Potential Heater for curing chamber

[damienhogan]

Hi,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hylite-HHT205-S ... K4G9ZJ0430 to control the heat. I havent built one before and would love to hear the communities feedback on it. I would use it to regulate the heat.

[wheels]

I'm sure it would be fine; my only concern would be the accuracy of the thermostat.

I use one like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tubular-Garage- ... lar+heater

...controlled by a thermostat like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-STC-1 ... 1006904049?

...which also controls the fridge.

HTH

Phil

[damienhogan]

They look perfect thanks. So you actually have the fridge running while the heater is in there?

[wheels]

Yes. But...

The logic is somewhat bizarre.

It's based on the premise that, when the fridge motor's on, the atmosphere in the fridge reduces in moisture (The RH lowers).

So, when the the RH gets too high, the heater kicks in; the temperature rises; the fridge motor starts, and the RH drops. Or, that's the theory.

HTH

Phil

[damienhogan]

Interesting. I wonder if it helps with airflow as well. If im honest I have seen a fair few DIY tutorials for turning fridges into chambers and some butcher the fridges so much I didnt think they would dare switch them back on. I am hopefully getting hold of a fridge this weekend.

[wheels]

There will be numerous ways of adapting the fridges, as everyone's circumstances are different - the adaptions need to be tailored to the individual environment.

With that in mind, I always advise to just adjust the temp first, and work from there. If you're (very) lucky, that may be all you need to do.

...and don't forget - you won't know how the chamber reacts until you've got salami in it.

HTH

Phil

[damienhogan]

I had a look and found a fridge temperature controller but looks like it requires a lot of wiring which im not comfortable doing if im honest. I found a gadget that can control temperature of a heating element I put in by switching it on and off as it goes over a certain temp so hoping that may work.

[Wunderdave]

Damien you're misguided in your process here. The only reason to add a heater to a fridge is if you have excessive humidity in the fridge. Running the heater triggers the fridge's compressor, which condenses humidity out of the air (and depending on your fridge it may remove it from the chamber for you).

You won't know if this is an issue until you have product in there. Focus on getting the fridge temps controlled, get some meat in there, and you will find out soon enough if you need to add or remove humidity.

[bwalt822]

I second the advice above. I bought a humidity controller and humidifier then quickly saw that the meat kept the humidity into the high 80's by itself. I chose to crack the door on the fridge to lower the humidity and just cut some vents in it so i don't have to have the door cracked anymore. My fridge has the cooling element in the chamber so it doesn't remove too much humidity, water condenses on the element then if it doesn't drip out it will just start evaporating.

If your fridge cools by blowing cool dry air into the chamber then you have a different situation and may require humidification.