What to do with: Portable A/C Unit?

[geordiey]

(First post!)
Greetings, brew family. I'm a long-time lurker, and have been homebrewing off and on for ~7 years. I am currently back into it, and more serious than ever. Recently I acquired 2 portable A/C Units for free from a law firm that was moving locations from an ancient building w/ no A/C to a brand new building, and didn't need them anymore. I'm gifting one to my brother, and keeping 1 to play with.

What can I do with this bad boy? Fermentation chamber (I live in Florida and brew in my garage, so typically I have to bring my fermenter(s) into the house to ferment)? Some sort of Kegerator?

I have a window-rattler A/C Unit out there and use a floor-fan to point it directly at wherever I'm working, so I'd like to put this one to a different use.

Thanks in advance, and cheers!

P.S.

I'm at work, so can't currently get the model or BTU information, but I will when I get home.

 

[bleme]

One of the guys in my homebrew club uses one for a walk-in fermentation chamber. I've seen several builds of those on here as well. I also remember seeing one where someone closed off and insulated under their garage work bench, making room for several fermentors.

It would be a pain to use it for kegerator temps though.

 

[geordiey]

One of the guys in my homebrew club uses one for a walk-in fermentation chamber.

That's not a bad idea. I hadn't really considered walk-in size.

It would be a pain to use it for kegerator temps though.

I was thinking I'd need a Coolbot, but for that price I could just find a chest freezer on craigslist and convert it to a keezer and end up with a more efficient and portable unit.



Now that you mention it, my garage might be very well suited for a walk-in fermentation chamber where the window-rattler A/C unit is. I could just use the portable for keeping myself cool (I'll just have to make sure the ducts are long enough runs out and in from the window bracket to keep it mobile). On my side of the 4-car garage (the garage is nearly the size of our house - the 2nd half was added on by the previous owner who was a car guy), there's an extended area where the ceiling slopes down. Maybe I can enclose the corner where the A/C unit already exists, and add a controller to that A/C unit to control temps in a Ferm Chamber. I drew up what I'm talking about -- thoughts?

 

[milldoggy]

Could convert to glycol chiller and go with a jacketed conical

 

[atoughram]

Do the AC Units have mechanical control (Dials and switches) or Digital Controls - if they are mechanical, the really Coolbot isnt necessary.

You could use two STC-1000's to control it - one for room temperature and one for the freezestat to keep the evap coils from freezing over.

You wire it to control the compressor and fan directly from the STC and bypass the existing controls. My ferm chamber is wired this way and works great, I'm using a Brewpi for temperature control and a STC for the freezestat.

 

[geordiey]

Do the AC Units have mechanical control (Dials and switches) or Digital Controls - if they are mechanical, the really Coolbot isnt necessary.

The window-rattler is mechanical. The portable A/C unit is digital.

You could use two STC-1000's to control it - one for room temperature and one for the freezestat to keep the evap coils from freezing over. My ferm chamber is wired this way and works great, I'm using a Brewpi for temperature control and a STC for the freezestat.

Can you do lager temps with yours? I'm guessing that's where the 2nd STC is required for the freezestat. I'm in Florida, so humidity is definitely a factor as well for keeping the unit from freezing up. Also, how many CF are you servicing, and how many BTU's is your unit?

 

[geordiey]

Could convert to glycol chiller and go with a jacketed conical

I'm looking for more economical leaps in my brew technology than a jacketed, conical fermenter. Currently I'm using the Speidel plastic fermenters, and they work quite nicely. I imagine I'll want to punch a thermowell into the primary if I go the fermentation chamber route, but that would be a lot cheaper than stainless, jacketed conicals + a glycol unit, DIY or not!

I should mention to you kind gentlemen that I'm imminently going to be a first-time father (due date is Wednesday), so it's hard for me to justify spending money on more than small electronics, 2x4's, and insulation.

 

[Homercidal]

2x4 or 2x6 frame, some insulation, and the AC unit and build a small room for your fermentors. I acquired a small AC unit from an old CNC machine we were scrapping out. Never made a ferm chamber with it, though, as the freezers I got were more efficient in energy and space for my needs. By the time I bought the lumber and insulation I was nearly at the price of a CL freezer.

 

[atoughram]

The window-rattler is mechanical. The portable A/C unit is digital.


Can you do lager temps with yours? I'm guessing that's where the 2nd STC is required for the freezestat. I'm in Florida, so humidity is definitely a factor as well for keeping the unit from freezing up. Also, how many CF are you servicing, and how many BTU's is your unit?

Depends on the outside temperature (In my garage) 40f is doable and probably lower during the winter. My chamber is not a walk in. (See pictures on the brewery link in my sig line)

It's a single 17 gal plastic conical and the AC unit is 5000 btu but I doubt it's working that well anymore - I'll be replacing it soon.

 

[madscientist451]

There was a good discussion of this topic on a cheese forum:

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php?topic=11762.0

 

[John Paul Stoddard]

One of the guys in my homebrew club uses one for a walk-in fermentation chamber. I've seen several builds of those on here as well. I also remember seeing one where someone closed off and insulated under their garage work bench, making room for several fermentors.

It would be a pain to use it for kegerator temps though.

I see people using AC Units and Coolbots to chill 10'X14'X8' DIY Walk-in at 40*F ....What do you like to use as Kegerator Temp?

This is one of those....Build it it Bigger than you think you will need...

 

[bleme]

I see people using AC Units and Coolbots to chill 10'X14'X8' DIY Walk-in at 40*F ....What do you like to use as Kegerator Temp?

This is one of those....Build it it Bigger than you think you will need...

I'm a penny pincher so to me anything that needs more than a STC-1000 counts as "a pain". When I posted, OP was asking about about using a portable A/C, which I imagined to be a smaller unit and not capable of chilling a walk-in to 40F. From his last plan (with the window rattler) he might be able to get that walk-in to 40F using a Coolbot. He could also get it to 60F-65F now and spend $350 on a Coolbot later if he decides to go that route.

 

[geordiey]

Not to mention OP (me!) needs to save money where he can (about to be a daddy; due-date was yesterday; single-worker household [ME]). STC-1000's are much cheaper than Coolbots, so we'll see. This little project will have to wait until after my son is born and I can brew again.

Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread. I will start a new thread once I've got some work done on the project along w/ pictures.