fermentation fridge, when not fermenting

[Tarpon87]

Hopefully right place for this. I ferment in a 7 cu ft chest freezer controlled by an inkbird 308 and heated with a seedling mat. When you don't have anything in your fermentation chamber, what temp do you leave it at? Mine sits in my garage that is not climate controlled, I usually just leave it at whatever temp I last had beer in it at, but Im wondering if it would be better to set the temp lower closer to freezing temp or maybe just unplug it all together or does it not matter? Concerned about shortening the lifespan of the freezer and/or mold growth.

 

[mongoose33]

I use refrigerators for my ferm chambers. When not in use I turn them off and crack the doors a bit so they don't get funky inside.

My keezer, a 7.x cu ft freezer, consumes about .55 kilowatt hours per day to keep cold. I pay 11.67 cents per KWH, so I pay about 6.4 cents per day in electricity to keep my beer cold in there. Or just under $2/month.

You'd pay about the same whether it's full or empty, except when empty it's going to cycle a lot more. If it were going to be empty for an extended period, I'd save the money. If I have beers cycling in and out of my ferm chambers, I usually just leave them running. If off for a week or more, generally turn them off and crack the doors open.

 

[Tarpon87]

Thanks I usually go about 6-8 weeks between brews so I will try shutting it off and keeping the lid cracked.