Noob Fermentation Chamber Questions

Just came up with the idea of building a fermentation chamber in the last 24 hours, and need some input.

I will presumably be building my fermentation chamber out of a $40 GE Freezer

1) I already understand I need a temperature controller. What's the most economical/reliable choice out there? If I can buy it off Amazon, the better (I have an Amazon prime account). I want to keep my costs low as the wife is already going skitzo over the $$$ going into my new hobby/addiction.

2) With the temperature controller, how does that regulate the temperature..... I mean I am assuming I hook it up to the freezer controls to cool down the chamber, but what is my method to heat it up? My garage is at 30 degrees sometimes at night (I live in Denver). That's where I want to house this thing, so I need some type of heating component.

if someone has made one of these before and can assist me in the process I would really appreciate it. I'm a novice at all of this and I don't have the handyman lingo down. All of the brewery contraptions I am making are my first experience in more advanced Tool Time. The more explanation the better.

Thanks in advance!

Cheapest Temp control is the STC-1000. $17.75 on Amazon Prime.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008KVCPH2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

This will need to be wired but I did it and I suck at electronics, there are several great threads on how to do this. It takes an hour at the most. Plug controller into the wall, plug freezer into the controller. Attach temp probe to carboy and away you go. Total cost for controller once you add plug and box to hold it, less than $30.00.

Here is a start on the temperature controller

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ebay-aquarium-temp-controller-build-163849/

I prefer to hard wire the temp controller in, however a many guys have wired a power box that you plug the freezer into and have had great success.
as far as the heat side you can wire a light socket with a ceramic heater used for reptile aquariums, or a light bulb in a paint can, or even a cheap space heater. More pricy options would be a Fermwrap:

http://morebeer.com/products/fermwrap-heater.html

or a heating pad under the carboy. With your location in an unheated garage, a heating option would be essential. My chamber is in a heated room so the cooling option is all I need. There are lots of write ups here on HBT and depending on what you are working with Im sure you could find something similar that has already been done. Fun project . Good luck.

STC is cheapest. I like my Johnson A419...prewired and fairly easy to switch between heating and cooling but won't do both. You would need a two stage controller to be able to cut in heat or cooling when needed without having to manually switch. I live in Southern Colorado so I usually have it set to heat in winter and use the insulation of the fridge to help maintain temps then switch to cooling in summer.
Your heat source depends on whether you want to heat the chamber or the fermenter. I use a Hydrofarm seedling heat mat duct taped to my carboy and it works great. About $20 on Amazon & the small one works fine. They also make a cheap ($30ish) temp controller but lowest temp is 68°...fine for most ales and pretty cheap for a prewired controller with a temp probe. Reptile heaters or a lightbulb in a paint can are inexpensive options for heating the chamber.

I just built a ferm chamber and am waiting for my STC 1000 to arrive. I ordered it from Amazon for less than $20.

I will have 2 computer fans in the chamber, one that works with the refrigerator compressor and the other with my paint can heat lamp. The heat lamp is very easy to build with a paint can and light bulb assembly.

I can't figure out how to share the link to my build post from my phone now, but, if you perform a search for Fermentation Chamber Build in the DIY forum, I'm sure it'll pop up. I included a link to the heat lamp build instructions in one of my posts.

I shared a lot of photos and will continue to update that post as I get to the final product.

Here is the link to my build thread.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ferm-chamber-build-448200/



And here is the link to the paint can heater.

http://www.brewstands.com/fermentation-heater.html

spartybrews said:

I just built a ferm chamber and am waiting for my STC 1000 to arrive. I ordered it from Amazon for less than $20.

I will have 2 computer fans in the chamber, one that works with the refrigerator compressor and the other with my paint can heat lamp. The heat lamp is very easy to build with a paint can and light bulb assembly.

I can't figure out how to share the link to my build post from my phone now, but, if you perform a search for Fermentation Chamber Build in the DIY forum, I'm sure it'll pop up. I included a link to the heat lamp build instructions in one of my posts.

