A 5W fan is a 5W heater so yes with a fan you don't need a heater.
The other advantages of a fan are that the whole fridge is at one temperature, without it can be easily be 5oC different top to bottom. A fan makes the air move so you get faster heating/cooling rather than just relying on convection.
Set up a chest freezer recently for controlled carbonation, used a little Jaycar computer fan, two screw on grill and the cord/plug set they sell. Its a big chesty that holds 3 X 50L kegs, holds temperature within 0.2oC top to bottom - end to end and the temp of the beer barely moves off the set point - so we get exact carbonation control (having a digital gauge that reads reliably to 0.1kPa helps).
Put in a fan
Mark
The other advantages of a fan are that the whole fridge is at one temperature, without it can be easily be 5oC different top to bottom. A fan makes the air move so you get faster heating/cooling rather than just relying on convection.
Set up a chest freezer recently for controlled carbonation, used a little Jaycar computer fan, two screw on grill and the cord/plug set they sell. Its a big chesty that holds 3 X 50L kegs, holds temperature within 0.2oC top to bottom - end to end and the temp of the beer barely moves off the set point - so we get exact carbonation control (having a digital gauge that reads reliably to 0.1kPa helps).
Put in a fan
Mark
