brew belt heater question.

Question for those who have used the bucket/carboy brew belts... have you or can you use multiple belts on fermentation buckets? My basement normally is in the 60-70 degree range but is currently a bit on the warm side for brewing ale. As my basement is the coolest place in the house i'm considering using my second fridge which normally contains beverages and additional food stock so i have to keep the fridge in the 40's. For lagers i'm guessing 1 belt would be fine, but for ale the temp will be too low with 1 belt if i consider a 10 degree rise in temp. Could i use 2 belts to raise the temp by 20 degrees which would put me into the 60 degree range?

You are assuming that one belt isn't sufficient to bring it to ale temps. Is that a correct assumption?

So you want to put an ale in a 40 degree fridge and then put brew belts on it to raise the temp to 60 while the fridge is at 40? This is how I imagine this working out. The brew belt will result in temp rise in the fridge so the fridge will kick on to cool. Depending on their heating/cooling capabilities you will end up with one of three scenerios:

cooling is much higher than heating so fridge will cycle constantly while the brew belts continously run
they will both run continously and reach equilibrium somewhere between 40-60
the heat is much higher than cooling and the fridge will continuously run while the brew belts cycle

End result is that you will not get stable fermentation temp and your food will likely be exposed to temps considered unsafe for storage.

Another possible outcome is a rip in the space-time continuum.

See: Dividing by zero.

JohnnyO said:

Another possible outcome is a rip in the space-time continuum.

See: Dividing by zero.

Click to expand...

Damnit, I somehow neglected that potential . However, if that should happen I'm sure some tachyon particles will fix it.

Try wrapping the carboy in some insulation, blankets, sleeping bag, etc. that should help get the carboy temp up without putting as much stress on the ambient temp in the fridge.

broadbill said:

You are assuming that one belt isn't sufficient to bring it to ale temps. Is that a correct assumption?

Click to expand...

Yeah that is my assumption. I should prob put it in a cooler with ice packs and water

Swamp coolers work excellent in a 60-70F basement. You get half the temp increas from fermentation heat with nearly twice the volume of liquid, plus a 1L water bottle or two each morning and evening keeps things on the low side of 60s. Or put a t-shirt over the fermentor and put a box fan on it and the evap will carry lots of heat away.