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I see a used one on craigslist for $40 and was wondering about the viability of it as poor mans cold box. I could modify the lid with Styrofoam like in this thread (CLICK ME!!), and to borrow a phrase from everyone's favorite infomercial, "Set it. And. Forget it!".
My main concerns are, a) Will it keep it cool enough, and b) is there an onboard thermostat and if so is it reliable?, c) if there is no onboard thermostat would the "Deluxe Cooling 39°F/22°C Below Ambient Temperature " (if you believe the ad) be an ok temperature to lager at?
Are you looking at this item due to it's size or price? An old fridge can be found for cheaper and/or the same price and you can use it to hold extra stuff that doesn't fit in the main fridge. Using something like this is fine but you'll need to 'tweak' the controls often during primary when things really start taking off (fermenting) to keep the temps in the right range. Picking up an analog or digital temp controller makes things a pretty much automatic. I prefer the temp probe that comes with the Ranco controllers since they are small and can be easily taped to the side of a carboy or used in a thermowell and makes it REALLY easy to maintain perfect temps when fermenting. It just costs more.
Just to give you an idea - before when I used a Johnson analog controller with a fridge, I would set the ambient temp to 40d and when fermenting a lager, it would hover around 50-52 the first several days. As things started to slow down, I would gradually raise the ambient temp of the fridge to keep the yeast working. I don't think it's ever a good thing to let the temps drop as the beer is fermenting. So several times a day I or my wife would check the sticker on the carboy and adjust fridge temp accordingly. If I remember correctly, even after 3-4 weeks when all activity was pretty much done, the beer never equalized with the ambient temp. It was always a few degrees warmer.
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I have several concerns about this technique. First, I don't think that the cooler is able to maintain a set dialed-in temperature. Yeast likes a steady temp. If you are going to put the beer directly in to cooler (not in a carboy) is the material food grade? How are you going to get the beer in and out of the cooler? How are you going to clean and sanitize the cooler? I'm not saying that it won't work, but these are some the questions I always ask myself when I look at re-purposing equipment for brewing. I imagine the cooling element in the cooler is a peltier type. Lars has used those in his brewing adventures and he may be able to give you some info on how he used them. I think he built a Son of Fermentation Chiller box with a peltier cooler with much success.
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Now you are getting why so many of us love homebrewing: we look for unique ways to support our brew addiction (of course the improvising may be the addiction too). Those thermo-electric coolers generally don't have very good cooling capacity and you'd still want a $60 Ranco or Johnson controller on it. As Rezzin says and if you can talk your wife into it, a fridge can be had cheap and has many options.
BrewMasterBrad wrote:If you are going to put the beer directly in to cooler (not in a carboy) is the material food grade?
Was not thinking of using it in replacement of a carboy, I am in total agreement with your concerns on that end. I would instead modify the lid such as in the thread I linked in my original post, and insert a 5 or 6.5 gallon carboy.
maltbarley wrote:As Rezzin says and if you can talk your wife into it, a fridge can be had cheap and has many options.
Damn your good. That's pretty much the only reason I would tiptoe around and pretend a little old cooler wasn't costing me more then 5 or 10 spot. Also the impact in size, portability, and the excuse that "It could be a neat cooler for camping trips too." was the angle I was thinking to go and which would hopefully keep me out of the doghouse.
Jon, I'd keep your eye open for a Sanyo 4912. Early on, you can use it for your fermentations and then put a tower on it at a later date and have a compact kegerator: http://community.livejournal.com/homebr ... 13981.html
At one time I had 2: one I bought new for $185 and the other off of craigslist for $60. they are good little fridges and not so much of an eyesore like that avocado green fridge that your neighbor is kicking to the curb.
That's pretty much the only reason I would tiptoe around and pretend a little old cooler wasn't costing me more then 5 or 10 spot. Also the impact in size, portability, and the excuse that "It could be a neat cooler for camping trips too." was the angle I was thinking to go and which would hopefully keep me out of the doghouse.