Tryin to get those extra couple degree lower...

[kdagostino]

So I have a wine fridge with a temp range of 45-65 with the Jamil Pilsner fermenting as we speak, and was originally planning on lagering at 40 degrees. I have read a lot about swamp coolers, wet t shirts, fans and evaporative cooling and was wondering if anyone has put a wet t shirt around their carboy in a fridge to acheive a lower temp and with what results.
I would love to get it around 35 degrees and was hoping this would get me pretty close. Any thoughts?

 

[jro238]

Interesting idea. Refrigerators definitely dehumidify which would increase evaporation. Maybe put a little desk fan in there to blow on it too? I don't think you would get 10 degrees from it, but maybe a few more.

 

[webby45wr]

You can also look for the temperature set screw on the wine fridge and adjust it. This thread talks a lot about it for various freezers, but I was able to find the screw on a wine fridge and turn the temp down. I got it so low, it was freezing things. The downside is you have to play a lot. Adjust the screw, put a thermometer in there and come back in a few hours.

Or, you could get an external temp. controller like the STC-1000 and use that.

 

[zachattack]

Or, you could get an external temp. controller like the STC-1000 and use that.

If OP's hitting the bottom range of the factory thermostat, he'd need to hard-wire the controller to the compressor to bypass the thermostat completely. But this isn't too hard to do. There are a couple nice build threads if you look around.

 

[zachattack]

Here's one:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/vissani-fermentation-chamber-290663/

 

[jro238]

rofl...in all my excitement to talk about evaporation and desk fans inside of a refrigerator I didn't even think about just adjusting the screw or installing an external temp controller. Yeah....those are probably better ideas