Keezer/kegarator

Good evening brewers.

I am trying to build a fermenting chamber and have one question. What do you guys use to heat the chamber? I have the chest freezer so I know that the temp. controller will cool the chamber to the desired temp. , but what do you use to heat the chamber. Most elements need to be submerged in water and the other option I thought of was to use a halogen lamp. What do you guys use?

I use a 150 watt ceramic element heater designed for pets/reptiles - like this - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002DIAXO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 .
It sits inside a new paint can I got at Home Depot. It's kind of like this project (http://brewstands.com/fermentation-heater.html) except I replaced the light bulb with a ceramic element, and I mounted it on the bottom of the can, not the lid. I also have a lager fermentation chamber that I built out of 2" rigid foam panels (also from HD) and I use a small oscillating ceramic space heater. Both work well. I've used the foam box to ferment saisons up to 90*.

Lasko my heat

Am I correct in thinking that the infra red emitted from the ceramic heater will initially only heat the liquid in the carboy and not the air inside the chamber? i.e. the ambient temperature will only increase due to the heat dissipating from the liquid. Does the infra red affect the beer in any way is what I'm really wanting to know?

I use a 40 watt vanity light bulb on an extension cord. Let the cooling controller handle the temps. Works like a champ during cold snaps and total costs including the extension cord were less than 10 bucks.

knave_brewery said:

Am I correct in thinking that the infra red emitted from the ceramic heater will initially only heat the liquid in the carboy and not the air inside the chamber? i.e. the ambient temperature will only increase due to the heat dissipating from the liquid. Does the infra red affect the beer in any way is what I'm really wanting to know?

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No, it will heat the air. It's not microwaves.