Question about finding a mini-fridge for Fermentation Chamber

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rjthomas21

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I'm in the market for a mini-fridge for a fermentation chamber and one of the things I’ve read about was making sure to get a fridge with the coils on the back if you want to box the sides of the fridge in (to help dissipate the heat easily). The only fridges I’ve seen with the coils on the back seem to be older models, the new ones I can’t see any exposed coils. My question is, when I can’t see coils layered directly on the back, does that mean that they are located around the sides of the fridge? Or is there a better way to tell where the coils are?

Also, if the coils are on the side of the fridge can I adapt the fermentation chamber to accept the fridge? Would putting a vent on the side and maybe a computer fan help keep the box from becoming too hot and stressing the compressor on the fridge?
 
If you can't discover where the coils are, then just build the chamber off the front of the fridge.
 
I was planning to build the chamber off the front but wanted to cover the rest of the refrigerator with the wood to make it look like one solid piece. I need to try and design it to be less of an eye-sore.
 
The "skin" of the refrigerator is the heat sink for the compressor. If you want to hide you will want to build a frame around and leave an air gap and a way for the hot air to escape somewhere.
 
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