Coolroom Question

[ForkBoy]

Hi all,

I have a small room (1.2mx1.8m) that I am thinking would make a great walk in cool room. It's fairly insulated as it's brick, but west facing (it's currently an outside dunny attached to the house).

I know some have used air conditioners to create a cool-room, but how would I tell what size air-con would need to be installed to keep it at 4C?

Or would I be better off contacting a coolroom manufacturer and getting a purpose built unit?

Cheers

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I would still insulate it with styrene foam, say about an inch thick ( just glue it to the walls.

An air-con unit wont get it to 4*. The problem is that the air con will ice up, and they only blow out cold air at roughly 7-10*.

I know cause I have tried it.

 

[white.grant]

Hello There Forkboy

There is some useful information here on Jamil Zainasheff's site http://www.mrmalty.com/brewstuff.php

He seems to be able to manage 4 deg c with an AC unit.

I know that there are a number of other forum members who have airconditioner powered cool rooms that may also be able to help.

cheers

grant

 

[ForkBoy]

Thanks Grant, that's a useful link

 

[Peteoz77]

Here's a link to a thread on another forum where a guy builds and awesome one.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-latest-...440/index2.html

He actually gor published in Zymurgy because of the coolness (sorry) of this project.

Here's the PDF of the article. http://deepsixbrewingco.com/misc/article.pdf

 

[Doc]

A couple of points.
I would definitely insulate it. And you would want to make sure it was air tight.
When I first fired up my fermentation coolroom, there was a small gap around the door, and around the aircon unit. The amount of extra work the AC unit had to do because of those small games was amazing.
As using an AC unit to keep it at 4degC, you will need to modify a unit to do it, and as such be using it for something it wasn't designed for. As others have also said it will likely ice up.

Doc

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

yes...you want to get it AIR TIGHT. Tape up all the cracks and find a way to seal around the door.

You will only get it as cold as the air that comes out of the unit. You should have no trouble getting it to 17-18*c..

I have got mine down to 13*c, but it kept icing and was a big hassle. Outside temps will also affect the temp.. The hotter the outside temp, the less eff% it will be and wont blow out air as cold as if it was a cool day.