Fermentation Chamber (for heating, not cooling...)

Hi,
This should be a simple question to answer...
The winter is just about here, and here in the middle of China, 'room temperature' is just above freezing over the winter months, as most houses aren't heated, or at least not heated all the time. Right now i have a heater blowing at my primary fermenter and a starter that I've got going...
But I cant leave my setup sitting on my dining table with a heater blowing on it for 3 mo to a year (making mead and cyser)...
So how do i make a fermenting chamber to regulate the temp UP to 75? The posts i have read about this were all for cooling down, not heating up...
Anyone have a suggestion for me that wont require me to have a spare fridge or fancy materials? And what do i use to heat and regulate the temp?


Update:
My cyser is still bubbling away... its belches were stinking like yesterdays lunch for a few days (someone in here called it 'rhino farts' in another thread), but now has returned to smelling like apple pie. Whew! And i thought all was lost!
My starter is bubbling too, and looking good... its got 2 layers of sediment on the bottom right now... a very fine white sediment on top of a grainy looking white and creme colored layer.

you should just need an enclosed area that is well insulated, then use your heater to get it to the right T, and see how it holds heat, you will probably need to use the heater intermittently to keep the T where you want it.

If your heater has any kind of temperature control, all you need to do is enclose the setup. I've used a large cardboard box & a small electric heater with a thermostat.

Now that I have a fermentation fridge with a dual-purpose temperature controller, all I do in the winter is plug a 40 watt bulb into the controller and place that in the fridge.

If i make an insulated cell and use a light bulb for heat, will the light mess with the fermentation process of primary or secondary? I read somewhere that light is the enemy... was i misinformed?
((Of course i know there are ways to install a light bulb and not have the fermenter covered in light...))

Yes light is your enemy as is heat and O2 there are ways to guard against light and still doing what David does. I would suggest a small heater and a temp controller of some sorts, they come in all types.
Cheers

if you are going to use a light bulb as a heat source you can wrap the fermentor in aluminum foil.

Essentially - exactly the same thing that is used for cooling will work for heating, if you substitute a heater for the ice, and have a heating type thermostat. But what you have available to you is no doubt going to require inventiveness - most of the crap we get that's made in china is not available in china, from what I understand, much less anything that isn't locally made.

If starting with "son of fermentation chiller" and ONLY using it for heat, move the vents to the bottom.

Depending what you have available to you, an aquarium heater in a jug of water (not right in your wort/must, I'd think) enclosed in the insulated box with it would work ... and have relatively low risk of fire. Or set the fermenter in a tub of water, with the aquarium heater in it, and the whole surrounded by insulation.

Of course, you should also try to time lagers for winter and warmer yeasts for warmer months.

If you have a basement/cellar/cave, remember that it will be warmer over the winter than the house is, if the house is not heated.

If you can get one, try a brew belt The Brew Belt :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies Or maybe an electric heating pad, the kind you use on a sore back. They usually have temp adjust controls & are sold at many different types of stores for a reasonable price.
If not, try using a cheap chest style cooler with a light bulb inside it. You can easily cover your fermentor with heavy foil to block the light. If that seems too fire prone, you could put your fermentor in the cooler & the cooler in the bathtub, fill the cooler with warm water; either open the cooler drain, or drill a hole to let cold water out & put a corner of the cooler under the hot water faucet & let hot water drip into the cooler at the same rate as the cold water drains out of it. If you have a window, or windows that get full sun all, or most of the day, you could wrap your fermentor in foil and a black blanket & let the sun shine on it to keep it warm during daylight hours. For future fermentations during the cold months, try a white wine yeast (assmannshausen, steinberg, prise de mousse) or depending on the style, maybe a lager yeast as they'll ferment well at colder temps. Hope you find some of this useful. Regards, GF.

I used the light bulb method hooked to a relay and a thermostat in my fermentation box. Only instead of a light bulb I used a ceramic radiant heat bulb like this. Zoo Med 60 watt ceramic heater

It is not so much light that you are worried about with your beer, it is UV exposure which can break down many of your hop compounds and "skunk" them. If you use an incadecent bulb you should be fine as they do not emit much if any UV light.

If you are really worried about it, putting a t-shirt of aluminium foil over your carboy will prevent any UV light from getting to your beer.