Incandescent light bulbs used for warming ferment chamber

[txtaquito]

So I have a wine fridge that I use for my fermentation chamber. Being in the winter season, I needed a warmer fermentation temp that the household ambient temp. I rigged a lamp to my johonson controller and put the lamp in the fridge and left the fridge unplugged. The lamp seemed to do the trick nicely but my concern is, will this incandescent light bulb hurt my brew? Its not constantly on, it cycles off/on as it needs to stay warm. What are y'alls thoughts? This is with my bucket which I think isnt a problem but now Ive transferred to carboy. Maybe I'll just throw a black shirt over the caryboy...

-Tex

 

[Gavin C]

Some info on skunking


I don't like that setup. It would worry me more from a safety standpoint than the skunking potential.

Incandessant bulbs get very hot and are a very inefficient way to heat a FV.

 

[day_trippr]

Considering incandescent lamps emit 90-something percent of their energy usage as heat, they're actually quite efficient as heaters. Certainly better than their intended purpose.

But I agree that jamming a heat source into such tight quarters is less than optimal for at least safety and effectiveness - heat rising and all...

I doubt the blue spectrum can penetrate that bucket...

Cheers!

 

[Gavin C]

Considering incandescent lamps emit 90-something percent of their energy usage as heat, they're actually quite efficient as heaters. Certainly better than their intended purpose.

But I agree that jamming a heat source into such tight quarters is less than optimal for at least safety and effectiveness - heat rising and all...

I doubt the blue spectrum can penetrate that bucket...

Cheers!

Yes, great producers of heat those bulbs. But heating the ambient is less efficient than heating the FV directly. That's what I was driving at on the efficiency point.

 

[nutty_gnome]

Just don't let this happen: Therad "Oh no! My Ale Pail melted!"
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=309829

That was me a while back. I still use a red bulb to heat my fridge, but I've mounted it more securely. I don't use carboys, I use buckets so I don't worry about skunking. I would thikn that a decent non-flammable shirt would take care of any potential problem.

 

[MaxStout]

It doesn't take a huge wattage bulb to provide adequate heating. What wattage are you using?

I use a 25w rough service bulb in a ceramic lamp fixture inside a gallon paint can. I punched a few holes in the lid to vent off any excess heat, though the can never gets hot to the touch. This works perfectly for the heating cycle in my 5 cu. ft. chest freezer ferm chamber, using an STC-1000. The heating cycle takes only a few minutes. This, with the chamber sitting in an unheated 20F garage in Minnesota.

 

[mongoose33]

If the vessel used in fermenting is large, or the temperature much below what you want to achieve, that light bulb will be on for a long time until temperatures balance out.

Once things are up to snuff, the light won't be on long each time but until then, and depending where the temperature probe is located, it may be on for a long enough time to cause heat problems.

My basement is about 65 degrees; I wanted to get the temps up to about 70-71 for carbonating bottles, so I put the bottles in a couple of cases where the lids could be closed, put a temp probe in one of them, then put an incandescent bulb in a fixture below them on ventilated shelves. This let the temp inside the cases rise 5-6 degrees.

 

[txtaquito]

Thanks for all the input, guys. This isnt by any means a permanent solution. Its a quick fix for limited funds until something better can be obtained. The ambient house temp is ~72F and I wanted the temp at ~80F. The light doesnt stay on for long at all - maybe 2 or 3 minutes and is a spare 60w I had laying around. As far as the carboy is concerned, I have put a black t-shirt over it and the lamp is far enough away that there isnt any danger of a fire. My only concern was the risk of skunking. I've also heard from someone that stratification could be an issue as well. The bottom temperature of the fv could be cooler than the top because air isnt being moved around inside the chamber. Recommended mounting a small 120v internal fan to circulate the air.....

 

[Vesteroid]

just anecdotal, but I have a pantry that use to have just a normal one bulb fixture in it. This is a kind of walk in pantry, so I could get in there and shut the door so to speak (but not do much else).

I was always amazed at how warm it would get in there if I left the light on. I would guess 10 degrees above ambient in the kitchen.

I changed the fixture to LED and now if the door is shut is actually colder in there as there is no heat duct.

That one bulb put out a huge amount of heat even in a space that large.

 

[DurtyChemist]

My step father does this and holds temps just fine. I use a fermwrap heater because I found one cheap. Slap a reptile tank heater on there if you feel like spending money and want some space. I wouldn't want the bulb in there because they get HOT and is be afraid to break it or burn myself.

 

[DU99]

Old decommisioned (170L)fridge uses a thermostat and has 25 watt globe, fits a 30litre Fermenter, which i cover with an old t-shirt,during summer i use bottles of frozen water.Does it's Job

 

[ChocolateMaltyBalls]

Reptile heat cable is the way to go IMO. Nice gentle heat spread out around the fridge

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

 

[vbwolpert]

I use a flood lamp inside a new/clean paint can. I took a reptile heat lamp unscrewed the shield. Drilled a large hole in the lid of the paint can. Inserted lamp reattach shield and tapped lid back on can. I also drilled a tiny hole in lid to have a visual of lamp coming on.