These are all valid points. I just wanted to bring light to the fact that “cheap” fridges and freezers are not always that way when it comes to running costs.
I think it was Sacch who posted a while back that one of his first ferm fridges/keezers was a cheap second hand buy that cost him an arm and a leg to run.
My idea with the ferm chamber is to use materials I already have and a 12v computer. I haven’t done the math but I assume that it will be pennies to run it all year.
Agreed that older models, while effective and long lasting, will cost an arm and a leg to run full time. And half the fun of brewing for some is tinkering to create their equipment. So kudos to you if you can pull that off on the cheap. 
Thanks man!
I’ll be scaling down the SoFC to accommodate my 2 gal buckets. It will be significantly smaller than outlined in the PDF.
My brew fridge lives in my spare room, so most of the time I’m trying to cool from 21c to about 18c. This means that it’s cooling very little, so not actually drawing a great deal of power. The only time it’s doing any serious work is when I cold crash, and then it’s running fairly hard whilst it drops the temp down to ~3c, but once it’s down there, it doesn’t run that often as the insulation is pretty good.
Again just to clarify: if you’re using even a moderately energy efficient fridge, then operational cost is not an issue.
The local electric company gives us a comparison of our use to our “efficient” neighbors.
I’m so far off that it’s pathetic.
But, I’m running a beer fridge, a dehumidifier, and an A/C for the cold room. Add to that someone is always home and the kids turn on all of the lights. I unplugged my second beer fridge for some savings.
My efficient neighbor (I know who it is) turns on no lights and is very active about conserving energy.
I have no idea what the incremental cost of running my fridge is, but it can’t possibly be that much. I hope.
Brew fridges are great if you can lower the temp enough to crash out chill haze. The problem for me is space. I don’t have room for a second fridge, but I can fit a sleeping bag anywhere and pack it away out of sight when not in use.
Domestic fridges are usually the most expensive electrical appliance to run in a typical house because they’re on all the time and the cold air pours out every time you open the door. A brew fridge at 18celsius is clearly a lot cheaper to run, but using a fridge to lager will cost more.
I hear you Joe. My problem with the kids is not turning on the lights. If you need it, go ahead and turn it on. Out of the three of them though, I would say they turn off the lights when they are done with them about 20% of the time: bathroom, bedroom, hallway, whatever; just turn the dang lights off!
Surprisingly, lights don’t really burn much electricity up. It really is the larger appliances (fridge, dryer, dishwasher, a/c units, etc). I still get pissed though when all the lights are on in rooms when no one is even using them. It’s like turning on the television just to have a “friend” in the house even when you aren’t watching it.
Television? What is that? I haven’t looked at a TV in over 3 months, and can honestly say that I don’t miss it.
I broke down and bought the Cool Brewing chiller bag that is sold online. It works great for both heat and chilling. Kind of expensive, but my summer ales are much happier chilled down with a couple small water bottles that are frozen and swapped out daily. For lagers, I use a chest freezer on an external thermostat.
My kids are out of the house now, so no one to blame about lights left on but me and the wife (make that me…)