Off the shelf brew fridge?

I really have to get myself a brew fridge now, and even the missus has ok'd it!
Thing is, I'm not confident to wire my own using an STC and a heater...
Is there anything out there that has a temp range of up to 12/14*c off the shelf?
I've been googling it but couldn't find anything.

A poster on Jim's is selling ready made STC-1000. In a case, with heating and cooling lead. He's an electrician so tests and certifies them before sending. Think they're £40.00. I will be getting one soon.
Then all you'd need is a heat source.

I'm currently in the process of building a fridge, i'm not an electrician but the STC-1000 is really easy to wire, if you can wire up a plug then you should be able to follow the simple wiring diagram, breaking down the costs though, STC-1000 was £9, project box £5, (you dont need to spend a fortune on the box, some people use a plastic ice cream tub which costs nothing) couple of plug sockets, £2 (B&Q Cheapo's) wire and connectors i have, so for the controller i'm into £16 so far.
I'm adding extra bits (which you don't really have to) water proof in and out glands and an extra plug socket coming directly from the mains in feed, this way i can plug in a 12v fan or another device at a later date if i want to - runs up my controller costs a few quid though.

The fridge itself cost me £25 on fleabay - top tip if you want a mega cheap fridge, go down the local council dump and see if they have any, (someone told me this after)

Theres a bit of faffing about making a table / platform at the bottom, i used old of cuts of wood and even painted it white so it looks nice you'll need a heater, i used a 60W green house heater which cost me £12 again on fleabay - I've wired in a longer length of wire (which again was really easy) as the lead it came with was really short, and it didn't come with a plug, so had to add that to.

My top tips, and if i did it again - i'd buy a larder fridge, mines an under counter fridge, it works but the FV just fits, i'll have to mix and cast the yeast, then lift it into the fridge, it would have been nice to mix in situ and have additional storage space above the FV, and if next time maybe a bit deeper fridge, i've had to cut the shelf guides of the inside of the door so it will shut - again no big deal but just more faffing about.

if you can wire a plug with the help of google (if needed) you can wire an stc1000 up, google "stc1000 wiring diagram"

all you need is some spare flex to cut the few connecting wires from and some lego brick style connectors rated 10a or higher..

if in doubt post pics of your wiring before you plug in and loose any magic smoke..


use the correct colour wires from a suitably rated length of flex 10 to 13+amps to make it easy to see whats what..

a 60w tube heater isnt a high power device so you can use thinner lamp flex to feed it with power which will also slip in through the condensation drain hole found in most fridges

:electric: caution is recommended and if in doubt post a quick pic and ask .. :)

Fil said:

if you can wire a plug with the help of google (if needed) you can wire an stc1000 up, google "stc1000 wiring diagram"

all you need is some spare flex to cut the few connecting wires from and some lego brick style connectors rated 10a or higher..

if in doubt post pics of your wiring before you plug in and loose any magic smoke..


use the correct colour wires from a suitably rated length of flex 10 to 13+amps to make it easy to see whats what..

a 60w tube heater isnt a high power device so you can use thinner lamp flex to feed it with power which will also slip in through the condensation drain hole found in most fridges

:electric: caution is recommended and if in doubt post a quick pic and ask .. :)

Click to expand...

The 60W tube heater in mine doesn't get that hot, i can still just about put my hand on it, that said for safety i've mounted mine on a block of wood and it sits free of any obstruction inside the fridge :electric:

Hmm, feeling inspired..!!
I'll google some prices for the bits and pieces.

TheRedDarren said:

Hmm, feeling inspired..!!
I'll google some prices for the bits and pieces.

Click to expand...

Good man ! If i can do it anyone can

The advantage of making your own is you know exactly how it all works, so if you need or want to improve it or replace something you know how it goes together.

Well, I did it!
It was this afternoons project, peice of cake! Like you said, if you can wire a plug you can wire the STC1000.
I must admit though, once I'd wired it all up, I plugged it into a spare socket in the kitchen, away from everything, put on some rubber soles and flicked the switch with a long wooden stick.
I couldn't talk the missus into turning it on first so had to take the plunge myself.

Still, I didn't fry myself so I'm claiming it.

I'm going to do another one now for secondary!

I was looking at those wine cabinet/fridges and wondered if they were any good.

So when you say fridge from the local tip, does it matter if its broken? I assume you don't tap into the fridge cooling system do you? How can you keep low temperatures then or couldn't you just build a box/cabinet and insulate it?

You ideally need a working one, or you won't get any control over the cooling. Local tips aren't allowed by law to give away electrical items, try freecycle. That's where I got both of mine.....

Freecycle worked for me and just use a heating pad under the fv, hooked up to the stc.