FastFerment or similar insulated jacket

[MashBag]

For the record, I was not promoting it. I personally think that it is vastly overpriced for a polystyrene box with a £20 peltier fan nailed on the side.

[guypettigrew]

For the record, I was not promoting it. I personally think that it is vastly overpriced for a polystyrene box with a £20 peltier fan nailed on the side.

Did anyone suggest you were promoting it? No, I didn't think so.

Guy

[soupdragon]

Just had a quick read about the peltier fan things (or whatever their actually called), looks interesting. From what I read they sound ideal for a home build. If they're that good though, how come more products of a similar nature to the ferminator aren't available? Or have I missed something?
I will do some research myself but has anyone built one themselves?
Pity the ferminator is so expensive

Cheers Tom

[Jocky]

Peltier (or thermo electric) coolers are just quite inefficient compared to using a compressor. They use a lot of power for the cooling then provide, and so tend to be limited in the cooling capacity.

I’d probably buy an aquarium chiller instead. They’re £250 and need a small pond pump, fluid reservoir and obviously the cooling coil for the fermenter, but they’re about as compact as it gets for a powerful cooling solution.

[MashBag]

For the record, I was not promoting it. I personally think that it is vastly overpriced for a polystyrene box with a £20 peltier fan nailed on the side.

Did anyone suggest you were promoting it? No, I didn't think so.

Guy

Promoting or suggesting... I did wonder, so was making sure...

[MashBag]

Peltier (or thermo electric) coolers are just quite inefficient compared to using a compressor. They use a lot of power for the cooling then provide, and so tend to be limited in the cooling capacity.

I’d probably buy an aquarium chiller instead. They’re £250 and need a small pond pump, fluid reservoir and obviously the cooling coil for the fermenter, but they’re about as compact as it gets for a powerful cooling solution.

Aquarium chiller. Good idea.
Certainly a worthy upgrade for my bucket of ice water & a pond pump on a your immersion coil.

On the subject of pond pumps... Never buy a cheap one.. They really are shite.

[Jocky]

Peltier (or thermo electric) coolers are just quite inefficient compared to using a compressor. They use a lot of power for the cooling then provide, and so tend to be limited in the cooling capacity.

I’d probably buy an aquarium chiller instead. They’re £250 and need a small pond pump, fluid reservoir and obviously the cooling coil for the fermenter, but they’re about as compact as it gets for a powerful cooling solution.

Aquarium chiller. Good idea.
Certainly a worthy upgrade for my bucket of ice water & a pond pump on a your immersion coil.

On the subject of pond pumps... Never buy a cheap one.. They really are shite.

If you've already got the immersion coil being fed by a bucket of ice water and pump then they'd be the ideal upgrade, just putting the chiller inline between the bucket and fermenter. I guess with that you'd have to either run the pump continuously, or you could perhaps turn both the pump and chiller on/off with a temperature controller?

[MashBag]

Could you Inkbird the whole lot?

[Jocky]

Yes, I think you probably could. As long as the aquarium chiller remembers the set temperature after a power outage (and I've seen a popular cheap one that does), plus there's the usual caveats of making sure the temperature band isn't too narrow and you have a delay on so that the compressor in the chiller isn't turning on/off too quickly.

You'd just set the chiller at a low temperature and let the Inkbird switch both it and the pump.

[soupdragon]

I’d probably buy an aquarium chiller instead. They’re £250 and need a small pond pump, fluid reservoir and obviously the cooling coil for the fermenter, but they’re about as compact as it gets for a powerful cooling solution.

Just a smidge outside my budget of as cheap as possible.
I realise to cool a fermenter "properly" more outlay and space is required. I have a serving fridge with a controller. And it works really well. The problem is that it's upstairs in my brew/computer/general crap room and don't want to be carrying a full fermenting bucket up a flight of stairs every month. Then down again for kegging.

I may need to rethink this. Maybe the old fermenter in a water bath with a t-shirt over it system. Swapping out some frozen blocks/bottles. I know the science is sound and will lower temperature but maybe not as well as other means. As long as it can drop, say, 5c with regular attention to the ice blocks?

Or maybe a black bin bag inside a sleeping bag with the previously mentioned ice blocks?

Or don't worry and use Kveik yeast?

Cheers Tom

[soupdragon]

Just found this.......

https://homebrewacademy.com/swamp-coole ... peratures.

Looks promising

Cheers Tom

[MashBag]

I have tried the wet towel ice water thing. Very very very tedious.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008EKD7CQ? ... =hdaddi-21

£100.. Wow. Makes the fast ferment bag @ brauland look a much better deal. Although I can't help think it's going to get wet, be difficult to clean & then is it an infection risk? Dunno.

The twister cooler coil thing, doesn't fit into a wide mouth fermenter. But will be OK in a bucket.

... Or brew more in July! This is becoming a lot of faff for just a couple of brews.

[MashBag]

Oooooo. Like these, but cannot find them in the UK


https://www.gotta-brew.com/products/coo ... acket.html

[MashBag]

Cheaper...

https://www.thehomebrewery.co.uk/brew-c ... er-or-kegs

[Jocky]

Just found this.......

https://homebrewacademy.com/swamp-coole ... peratures.

Looks promising

Cheers Tom

If you’ve got the space in a freezer for ice bottles or blocks, and the time to keep an eye on the temperature (a visible temperature readout is helpful) then this is about as cheap as it gets.