Old fridge as a fermentation chamber

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excaptn

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SWMBO "convinced" me to get a new fridge for the kitchen. I have a new fermentation chamber for the garage!!! I have a 2 stage ranco and plan to use the fridge and a ceramic "under desk fan" to control my temps. Do I need to worry about anything, or is there anything I am not thinking about?
 
ihomebrewing said:
I wouldn't put a convection heater in a fridge. Maybe a heating fermenter belt, or a pad.

Any thoughts on how a ceramic heat light.
 
It's a bit of work but I machined out a heater from the automatic ice-maker from the converted fridge. They have a heater to warm the mold and release the cubes, so i machined the mold into a series of fins and added a fan to it.... pretty cheap if you have access to a milling machine. Works like a charm.

(kind of like how the indians used every part of the buffalo)
 
I would not feel safe with a ceramic heater in the fridge. It might be ok but why risk. I tried a heating pad from Walgreen in my fridge but it was not really efficient. It takes 30 min to get the pad up to temp and it would run 24/7 just to maintain the temp. Also, seemed that most of the heat was being wasted heating up the floor or the wall of the fridge. Now I have a simple 40 watt incandescent light bulb with a clamp lamp and it works great. Dont worry about the light. incandescent light does not produce UV so it will not skunk your beer. I also put in a 120mm computer fan inside to circulate the air and it works great.
 
I've heard of people using hair dryers on the low setting to heat a fermentation chamber. I personally don't see the harm in using any of the convection heaters available on the market. They are all UL approved (albeit not for our applications) and quite safe. I would probably create a baffle so it doesn't blow directly onto the carboy/bucket to prevent temperature spikes in the beer.
 
I use a light bulb (40 watt)in a paint can. It's currently sitting on a cement paver. Total cost was around $12.
 
I understand the concern about the space heaters. which was my main concern and reason for posting. So here our my options.
Space heater and rick meltdowns or fires, but it the most efficient way to heat the fridge.
Heat pads-most safe alternative but is not efficient and has long run times
Incandescent light- some debate on how the light will effect the beer
Ceramic reptile light (emits no light just heat) melting issues if properly secured.
Water bath with aquarium heater-high condensation and mold issue created.

Did I miss anything?
 
If you cover a light with something (why I have it in a paint can), then you don't have the light issue. I had really short bulb life using foil. Here is a step by step: Fermentation Can Heater. My only change is that I am using an oven light bulb at 40W and it keeps up with outside temps here (low around 20). Oh, and I didn't route the power cord through the side of the can, I have the 2 wires going in through the lid and ground wired to the lid.

I have used the water bath with heater/pump before and it works really well. It does raise the humidity significantly and I have noticed mold in the fridge pathways. I still use this method for Saison, when I want the temperature up around 90.
 
40 watt ceramic heater will give off exactly as much heat as a 40 watt incandescent light bulb. So there is not much efficiency issues. Heating pads are not necessarily the safest either. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/warning-my-fermentation-heating-pad-caught-fire-last-night-112948/

if you are worried about light issues, then get the terrarium ceramic heat bulb. you can get them at any pet store (will run around $20) and use a nice sturdy shop clamp light from a hardware store. That should be the best and safest bet.
 
Hmm, I'm gonna have to redo the heating option in mine as well. I upgraded to a Morebeer conical over the holidays, and managed to score a 15cf upright freezer on Craigslist, and the wee 25 watt heating pad from Williams that I've been using is about as useful as a one legged man in an arse kicking competition. I've got a porter in there at the moment that was initially at 64, and I bumped the temp to 69 to try to get the yeast to finish up, and it took almost 36 hours to raise that five degrees.

Fellow HBTer Ricand found these heating pads - beefier at 150 watts - but the thing was a monster. This tiny wee pad about 6" square, but on plugging it in, was too hot to touch within 60 seconds. I'd be extremely wary about using it anywhere around anything that might be flammable.

Was thinking about just picking up a small desktop heater at the local hardware store - they're cheap enough, something like this - but am now gunshy... maybe the reptile heater bulbs would be the best option?
 
If you are looking for heating pads, you can try a car or truck battery heater. They make lot's of different sizes and wattage.
 
I use a 40w ceramic with a small 110v clip on fan to distribute the heat. Works great. Cost me about $.70 per week with highs in the 50's and lows in the 20's. Right now I'm fermenting at 66 deg.
 
Hmm, I'm gonna have to redo the heating option in mine as well. I upgraded to a Morebeer conical over the holidays, and managed to score a 15cf upright freezer on Craigslist, and the wee 25 watt heating pad from Williams that I've been using is about as useful as a one legged man in an arse kicking competition. I've got a porter in there at the moment that was initially at 64, and I bumped the temp to 69 to try to get the yeast to finish up, and it took almost 36 hours to raise that five degrees.

Fellow HBTer Ricand found these heating pads - beefier at 150 watts - but the thing was a monster. This tiny wee pad about 6" square, but on plugging it in, was too hot to touch within 60 seconds. I'd be extremely wary about using it anywhere around anything that might be flammable.

Was thinking about just picking up a small desktop heater at the local hardware store - they're cheap enough, something like this - but am now gunshy... maybe the reptile heater bulbs would be the best option?

I know what you mean. I was originally intending to put a little personal heater in. But when push comes to shove there was no way I would just leave it like that when I'm at work. Too much to worry about, not worth it.

Also other options out there that should be pretty safe are:

Toasty toe heater - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000079896/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


cable heater for plants - this one is especially nice since you can wrap the entire interior of your fridge for even heat distribution. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006JLPHC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


Roof De-Ice cable - Just like above, you can get that in any length, and its about 5 watt per foot. so its easy to adjust the heating power

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DGAKL/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


and of course a ceramic heat bulb - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002AQCPK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


or you can go cheap like me and get an incandescent light bulb. Cant go wrong with a 40-60 watt heater for a buck.
 
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I can't see why any of the small heaters are any more dangerous than a heating pad or a light bulb. More than likely, if it shorts out, it will trip the fuse/breaker. I think they all have heat shutoffs now too.
 
I know each brew and yeast and brewer will have their own temp, with that being said, the two stage ranco has a few different settings. I think I understand the instructions but please correct me if I am wrong. Say I want to ferment at 65 F
I will set stage 1 to turn on at 65 degrees (cool)
I will set stage 2 to turn on at 64 degrees (heat)
I will program a 1 degree differential for both stage 1 and 2.....
Does that mean the fridge will kick on once the probe reaches 66 degrees and will stay on until it cooled to 65, and/or the heat will kick on when it drops to 63 and will heat until I am back to 64. do you think this is too big of a swing in temp. How do you have your ranco programed?
I hope this makes sense...
 
Why don't you try a An aquarium heater? This is what I do, and it works great. I got the 50 watt one
 
Synergy012 said:
That makes sense.

LOL - you probably needed to call that our (e.g. don't put plastic bag over head). :drunk:

+1 on incandescent light bulb. Even if you do break it you're unlikely to start a fire - the circuit breaks when the wire inside breaks.
 
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