So I live in a top story apartment in Iowa, and keeping fermentors at a reasonable temp in the summer is going to be quite costly with the A/C. I think my only option will be to buy a chest freezer and thermostat override.
I’m not asking anyone to hit up google or anything but was just wondering if anyone had a chest freezer that cost less than $200 that they’re happy with.
Craigslist is the place to look - should be able to find one for less than $100.
I don’t think you can go wrong with any freezer out there. All should work well for several years. Capacity wise, if looking for 1 pail/carboy, a 5cf freezer should work. And fits your price range.
Or a 4.4-4.6cf dorm fridge should work. They run $30-$40 less.
Make a cardboard cutout of the largest part of the carboy/pail to take with you to “dry fit”. And a tape measure for height.
Don’t get one that’s really old; the old ones will use so much power you’ll pretty quickly spend so much on your electric bill that it would have been cheaper to buy a new energy efficient one.
I just bought a 5 cu ft chest freezer from sears. I use it with a Johnson digital external controller. The freezer was $180.
Sears seems to have pretty good deals on them. I saw a 7.7 cu ft chest freezer there a few months back for $189.
Bier brauer,
What all do you fit in there?
I got one from Home Depot for $149.99. Check they sometimes have scratched or dented ones that they sell cheap!
Cf? Dimensions? What will fit in it?
Its a 5.0 cu ft. Fits 2 carboys nicely!
The 5 cu ft freezer I have holds one carboy in the Main compartment, and with a small modification one carboy on top of the compressor. I kind of wish I had bought a 7 cu ft instead. I can see where I may lager and cold crash two different kegs at the same time. That may be far and few in between, but to have the space to do it if needed would be nice.
