jamest22
Well-Known Member
I have an upright fermentation fridge setup in my garage. I am using a Ranco dual stage controller to switch on/off between the fridge and a waterbed heater that is inside.
The problem I am experiencing is uneven heating caused by the waterbed heater which I have placed in the bottom of the fridge about six inches below the rack that the carboys are on. The bottoms of the carboys get much warmer than the rest. I tape the Ranco probe to the middle of a carboy and set the temp at 66°F.
I have also placed a sheet of cardboard between the heater and the carboys as a direct heat shield. That helped a little, but not a whole lot. I have noticed that on a couple recent cold nights, fermentation gets explosive despite the Ranco's reading of 66°F. The bottoms of the carboys are getting warmer than the middle where the probe is taped.
Does anyone else use a waterbed heater in a fridge? If so, any advise or lessons learned about placement or setup of the heater to minimize uneven heating?
The problem I am experiencing is uneven heating caused by the waterbed heater which I have placed in the bottom of the fridge about six inches below the rack that the carboys are on. The bottoms of the carboys get much warmer than the rest. I tape the Ranco probe to the middle of a carboy and set the temp at 66°F.
I have also placed a sheet of cardboard between the heater and the carboys as a direct heat shield. That helped a little, but not a whole lot. I have noticed that on a couple recent cold nights, fermentation gets explosive despite the Ranco's reading of 66°F. The bottoms of the carboys are getting warmer than the middle where the probe is taped.
Does anyone else use a waterbed heater in a fridge? If so, any advise or lessons learned about placement or setup of the heater to minimize uneven heating?