Winter is coming... (Need to heat)

Hey all, this year has flown by and before we know it, winter will be here. I started the hobby this year and over the summer splurged for a chest freezer and a Johnson A419 for fermentation control in the summer months, but with fall fast approaching and my freezer in my spare bedroom in my apartment (which I don't heat/rarely use), I need a way to manage to keep my fermenter warm enough for ales in the winter months. Does anyone have any cheap, ready-made solutions? I'm not great with wiring stuff up (frankly I'm not sure how to set the Johnson to heat rather than cool), and I'm curious what all you fine folks do. Any help would be appreciated so I can continue my brewing obsession year round. Thanks in advance!


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If you need heat in the freezer, put a light bulb in there. If you have a 2 stage controller, you. An have heat and cool. If not 2 stage just plug the light in to the controller.

I am willing to bet that since it will be indoors, with the heat created by the fermentation process, that you'll still be using the chest freezer to cool your brew.

number40fan said:

I am willing to bet that since it will be indoors, with the heat created by the fermentation process, that you'll still be using the chest freezer to cool your brew.

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I would put my money on this. I would almost say that it could get almost too warm in a well insulated freezer box. Wouldnt you be able to put the controller to 65F and it would turn on your freezer each time it gets warmer in the box than 65F (assuming you want to ferment your ales at 65F)?

Ideally, yes, I wouldn't have to worry about the heating of the fermentation chamber, but I keep the room that it's in sealed and with the heat turned off in the winter to save energy and cut down on the bill, and it gets into the 40s in there. So without a heat source I would be worried about it being too cold.


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Just find out how to switch the Johnson controller to heat instead of cool. I know its does both just not at the same time. And then put a small heat source in the chest freezer.

My chest freezer is in the garage and its not insulated. I will be doing the same thing, the only difference is i use a stc1000 temp controller which is dual stage.

A single light bulb produces more heat than you would think, you'll be fine with that.
Maybe the low temperatures would be a good time to try a lager?