DIY chiller idea

[brucedickinson]

I had an idea about an DIY chilller, but I'm not sure if it would work.

A previous housemate of mine made his own beer tap in the basement with a mini-fridge (small dorm-size refridgerator). The mini-fridge sat under the bar and housed a little keg; A tube ran from the keg to the bar up top. It was great for parties and kept the beer nice and cold. He had to drill the hole for the tube and seal it himself.

What if one put a canister filter inside a mini-fridge? Since the water has to travel through the canister to be filter, it would be cooled, right? What do you think? Used mini-fridges are very cheap. I saw several on craigslist.org ranging from $20 to $50 dollars, so it wouldn't be awful if I ruined one.

 

[Abrahm]

This idea has been passed around a lot and it would work, in theory. There are a few hurdles, though. Just throwing a canister filter in the fridge wouldn't work because the water would be in the fridge for such a short period of time. Filling the fridge with tubing gives a lot more volume in the fridge for their to be a cooling effect on it (especially if flow through times are slow.) Putting said tubing in a bucket of water (to help it cool faster) will also help. Plastic tubing is a good insulator and so little heat exchange occurs, but metal tubings can leach poisonous chemicals into the water (i.e. copper.) So what is one to do? It's a good idea and I think people have used it to pretty decent effect, but there are still some technical problems.

 

[Coastal Groovin]

I'm afraid the compressor on the frig would run constantly and burn out on a set up like that. Although it would work in theory. I think you would kill the frig in a year. Making it not cost effective. I would just get a chiller or do the rotating frozen soda bottle method.





UP THE IRONS!!!! .......................had to say it with a name like yours

 

[SludgeMunkey]

This idea has been passed around a lot and it would work, in theory. There are a few hurdles, though. Just throwing a canister filter in the fridge wouldn't work because the water would be in the fridge for such a short period of time. Filling the fridge with tubing gives a lot more volume in the fridge for their to be a cooling effect on it (especially if flow through times are slow.) Putting said tubing in a bucket of water (to help it cool faster) will also help. Plastic tubing is a good insulator and so little heat exchange occurs, but metal tubings can leach poisonous chemicals into the water (i.e. copper.) So what is one to do? It's a good idea and I think people have used it to pretty decent effect, but there are still some technical problems.

I agree with Bill. Modified fridges can work for cooling air but in the long run you might as well just buy a window mount air conditioner an cool the entire room when trying to chill just the water. on the other hand, if you do not mind having a fridge filled completely with coils of tubing and nothing else, it will work. The longer it takes the water to circulate through the fridge, the more efficient the circuit will be.

I'm afraid the compressor on the frig would run constantly and burn out on a set up like that. Although it would work in theory. I think you would kill the frig in a year. Making it not cost effective. I would just get a chiller or do the rotating frozen soda bottle method.





UP THE IRONS!!!! .......................had to say it with a name like yours

For small volumes of water, under say 20 US gallons this is a viable method. Ambient air temperature is really the biggest factor. To get it to work without killing the fridge you would have to insulate the tank as well which is counter productive.

I would just set up a tank in a wine cooler and not worry about getting all MacGuyver/ Engineer about it if AC was not an option.