I shared a lot of photos and will continue to update that post as I get to the final product.

Click to expand...

FWIW i hope your confident in your wiring, those light bulb in a can things are no joke...those get so incredibly hot so incredibly fast they can easily start a fire in a contained space like that if something goes wrong with the STC...

Honestly i dont know why everyone doesnt just buy one of these for basically the same cost ..

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XDTWN2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Heater + Built in Fan plus it turns off automatically if it gets too hot. It has no issues heating my freezer, we are talking about a space that is a few square feet max..you dont need a giant ass heater.

I thought about the personal ceramic heater, but, I was able to pick up the paint can parts for less than $5 and it was a fun project.

Thanks for the heads up though! Maybe I will replace the paint can at a later date.

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I used reptile aquarium heating line. Works well, but only first time using it as we speak.gets warm but not anywhere near enough to melt anything.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OVBEEK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Same with the seedling heat mats-they will raise the temp in an enclosed space by as much as 20° and are the same thing the hbs's are selling but at a much cheaper price. I have used them taped to a carboy for over a year now w/ no problems but I just pulled one off a lager and taped it to the wall of the fridge to experiment with heating the space rather than the fermenter. Seems to be working just as well as I ramp temps from the low 50s to mid 60s for a diacetyl rest.

Thanks for all the replies fellas, I am far along on my journey.

- Picked up a $40 old GE freezer that I will be converting
- Picked up a ceramic heater with automatic overheat shutoff at Wally World for $15
- Picked up the STC-1000 temp controller. Should be coming in the mail today

Have a couple of questions still that I am just curious about...

1) Has anyone actually put any fire retardant protection inside of these things? There's some non-toxic stuff. I am considering putting a coat on the outside of the chamber. I literally am using this chamber for strictly fermentation/yeast starter only so since everything is "contained" I don't think it'd be a huge issue, and would lessen risk of something tragic happening.

2) As for placement/arranging things, I'm thinking the controller has to go on the outside. How do I then run the cord inside for the heat source? I was just thinking to feed the cord in between the lid and freezer and there wouldn't be a lot of heat loss because of the very small gap. At this point I am brewing today so drilling a hole is going to be a project that I may not have time for. Do people really go through the trouble of drilling through the freezer just for the heat source cord? If I do, I just assume you put expanding foam around it?

Thanks in advance

I use an old heating pad for mine. It works just fine. My garage recently has been in the 30-40 range, and I have had no issues keeping my fermenter at 68.

If you got the digital Johnson Controls temperature controller, it can be a pain in the spring/fall. As stated before, it is not a two stage controller. It supports heating and cooling, but not at the same time. You have to take the controller apart and change the jumpers around each time you want to switch between heating and cooling. I have one that I used a couple of times for fermentation, and now it is on my keezer. I replaced it with the STC-1000.

For the time being, I just run the cords between the door seal and the fridge. I just shut the door on them and have had no issues.

Thanks for the quick reply - I did order the STC-1000, not the Johnson controller. I knew I ordered one of them off Amazon - looks like I made the right choice.

spartybrews said:

I thought about the personal ceramic heater, but, I was able to pick up the paint can parts for less than $5 and it was a fun project.

Click to expand...

this is what I did for the heating mechanism and it works great.

brewcephus said:

this is what I did for the heating mechanism and it works great.

Click to expand...

The paint can heat lamp or the personal ceramic heater?

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arcaniment said:

You have to take the controller apart and change the jumpers around each time you want to switch between heating and cooling. I have one that I used a couple of times for fermentation, and now it is on my keezer. I replaced it with the STC-1000.

Click to expand...

Uh. It's 4 phillips head screws and a single jumper.

If you can figure out how to open a jar of pickles, you already have the skills necessary to open it up and move that jumper in all of 60 seconds.

2 minutes a year. Totally worth buying and wiring a new controller....