Separating fridge from freezer for fermentation fridge

[s_t_r_o_b_e]

I'm not an electrician and I really don't whether this is possible. My gut is saying no but figured it was worth a try...

Is it possible to separate the fridge power circuit from the freezer? I'd like the fridge connected to an STC which will mean it's on and off all the time, but I'd like the freezer to always stay on.

Is that likely to be possible for a reasonable price?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I would imagine they both run off the same compressor so I would say no.

 

[Innes]

I'm not an electrician and I really don't whether this is possible. My gut is saying no but figured it was worth a try...

As an electrician and refrigeration mechanic, I can tell you your gut is correct.

 

[s_t_r_o_b_e]

Figured as much, heh :>

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

The reason being is that the fridge cools by cold air being feed from freezer. Basically there is a fan that pushes the cold air from the freezer to the fridge. And if you turn the fan off then the freezer wont freeze because it also blows to cold air into the freezer.

 

[QldKev]

You could bypass the internal thermostat and use the stc to replace it. But you would need a electrician to hook it all up.

You could also see how the cooling air flows to cool the fridge and freezer, and basically direct all air to the freezer, and a pc fan hooked up to the stc to provide flow into the fridge.

You can also get fridges that have two separate evaporators, (my samsung cools it twin cooling) then you can look at tweaking the fridges thermostat.

But you really need to get in and have a good look around. Besides playing with vent shafts, the rest you will need an electrician.

 

[MartinOC]

I've also pondered this, as I have an old fridge/freezer.

I came to the conclusion that as a fermentation fridge, the combination doesn't/won't work for this application. However, the combo unit would work fine as a kegerator with a bonus freezer attached (hop-storage anyone??). For a fermentation fridge, you need a single-compartment unit.

 

[andy@67]

G'day All,

I have an old single door fridge that had a freezer compartment in it. Prior to me someone cut the bottom of the freezer out, so that the freezer element now cools the whole thing. It is great as a ferment fridge as it will crash chill a batch of beer to 0C if I wish. I have hooked up to a Keg King 16 amp controller with a heat pad on the bottom shelf and can ferment at a set temp +/- 0.5C.
Cheers,

Andrew.