Fridge on the way....

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Steve62

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Got a tall larder fridge on the way, what do I need to make a brew fridge? heater of some sort and a way to control temp?
Would I be better with an under the counter size fridge and keep the tall one for cooling the king kegs?
 
For heating I use one of these ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00LPHIMW0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

For control I use one of these ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IJ0F2OW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It takes a bit of wiring up there's plenty of YouTube "how to do it" videos like these ...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30TvX1Zz1-Y[/ame]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x60TNOfWh7g[/ame]

I only have an under-counter fridge and at this time of the year it's cooling and heating facilities are a Godsend! (In the last two weeks the temperature in my garage has fluctuated between 12 degrees and 27 degrees!)

It's a lot easier in winter when all I have to do is to provide heat. I sit the FV in a builders trug full of water and control the temperature of the water with an aquarium heater. Cheap and simple!

If you can find and afford an under-counter fridge for fermenting and a tall larder fridge for conditioning then go for it! Sorting out what goes where will come to you after a few false starts. :thumb:

Here's a couple of photos of my Brew Fridge.

a) When being used for fermentation. (Complete with Bubble-Tube rather than an air-lock, just in case the wort gets a bit overactive and decides to leave the FV!)

b) When being used to carbonate a brew.

Whatever type of fridge (or fridges) you finish up with, remember to keep the glass shelves! You may need them for carbonating or conditioning a brew!

Enjoy! :lol:

Bubble Tube.jpg


Brew Fridge.jpg
 
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If you are not up to wiring just get the inkbird 308 ..plug it in...easy peasy!

Got one myself recently as you guys know and cos of recommendations on here. I was going to brew this Sunday but actually did it on Wednesday morning. - I was bored and itching to test the fridge. This thing was set up in a minute and has maintained 19C give or take the 1C I set either side since then. If the ale comes out as good as I hope, it's got to be the best £25 spent on homebrew stuff for many a year.
 
Got one myself recently as you guys know and cos of recommendations on here. I was going to brew this Sunday but actually did it on Wednesday morning. - I was bored and itching to test the fridge. This thing was set up in a minute and has maintained 19C give or take the 1C I set either side since then. If the ale comes out as good as I hope, it's got to be the best £25 spent on homebrew stuff for many a year.
You spent £25...... hehehe

Gerry
 
I was lucky to get given an Inkbird for free, haven't used it yet as I don't have leccy in the garage at the moment. I hear they're spot on and you don't have to do any wiring which is a bonus if you don't know much about electrics, like me. I have a tube heater which again I hear are spot on for the job.
 
I was lucky to get given an Inkbird for free, haven't used it yet as I don't have leccy in the garage at the moment. I hear they're spot on and you don't have to do any wiring which is a bonus if you don't know much about electrics, like me. I have a tube heater which again I hear are spot on for the job.
Get Lecky in...

Gerry
 
I use a tall larder fridge too. It's big enough to take 2 FV's at a time or 1 FV and a shelf full of bottles. As the rest have said, you'll need an inkbird (stc1000 or 308 - whichever you fancy), a source of heating. I used a 40 watt tube heater from Screwfix, but there are plenty to chose from. You might also consider a PC fan inside to circulate the air and give a more even temperature top to bottom.

If you're 'lagering' you can take the inkbird down to zero or just below, but you'll also have to short out the fridge thermostat, otherwise it will limit how cold your fridge gets.

Good luck :thumb:
 
Thanks for all the advice and suggestions, I picked up the tall beko larder fridge and have a 45W heater and inkbird 308 on the way, i'm also collecting a liebherr larder fridge next weekend which is described as having a temperature sensor issue, i'm hoping the inkbird will be able to control this fridge as I want to keep the beko for chilling, time will tell I guess
 

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