the lid off to the side, remove the collar, and lift the carboy out. Not a big deal.

Does anyone know what a suitable cycle time is for a chest freezer?

AustinBrewDawg said:

Does anyone know what a suitable cycle time is for a chest freezer?

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What do you mean?

AustinBrewDawg said:

Does anyone know what a suitable cycle time is for a chest freezer?

Click to expand...

"Suitable" may not be the definitive term, but a minimum of 15 minutes between on cycles is pretty safe for the compressor, and longer is better for your pocketbook.

Hysteresis in the thermostat function is key: don't just hang a temperature probe in free air, as that provides minimal hysteresis. Either couple it directly to a fermentation vessel (via thermowell, or strapped and insulated to the side) or do something similar with a good size vessel of water (ie: not just a drinking glass)...

Cheers!