Heat source for wort

Hi all,

I am finding it too cold in my house most of the time for ferm temps. If I need a heat source what are my options? Aren't I supposed to keep light away from the wort? I use glass carboys.. So a lamp seems like not a good idea. Help?

You can use a lamp without any negative effects. Incandescent bulbs won't have any impact on your hops. It's the flourescent bulbs that will cause skunking. But there is always a heat wrap for your carboy.

Here's a link for a wrap and temp controller.

I use a water bath in a cooler, and use an aquarium heater for the water. The aquarium heater works great, and doesn't affect the carboy at all.

I use the cooler in the summer with water and frozen water bottles to keep the fermenter cool, and in the winter I use the aquarium heater to keep the fermenter warmer than my house (which is usually 58-60 degrees!).

What is too cold? I'd love to have a constant 60 to 65 in my basement, but I still have to use ice in the ferm chamber most of the year. Even in the winter, here in Colorado, I have to chill most of the time.

What temps are you working with, and what temps do you want to achieve? Some yeast like it colder, some warmer.

Thanks for the replies. The batch I have now is. Wlp400 strain. Has a ferm temp of 67-74. I have a thermowell on the way soon as right now I can only check ambient temp. The problem is my lil fridge really cools my space down because the area is so small. So I can't depend on it to not drop so low the yeast fall out too soon. I also have a two stage controller soon. So I can use the lamp and fridge to keep a good ferm temp. So apparently I can use a lamp with the kill the earth bulbs and be fine eh?