The guys I brew with and I are going to be building a fermenting chamber, and since we're in Minnesota and it's going to be in a garage we need it to be able to heat in the winter and and cool in the summer to stay at a consistent temp. I'm going to lay out the ideas we've come up with and I'm hoping to get some feedback from people who've done this successfully.
The materials are going to be pretty standard: plywood, styrofoam board insulation, etc. We want it big enough to hold 6 carboys comfortably.
It's going to be located right next to a mid-sized chest freezer/keezer which stays right around 40 degrees, so for the cooling aspect we were thinking of putting an insulated duct with a fan between the two and using the keezer to cool the ferm chamber. We wouldn't want air to be constantly going from the keezer to the ferm chamber, so I'm wondering if there's some type of vent fan that would only open when the fan is on and stay closed otherwise? I may be dreaming there... Either way we don't want to ruin the keezer because it was just built and it's awesome.
For heating we were thinking of using the ceramic heating bulbs typically found in reptile cages. I haven't heard of many people doing that, so I'm curious why not. It seems like it would be easy to install and control with a thermostat.
We're having a ton of fun brewing (and drinking) now but we want more control over fermentation. I'd appreciate any feedback or ideas from people more experienced than us at this type of thing.
The materials are going to be pretty standard: plywood, styrofoam board insulation, etc. We want it big enough to hold 6 carboys comfortably.
It's going to be located right next to a mid-sized chest freezer/keezer which stays right around 40 degrees, so for the cooling aspect we were thinking of putting an insulated duct with a fan between the two and using the keezer to cool the ferm chamber. We wouldn't want air to be constantly going from the keezer to the ferm chamber, so I'm wondering if there's some type of vent fan that would only open when the fan is on and stay closed otherwise? I may be dreaming there... Either way we don't want to ruin the keezer because it was just built and it's awesome.
For heating we were thinking of using the ceramic heating bulbs typically found in reptile cages. I haven't heard of many people doing that, so I'm curious why not. It seems like it would be easy to install and control with a thermostat.
We're having a ton of fun brewing (and drinking) now but we want more control over fermentation. I'd appreciate any feedback or ideas from people more experienced than us at this type of thing.