fermentation chamber.. hot or cold...

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TJ-Bill

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I wanted to do a poll but I guess I can't ..

I myself had to add a heat lamp to my fer. chamber.. but I see alot of guys have to add a refrigeration unit.

just wondering what the count is?
 
I've got both since the garage in the summer can be 90-100F and in the winter 35-55F.
 
Yeah, ideally you want one that can do either - unless you're brewing all Belgians or all lagers. I don't have mine set up yet (keezer first!) but it will likely have both functions.
 
my chamber started cold first then i added floor heating pannels for the winter time. You will want both at some point :)
 
both for me too. i use my temp controller for cooling the fridge and add a heating pad if i need to bump it a few degrees.
 
My house gets down to 55*, so right now I have a line voltage thermostat that controls a 60w light bulb. I also have a 120mm PC fan blowing in there to keep even air temp.

It's new, and will be modified for cooling when spring hits.
 
I have a fermentation room that has a window A/C unit and a space heater. Right now I only use the space heater which keeps it between 64 and 68 degrees. Summertime I'll only need the A/C unit.
 
I have a chest freezer that is outside and am now needing to heat during fermentation.

I am wondering if anyone has had problems where you use a light bulb to heat and it gets up to temp and fermentation pushes the temp over the desired temp.

For example, if I wanted to ferment at 65, the light bulb takes it up to 65 and a vigorous fermentation starts and takes the beer up to 68 for example. I don't have a dual stage controller and don't want things getting out of control I guess. We are still in the 60s for the high here and seems like this could happen.
 
I have a chest freezer that is outside and am now needing to heat during fermentation.

I am wondering if anyone has had problems where you use a light bulb to heat and it gets up to temp and fermentation pushes the temp over the desired temp.

For example, if I wanted to ferment at 65, the light bulb takes it up to 65 and a vigorous fermentation starts and takes the beer up to 68 for example. I don't have a dual stage controller and don't want things getting out of control I guess. We are still in the 60s for the high here and seems like this could happen.

Without some sort of PID or PI controll, you are always gonna have an error in setpoints. More importantly, if you want the temperature of the beer measured, then you need to measure in the beer. Measuring the air around the beer doesn't tell you the temp of the beer, especially if it's fermenting.
 
Without some sort of PID or PI controll, you are always gonna have an error in setpoints. More importantly, if you want the temperature of the beer measured, then you need to measure in the beer. Measuring the air around the beer doesn't tell you the temp of the beer, especially if it's fermenting.

oh I realize that, I have thermowells but my thing is I only have a single stage ranco and need to either go with heating or cooling and being outside right now it could go both ways on what it needs depending on what is happening. I guess I will just have to watch it closely.
 

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