Glycol Powered Cool Room?

[ArnieW]

Ok,

so following on from the thread on keg carbonation, it makes sense to me to use the glycol cooling plant I have as the basis for a cool room.

I wonder if anyone has tried this before? Would I be better off using panels to 'extend' an existing fridge instead?

I'm guessing a cool room would need some good insulating panels and then some kind of heat exchanger.

Would there be enough cooling power to keep 6-8 kegs cool (say 10 degC)?
What might be readily available to make/hack/use as a heat exchanger for this kind of job?

cheers, Arnie

 

[razz]

G'day Arnie, for the expense and mucking around you may find it just as easy to buy a chest freezer, that's what I did. But if you are really keen you could try second hand coolrooms or fitting an ac unit to a small, well insulated room. Try the search function or google.

 

[jayse]

As far as how to rig up the cooling equipment you have there to cool a coolroom I have no real idea how to do that but i'd say it would be quite possible. Maybe a simple matter of having the refridgerant lines running around inside the cool room and a fan to move the air over them. I'am sure it can be done somehow but it would help if you know a fridgey to rack his brain and get a hand from.

My cool room is simply a 1/4 HP refridgerated air con set on test mode so it its internal temp probe is not active and its plugged into a external temp controller so I can dial up the temp required, similar temp controller as the mashmaster fridge jobby. Thats enough to keep 10 odd kegs at 10c no worries.


Alcohol fueled brewtality
Jayse

 

[sqyre]

Hey ArnieW,

I too am at going down the glycol path and am also looking at a glycol powered cold room.

Well maybe not a room but a decent sized box at least...

When i finish building my glycol chiller i have quite a few differnt applications i would like to try.

Including - a cold room box to put my fermenter/s in to maintain temps

-under bar glycol fueled draws for drinks..

-and a glass/tallie/stubbie chiller. ( for when the boys bring thier bottled home brews )

Obviously your limited to how well you can chill the glycol as to how many things you can chill at once.



The idea of turning on a tap and basically injecting cold into an area is very exciting.( dont go there :huh: )

Once you have "liquid cold" the possibilities, in my mind are endless.



Sqyre

 

[sqyre]

Also another idea i had was putting a stainless coil into the actual fermenter.

Run a temp controller hooked up to the glycol pump to instantly and hopefully accuratly maintain fermentation temps.

Temp gets too high, pump kicks in, glycol pumps through, temp deceases, pump turns off.

Sounds ok in theory.

.probably something i missed.. :blink:

 

[Whistlingjack]

Also another idea i had was putting a stainless coil into the actual fermenter.

Why not go the whole hog and get a stainless cylindro-conical with a glycol run cooling jacket? :super:

 

[ArnieW]

Also another idea i had was putting a stainless coil into the actual fermenter.

Run a temp controller hooked up to the glycol pump to instantly and hopefully accuratly maintain fermentation temps.

Temp gets too high, pump kicks in, glycol pumps through, temp deceases, pump turns off.

Sounds ok in theory.

.probably something i missed.. :blink:

Hi Sqyre,

I've got a fermenter hooked up with a copper line through it ready for that test - not yet got the pump so it is a 'one-day' project.

I like your ideas. My cool-room thought was for something quite small - just enough to keep the keg supply from overheating in summer. I'm sure that the cool room (or drawer) would work with just a pump and some kind of radiator or heat exchanger. Even copper pipe might do it if the box was well enough insulated.

With all the projects I've got on the go, I suspect it will be a 'next summer' project - but I will keep thinking about how to do it.

cheers, Arnie

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

Hi Guys , I belive that Pistol Pat runs a 3/8 copper pipe in his fermentor with cool water and a pond pump. ( and it works )
The Glycol would be more eficent.
I built a brew box some months back and it has been doing very well , however things are starting to warm up and I have also been thinking of how to get more cool from my unit and think that a Glycol tank and small pumps might give me a better retrun for the power consumption..
If fermentors were wraped in a camping mat and had the bottoms well insulated as well I think that I could proberly run 3 or 4 small pumps into said fermentors. Just need a controler for each one.

SS coils would be nice but as things were fermented in copper fermentor years ago it proberly dosent matter much. Copper would give better transfer of cool but as they are set up for the whole fermentation I don't think that useing SS would inhibate the heat exchanging all that much.. It might just be a bit harder to source..

:beer: