Portable Cooler

[Bazza]

So my current brewing-related project is a fermentation chamber in the garage.

I have one temperature-controlled brew-fridge, which is used primarily for fermentation. The problem is that my cornies are pretty much at the mercy of whatever temp the garage is at. As you can imagine, this can vary wildly over the year, with extremes in winter and summer. I want to now keep 2 cornies at 13-14 degrees in the brewfridge and have therefore started work on said fermentation chamber.

Basically, I've lined an area under the garage counter with foam insulation boards (these were left over from Ma's recent house build), and I intend to include a couple of lined doors as well. I've an stc1000 wired up and ready to work a 60-watt heating tube.

The above will work fine for most of the year, when the objective will be to keep the temp up around 18-20 degrees, but for that period between mid-June and mid-August when temps can get into the high 20's I was looking at including some sort of portable cooler to nudge the temp down a few degrees.

I don't have the necessary leccy skills to rip the guts out of an old fridge and use those, so was wondering if anyone can recommend a cheap, portable device for the above purpose. The finished chamber should end up about 100x50x60cms, so not a huge space to cool.

I had been looking at this kind of thing:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Rechargeable-Conditioner-Summer-Cooler/dp/B00KW6HAL4/ref=sr_1_43?ie=UTF8&qid=1408443922&sr=8-43&keywords=portable+cooler#productDetails

... but it might not be worth a damn, so any suggestions would be welcomed.

Cheers,

-Barry

[Tom]

What about those electric picnic coolers? I think they run off a car battery using the fag lighter gadget. You could use that whole, if you could get two cornies in the base, and then build up the sides to the required height? Argos have them for forty quid or so, anyway.

Trouble with all these systems, as I found out, is they only work up to a certain ambient temperature. After that they're just very expensive but useless gadgets.

[donnchadhc]

How about a stainless steel immersion chiller hooked up to a cheap pump, pumping cooled water from the fridge controlled by the STC? And then insulate the bejeysus out of the fermenter?

[donnchadhc]

And if you want to get really snazzy, second pump connected to a warm water source connected to the hot side of the STC. Four strategically placed non-return valves to ensure flow goes the right way (heat the bottom, cool the top) and your away.

[Bazza]

Thanks for the replies, lads.

The portable cooler would preferably be something I could set inside my almost-completed fermentation cupboard (again, stc1000 controlled, and hopefully well insulated) to blow out a puff of cool air if the ambient temperature happened to go above 20 degrees. Was just thinking of something cheap, small and free-standing.

The immersion chiller/pump idea is certainly food for thought. What kind of pump could you use?

Cheers,

-Barry

[donnchadhc]

Any cheap kind. It would only be pumping water and the distances (head loss) wouldn't be too great. Doesn't have to be food grade either. Solar pumps would be ideal I would think.

[Garry]

Have you seen this line on the cooler you link to:

Soak the sponge in water and placed in freezer before placing it into the mini fan to enjoy air conditioning

You'll probably need two of them and replace them every day.

Why don't you just put a 1 litre bottle of frozen water into your fermentation chamber every day? That's what I did this summer and it kept the temperature down nicely.

Have you looked at a peltier chip and heatsink? That's all that's in the portable coolers as far as I know? I'm not sure if it would be up to the job, I must buy one and try it out.

[Bazza]

Why don't you just put a 1 litre bottle of frozen water into your fermentation chamber every day? That's what I did this summer and it kept the temperature down nicely.

Had thought of that too, Garry. I've a few of those blocks you put into coolboxes and was thinking I could just put a  newly-frozen one or two in every morning during the hotter days. I guess there's no point in jumping the gun too much till I see how well the thing keeps the temperature. Hoping to get the doors cut, lined and attached this evening, get the stc1000 setup put in on Wed and hopefully get a brew in there on Thursday.

The whole setup looks like a 4th-year woodwork project i.e. shit, but as long as it more-or-less works I'm happy enough.
Right, must go. Don't want to be late for my interview with NASA

Cheers,

-Barry