DIY Fermwrap Question

[paparker21]

Im about to order the stuff to DIY fermwrap, but i thought before i spent the money I would make sure it's going to work. So if you've got experience with the following setup, please chime in!

Fermentation chamber will by an actively cooling refrigerator set to hold 45 F. I'll only be doing stuff at the typical 60-65 F ale temperature with this setup. I have an STC 1000 which will ONLY be used (at this time anyway) to control heat. This means I need to average +20F into my fermentation bucket.

Will the standard 24"x11" fermwrap / flexwatt put out enough heat to make up this temperature difference?

If not, does anyone have experience trying to use 4 strips of 3" x 24" flexwatt to achieve the same goal? It has a slightly higher heat ouput as shown below.

from reptilebasics.com:
3"/6watt= .17 watts/sq.in.
3"/10watt= .27 watts/sq.in.
4"/8watt= .17 watts/sq.in.
11"/20watt= .15 watts/sq.in

Alternatively, is there any other, equally small footprint suggestion to heating JUST the fermentation vessel? This is going into the same fridge that acts as my kegorator, hence the concern. Eventually i'll have an entirely seperate ferm setup and the STC1000 will be used to control both heating and cooling, but for now i'm working with what i've got.

 

[TacoBrew]

How about a brew belt?

 

[jfrizzell]

I would think you'll be fine with the 11"x24" heater. That's the one I ordered from them and I've been fermenting in my unheated garage this winter. The garage is in the 40s and I've been fermenting between 63 and 68 without problems. The 11" flex watt stuff is 20 watts per foot so a 24" piece will actually give you 40 watts, but I guess your .15 watts/sq.in. agrees with that.

As for heating just the fermentation vessel, isn't that what you'd do with the flex watt wrap? Not sure what else you had in mind, but I have mine taped to the outside of my carboy and then I have the thermocouple taped to the opposite side of the carboy. I then have the whole thing wrapped in a blanket. This works perfect in my garage. Not sure how that would work in the fridge, but should be similar. I'm not sure how the fridge will like having a heat source inside the fridge, but I suppose it will cope by just running more frequently.

 

[paparker21]

I would think you'll be fine with the 11"x24" heater. That's the one I ordered from them and I've been fermenting in my unheated garage this winter. The garage is in the 40s and I've been fermenting between 63 and 68 without problems. The 11" flex watt stuff is 20 watts per foot so a 24" piece will actually give you 40 watts, but I guess your .15 watts/sq.in. agrees with that.

Perfect - i just wanted confirmation that I could make up the 20 degree difference and this seems to confirm it. I appreciate it!

 

[tsellmeyer]

It will make up the temperature difference. I use a fermwrap heater controlled by a Ranco thermostat in a thermowell. This I can use in the winter in the garage where the temperature is 40-50 and in the summer I put the carboy in the keezer kept at 40F.

 

[beardedirishman]

Yes, it will work, but the fridge and the fermentation bucket will be fighting eachother the whole time. If you're getting a temp controller to control the ferm wrap go ahead and get the two stage model and use one to control the fridge.

That's what I do, and then I actually have 5 feet of the 11" heat tape on the wall of my fridge rather than on the fermenter. Keeps whatever temp I want in my uninsulated garage.