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Hi, I hope for some advice about cooling my fermenters, as ambient temperature in Sydney is above fermentation temp during the day. I have been working on this and have some equipment assembled as follows:
- an insulated cupboard that tightly fits two 23L fermenters
- a beer chiller - it's like a fridge with a bath of water and supplies fluid at 1degC - used for beer at functions but you can pump any liquid through it
- one of those chinese thermostats that can handle both cooling and heating and keeps your temp within 1 degC

So the advice I need is how best to apply that cooling (and light globe for heating if necessary) to the cupboard. Eg, would you put a copper or stainless steel coil directly into the wort, wrap a pipe around the barrel, have a copper coil in the cupboard and a fan to blow air on it?
Jonathan

I'd put copper coil in the cupboard, lining it. A fan to circulate the air can't hurt.

For me putting coil around or in the FV provides more problems or hassles than it solves.

Is your cupboard water tight or made of sealed cool room panel or some such? If yes you could put your ferementers in then partially fill it with a mild bleach solution and immerse your coil in that.

Thanks for your advice on this.
I am circulating the chilled water through a car heater core in the cupboard. After a couple of days testing with fermenters full of water the temp is a steady 20 while ambient is 17-27. Success!
Heater cores are harder to come by than you would think, there being one in every car. The problem is you have to dismantle the entire car between the gear stick and the firewall, possibly two or 3 hours work. As pick'n'pulls are now a thing of the past, at least in Sydney, a heater core from a wreckers will cost you hundreds.
I got mine from a non-mainstream individual via eBay for $15. It's all copper and brass and came out of a Datsun 1600.
Having gone through this project I would definitely recommend a chest freezer and STC1000 if you have easy transport. I don't.
My method took days to build and is quite inefficient: the compressor cools water which cools air which cools wort. But aside from the STC1000 it is made entirely from junk, so I'm quite proud of it.