Climate Control Solution for Curing Room

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ThomasLake
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Climate Control Solution for Curing Room

Post by ThomasLake » Tue Jan 16, 2018 17:17

Hi guys,

I am pretty new to the forum but have been curing whole muscles and sausages for about six months now using the common converted fridge setup with pretty good results so far...

Anyway, I have recently restored an old building on our property which measures about 4x5m with a ceiling height of 3m.

It is a fairly well insulated brick building and I have had everything well sealed. My question is how do I scale up the climate control system I had in the fridge to reliably run a room of this size. The building is in a shady location and our ambient temperatures vary between a lowest of 4C in winter and a maximum of 35 in summer.

I have had a look at greenhouse control systems but they all seem to be aimed at larger areas and the cost is prohibitive. Would an airconditioning unit keep my room at 15C combined with a slightly larger humidifier using the same fan and controller setup? I want something that I can monitor remotely without having to constantly top up a 5 litre humidifier tank. I intend to start producing larger volumes now and am hoping for precise climate control and some consistent results.

If anyone has any experience in this I would be most appreciative.

Thanks in advance
Kijek
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Post by Kijek » Tue Jan 16, 2018 17:32

Thomas, your in the right place to get answers, so be patient. I have some knowledge of what you are doing, but not on such a large scale as you.
I'm interested to see what others have to say on your project, then maybe just maybe I have something worthy to add.
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reddal
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Post by reddal » Wed Jan 17, 2018 11:23

Hi,

I have a similar sized room I use as a drying room. I have a separate fermentation chamber for the initial stage - then the drying room holds multiple batches at once.

I looked at AC systems to control the temperature - but they mostly seem to be limited to around 18c minimum which is a bit warm. There is also a lot of chiller units designed for cold rooms - but they are designed typically for a max of 5c which is too cold. Maybe you can find a way to override these limits - or a unit that doesn't have them.

What I did was install a chiller unit designed for wine cellars. Its has a range of temperature between 12c and 16c - which is about right.

I'm planning to build a couple of new rooms in the next year or so, so will be interested to hear how you get on.

- reddal
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redzed
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Post by redzed » Wed Jan 17, 2018 17:39

I'm not directly experienced with setting up a larger than a fridge curing area, but from what others have related, a good option has been using a Coolbot controller and a basic window airconditioner. Humidifiers and dehumidifiers with a capacity of several gallons are not expensive and available at Home Depot and Lowe's. The same humidifier/dehumidifier controls can probably used as in your converted fridge. Just to be on the safe side might be good to have an extra set of controllers as a backup. You would also need a heater to bring the temp up a bit in the winter.
Kijek
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Post by Kijek » Wed Jan 17, 2018 20:01

I too only have an experience level that pertains to refrigerators.
I really like using Inkbird Controls for heat/ cooling - hum/dehum
Inkbird work great and has both *f & *C set functions.

https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Itc-308- ... thermostat
ThomasLake
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Post by ThomasLake » Thu Jan 18, 2018 09:19

Thanks for all of the replies. I have been doing a bit more research based on the information shared and I believe I have found an aircon unit that will keep that volume at 15C quite accurately. The cellar controller mentioned by reddal looks to be the ideal choice, unfortunately to buy a new one is quite expensive and at this stage I can't stretch that far.

I spoke to another company who do humidity controls for larger wine cellars etc and they thought a slightly larger home ultrasonic humidifier with the same set of controls would do the job. I guess if the air circulation is good then it should work well. The only issue with it is the tank is only 7 litres and I would have to continuously refill it. Any suggestion on getting around that?
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redzed
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Post by redzed » Fri Jan 19, 2018 07:50

ThomasLake wrote:The only issue with it is the tank is only 7 litres and I would have to continuously refill it. Any suggestion on getting around that?
Do you not have access to bigger units and inexpensive units like the ones available here:
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Heating-Ven ... edirect%7D

And what is the ambient humidity where you live?
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Post by SMR » Mon Feb 12, 2018 23:59

ThomasLake wrote:he only issue with it is the tank is only 7 litres and I would have to continuously refill it. Any suggestion on getting around that?
You could also use something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0077 ... UTF8&psc=1 It is a float controlled valve that I use in my salt water tank to make up for evaporation. I bought one to mount in the tank of my humidifier for my drying chamber so that I wouldn't have to keep filling the tank. So far, I have not needed it, so it is still in the box. If you had a water supply in the building, you could connect tubing from the water supply to this valve and your humidifier tank would never empty. I don't have a water supply handy where my drying chamber is located. I was planning on using a few 5 gallon buckets connected with bulkhead fittings and tubing to the float valve. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YG ... UTF8&psc=1 The buckets would serve as the source of the makeup water.
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