Refrigerator Question

Buying, building and using brewing equipment and apparatus. Product reviews and questions.

Moderator: slothrob

Post Reply
l48shark
Double IPA
Double IPA
Posts: 121
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2001 11:02 pm

Refrigerator Question

Post by l48shark »

Would it be safe to run an electric fridge in my bedroom closet? I know this sounds crazy, but hear me out. Our master bath has his and her closets. My closet happens to have an electrical outlet. On the other side of the exterior wall is the biergarten I constructed last summer. So if I run a small fridge in my closet, I could have cold draught homebrew on the patio mounted right on the side of the house! Sounds really cool, but I was not sure about running a fridge in such a small room. Your thoughts?

Cheers,
Ford
fitz
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 442
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2002 8:36 am

Sounds good in theory

Post by fitz »

Souns good if you can get enough cool air into the coils of the fridge to get rid of heat build up. Many people build fridges into their cabinet work. but there is always some room for air flow. Also, be careful about where you drill your holes for the lines. You may drill through a freon line and the fridge would be worthless.
Good Luck
Freon12
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 404
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2001 8:27 pm
Location: WHITELAND, IN, US

Vents

Post by Freon12 »

Hi,

As you know, refrigerators use "Freon12" to exchange heat from the inside to the outside of the cabinet via exspansion/absorbtion.
So, when heat is removed from the box, it must be released elsewhere because heat(a form of enrgy) cannot be destroyed, only changed to another form.

In other words, where can the heat that is rejected from the condenser go? It can't be left to build up in the closet. Figure out where it can go, and wha-la.

Good luck,
Steve

Oh and that freeze-dryer thing, I'm gonna freeze-dry some yeast and test it.
l48shark
Double IPA
Double IPA
Posts: 121
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2001 11:02 pm

Vent the Heat

Post by l48shark »

I posted this same question in the off-topic area of the Corvette forum and someone suggested putting a metal jacket on the back of the fridge and using a small fan to vent the heat outside. (He had done something similar before with success.) I thought that sounded like a good idea. A low tech solution that might work is to simply install a louvered door. I will probably try that first. :-)

Good luck with the yeast trails!

Cheers,
Ford
User avatar
HomeBrew
Light Lager
Light Lager
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2002 5:18 pm

Amperage?

Post by HomeBrew »

If this is a small (dorm-sized) fridge, you'll be okay, but if it's larger, you'll have to see how much amperage it pulls and what else is on the circuit -- you might overload...
l48shark
Double IPA
Double IPA
Posts: 121
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2001 11:02 pm

Good Point

Post by l48shark »

I will keep that in mind when shopping for a fridge. (I do not think a corny keg will fit in a dorm fridge, so maybe a little larger?) The motor for the jacuzzi tub is on this circuit, but I am not sure what else.

Cheers,
Ford
fitz
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 442
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2002 8:36 am

Vent the ceiling

Post by fitz »

If you do the louvered door approach, you may want to put a vent into the ceiling of the closet for the heat to go up(that is if the ceiling goes into your atic or gable) I have louvered doors on some of my closets, and the heat that gets in there wants to stay a bit. The vent in the ceiling will give the heat somewhere to go.
Of course if the vent in the ceiling draws well, you maybe able to get by with a grate on the bottom of the closet door like they use for cold air returns in your HVAC.
Freon12
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 404
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2001 8:27 pm
Location: WHITELAND, IN, US

second that

Post by Freon12 »

Yep, I agree with Fitz, that's a good one.
User avatar
Mesa Maltworks
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 477
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2001 11:16 pm
Location: Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island

Home freeze drying yeast ?

Post by Mesa Maltworks »

Whoa... I missed that thread. I'd like to hear about this one.

Another long term, safe storage method for yeast involves using osmotically balanced, autoclaved distilled water. Yeast prepared in such a way can last up to a year. Lab trials have shown that the yeast survive this handling better than storage under a supernate of beer. I used to do this with my proprietary strains when I ran my brewing microbio lab serving brewpubs and micros. If you are interested I can explain how this is acomplished.

I don't know the specifics about self freeze drying yeast, but I do recall a lecture I attended in Arizona where Yeast Labs, Wyeast and Lallemand and Safle were represented and they discussed a topic which you might need to consider. When discussing the topic of dry yeast production, the dry guys (Safle & Lallemand) stated that the process is very stressful on the yeast and only the most healthy among the population survive with little mutation. They further said that this is why they pack such a huge cell count in their packages... to ensure that enough of the healthiest cells end up dominating the fermentation.

I would like to learn about the self-freeze drying method you described. If it is no trouble, could you re-post it as a new thread?

Eric
Post Reply