building a coolroom?

James L · Post by **James L** » Monday Nov 26, 2007 5:28 pm

G'day all,

I have finally bought a house in Perth, and i have a small room/shed that has been built onto the side of the house. Although it has been built quite badly, the room is made of insulated panelling, so the temperature can keep quite cool, and would be great for making and storing beers.

I was planning on eventually sealing up the gaps and try to keep the temperature of the room at about 12C or at least lower than ambient all year round.

I was wondering whether anyone has a large room that they keep cool, and what method they use to keep it cool? I have thought to either buy a small aircon unit that could fit to the side of the wall, or i was thinking about buying a large fridge or freezer, putting it in the room, removing the door, and using a fridgemate to control the temp.

The room itself is only about 1.3M wide by about 3M long by 2M high, so there isnt a heap of room to keep cool, so the electricity bill shouldnt get too bad

Does anyone have any suggestions about what i could do with this room?

Cheers

James

Kevnlis · Post by **Kevnlis** » Monday Nov 26, 2007 5:36 pm

A cheap split system and a small oscilating fan to circulate the air.

bottle top · Post by **bottle top** » Monday Nov 26, 2007 5:38 pm

If you do go the fridge approach, you'd have to set it into the wall with the heat sink outside. Putting it inside the room and opening the door would actually heat the room.

Not sure about the capacity of a fridge to cool such a large volume down to 12*, especially in summer with high ambient temps. I have seen pics of a guy that built a cool room using an air con, but IIRC he went through a couple, and this is in the US so probably nice low ambient temps.

regan · Post by **regan** » Monday Nov 26, 2007 5:42 pm

yeh summer is coming...i was thinking about digging a cellar under the house... anyone in melbourne have a celar that maintains around 20c during summer?

Danis · Post by **Danis** » Monday Nov 26, 2007 7:29 pm

Not a cellar per se, but I chuck my beer under the verandah. Can't give you a definite temp, but I reckon about 20 sounds right. My house stays very cool even without any sort of air conditioning though. It's quite good in winter, no need to chuck the beer in the fridge first, its already cold.

WSC · Post by **WSC** » Monday Nov 26, 2007 9:48 pm

be careful if you go with split systems as in a small room like that it would short cycle, be inefficient and I have seen them create mildew in the room from being too damp

Kevnlis · Post by **Kevnlis** » Monday Nov 26, 2007 10:26 pm

Well if you put it on a fridgemate it will not short cycle, hence the point of the fridgemate!

Also... how will it "create" mildew?

NTRabbit · Post by **NTRabbit** » Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 5:13 am

James L wrote:
I was wondering whether anyone has a large room that they keep cool, and what method they use to keep it cool?

Ross has a full on, enclosed, refrigerated cool room attached to his house to keep all 10 of his active kegs cold; I've seen the pictures, they were epic.

r.magnay · Post by **r.magnay** » Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 7:11 am

I have a custom built brewroom that I built from fridge type panels, it is 2.5m3 and I have a small wall/window a/c which keeps it at whatever I set the thermostat at. You have the right idea with a seperate thermostat, I did not use a fridgemate but I used a room thermostat, but I am a sparky so have the qualifications to install hard wiring. I would have used a split but it was cheaper and easier to use the wall job, you don't need a fridgy and the unit itself is cheaper. The power consumption would probably be better with a split, particularly if you got an inverter type, but I have never bothered to find out. I used a thermostat which will also switch the a/c off and a power point on, then I can plug my heater belts into that when required.
As for using a fridge with the door removed, forget it! that would be pretty innefficient I reckon.
You will increase your power consumption whatever you do, but hey it's beer, it's worth it!
The other thing I did, but of course it gets pretty bloody hot here, is install a tropical roof over the room to give it a decent chance.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 7:30 am

My suggestion is to buy a nice big chest freezer, add a font and a fridgemate, and put it into that room.

Kevnlis · Post by **Kevnlis** » Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 1:35 pm

Easier yet, get shanks and build a collar on the chest freezer.

WSC · Post by **WSC** » Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 2:02 pm

Well if you put it on a fridgemate it will not short cycle, hence the point of the fridgemate!

Also... how will it "create" mildew?

Bit harsh kev, just my opinion

Any qualified fridge mechanics?

No one mentioned the fridgemate for the AC prior to my posting.

As for the mildew I'm only going on what I have seen in the trade, don't know why. Probably from the damp already in the room and the cool air???

Maybe I'm just being too sensitive.....I'm not having a good day today.

Kevnlis · Post by **Kevnlis** » Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 3:32 pm

No cut to you mate I was just in a hurry I think. I thought I had mentioned using a fridgemate in my original post. Definately a good idea if you want to keep it from short cycling like WSC pointed out

It may create an enviroment which encourages mildew to grow, but it will not create the mildew directly. That will happen at that temp no matter what you use to cool the room though. A dehumidifier would help but costs alot to run. You can help keep the mildew from taking hold, easiest of which is a fan (would also eliminate hot and cold spots) There are plenty of mildew "resistant" paints which can be bought, and a good spray down with a sanitising solution once a year or so should be plenty to keep it at bay.

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building a coolroom?

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