Chest Feezer Fermenter Dumb Question

So I wanted to get a freezer to use a fermenter as I had some issues this past summer with the beer fermenting at too high a temperature in the house this past summer (live in Texas), but the chest is going to have to be in the garage, so if I put a Johnson control on it like I did my keezer, I get it will kick on when it starts to get too hot, but what about when its winter and my garage is 40 degrees, will a freezer "heat up" to a appropriate temperature?

It theoretically will heat up to the ambient temp, so 40 degrees (or whatever it happens to be in your garage). If you want it to be warmer, you would want to invest in some sort of heating element, i.e. powered heat wrap, ceramic bulb, etc. Im not too familiar with the Johnson, but I know my temp controller has a plug for cooling (to turn the freezer on) and a plug for heat and I can set the desired temps on both

People use light bulbs, ceramic or lizard tank heaters in conjunction with stc1000 controllers.

Your freezer will insulate its contents somewhat from colder outside temperatures, but it will not supply any actual heat. If you need to raise temperatures about ambient you will need a temperature controlled heat source (light bulb in can, small heater, reptile tape.)

i had this same issue. i live in southern california and we had high heat until about october. i started with a chest freezer and an STC-1000 setup. cheaper than your johnson control, but yours is simply a plug in play. i was really happy until it got cold and my beer was fermenting at 12 degrees C. I saw a lot of options like the lightbulb and paint can but I ended up buying something called a FermWrap from morebeer.com. I chose this because it was still relatively inexpensive ($30) and it is specifically marketed toward this function. it works well with my STC and all i had to do was plug it in and it began regulating the temp.

good luck with whatever you choose!

That is what I was wondering, if I wanted to hold it at say 65 degrees and the garage is 40, not sure how to do it. So basically I would need to put something in there to heat the freezer and then let the controller kick on if it started to get too warm, basically a battle of temperatures when it does get that cold, which shouldn't be that much here in Texas

oldstyle244 said:

That is what I was wondering, if I wanted to hold it at say 65 degrees and the garage is 40, not sure how to do it. So basically I would need to put something in there to heat the freezer and then let the controller kick on if it started to get too warm, basically a battle of temperatures when it does get that cold, which shouldn't be that much here in Texas

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Correct. I had the same issue here in SoCal, so I just bought the same 30$ fermwrap as mentioned above. Does the trick the 1 or 2 times a year I need it

I also use the Morebeer heaters. I use a 30 gallon fermenter, so I use two of them so more of the fermenter outer surface is covered, but one would be fine if you're doing 5 gallon batches. I use a Fermostat temp controller and it keeps the temp very steady inside the freezer, which is in the garage. We often have wide daily variances in temp where I live and I would not be able to control my temps without both heating and cooling.

Cool, thanks all, I am going to try that route

jdemshki said:

I ended up buying something called a FermWrap from morebeer.com. I chose this because it was still relatively inexpensive ($30) and it is specifically marketed toward this function.

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I actually made the mistake of purchasing the fermwrap originally as well for my first fermenter, and it works just fine attached to an ale pail in my mini-fridge. Now that I'm looking into a heat source for my second fermenter (chest freezer like the OP) I did some research and it turns out that fermwrap is just reptile heat tape, which places call "fermwrap" and charge a premium for. Try looking online for some and see if you can't save some bucks.

Is your Johnson controller two stage (i.e. one plug for heat and one for cold). If so, you can use any previously mentioned heat source, plug it into the heat side of controller, cold side into the freezer and essentially ‘set and forget’. Only one of the two would be ‘firing’ at a given time.

If it’s a single stage (either heat or cold), then you’d have to do a little more work.

First way to do it would be to monitor temps manually and connect the controller to either the freezer or heat source manually (PITA if temps swing up and down).

Second is as described by others where you plug in a fermwrap or heat source to run all the time and let the cooling ‘battle’ it down to temp (easier but throwing electric money down drain).

Third would be to plug that heat source into one of those cheap timers that you can set to turn on or off every hour (some you can set every 15 minutes), and play with how often you need to run the heat to keep the temps up (seems like even more PITA than first option).

Fourth would be to get yourself a second single stage controller to run as heat (or just get a new two stage controller, above mentioned STS-1000 is great if your electronically inclined enough to wire up an outlet)

drgonzo2k2 said:

I actually made the mistake of purchasing the fermwrap originally as well for my first fermenter, and it works just fine attached to an ale pail in my mini-fridge. Now that I'm looking into a heat source for my second fermenter (chest freezer like the OP) I did some research and it turns out that fermwrap is just reptile heat tape, which places call "fermwrap" and charge a premium for. Try looking online for some and see if you can't save some bucks.

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I got mine from reptile basics. They sell heat 12" wide heat tape by the foot ($3/foot), then you can got the clip/connector set for $4, have them connect it all for you before shipping (99c) and the $7 for shipping. I got a 2 foot one of these, which is essentially IDENTICAL to a fermwrap for $17.98 including shipping.

You'll pay close to double that for a fermwrap, not including shipping. I tape mine inside my fermchamber (converted dorm fridge on an STC1000 thermostat) and it works perfectly.