[Wyoh]

I am very new to brewing and live in South Florida. As you can imagine, it's very hot year round and keeping any room in my house at 72 or lower is difficult to say the least. I'm having trouble finding a refrigerator (besides a full size refrigerator) that will fit a 7 gallon carboy with airlock (needs to be about 27 inches high). Mini refrigerators all have that jut out on the bottom where the guts are making them not deep enough. I looked into chest freezers, but they are so expensive. Any recommendations are appreciated.

[kpfoleyjr]

I have a Magic Chef 10 cu. ft. Refrigerator with a Fermentap Ferm Wrap Heater and an Auber TD100 temperature controller.  My 7 gallon Ss Brew Bucket with a blow off fitting on top fits in there just fine.  I got the refrigerator at a garage sale for $100 (it was never used), and the rest at one or another of the mail order home brew suppliers.  Works just fine and does great on temp control for lager and ale fermenting temps.

[chinaski]

welcome to the forum!  Seems to me like finding a different fermenter to fit inside a fridge might be a good way to consider.  I just starting in kegs for the first time and so far am very happy with it.  There are also some relatively inexpensive kits for circulating cold water through a stainless loop placed in the fermenter that might be worth considering- morebeer has them.  Good luck!

[a10t2]

Assuming you aren't in a rush, I'd just keep an eye on Craigslist until you can score a free/cheap chest freezer. I have a 7 cu ft and it can hold two buckets with airlocks, plus one without an airlock on the compressor hump.

[spurviance]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What he said

[denny]

I decided it was false economy to use an old freezer and spring for a new 15.5 cu. ft. energy efficient.  After 5+ years, I'm happy with that decision.

[Visor]

   IMO unless you're paying European type electricity rates or higher, you can pay for a great many years of operating an older, less efficient freezer for the cost of a new freezer.

[Slowbrew]

   IMO unless you're paying European type electricity rates or higher, you can pay for a great many years of operating an older, less efficient freezer for the cost of a new freezer.

It really depends on how old the freezer is.  A few years old, not so bad.  45 years old and it pays to buy new.

Paul

[jeffy]

   IMO unless you're paying European type electricity rates or higher, you can pay for a great many years of operating an older, less efficient freezer for the cost of a new freezer.

It really depends on how old the freezer is.  A few years old, not so bad.  45 years old and it pays to buy new.

Paul

I keep some of my beer in a monitor top fridge, built around 1934, still running on the original charge of sulfur dioxide.  I suppose efficiency doesn't matter much when dealing with antiques, but I may plug a meter into it just to see.

[Slowbrew]

   IMO unless you're paying European type electricity rates or higher, you can pay for a great many years of operating an older, less efficient freezer for the cost of a new freezer.

It really depends on how old the freezer is.  A few years old, not so bad.  45 years old and it pays to buy new.

Paul

I keep some of my beer in a monitor top fridge, built around 1934, still running on the original charge of sulfur dioxide.  I suppose efficiency doesn't matter much when dealing with antiques, but I may plug a meter into it just to see.

I can't really quote numbers on it, just my experience.  We used to have a chest freezer that Mom had on the farm while I was a kid.  It was actually 40+ years old.  We replaced it with a larger upright freezer (we added on to the house and the chest freezer didn't fit anywhere in the basement after cutting a hole in the wall).  We saw a noticeable drop in our electrical usage the next month.  Some friends took it off our hands and they saw a noticeable jump in their electric bill.

Everyone's millage will vary of course.

Paul

[Wyoh]

Thanks everyone! I think patience and finding a well priced/free chest freezer is the way to go. So far, no luck on sites like letgo, offer up, and Craigslist, but tomorrow is another day. Cheers!

[Wyoh]

Update: patience pays! Got an 8 cubic foot chest freezer in perfect condition for a steal. Cheers!