Heat Source For a Small Fermentation Chamber

Has anyone used a forced hot air heating and cooling system for their fermentation chamber? I searched and could not find anything. I'm building a small chamber in my basement and the duct work is right there, so it got my thinking. I do that for a living so the work would be very easy for me, I just wanted to know if anyone else had any pros and cons.

Thanks!
-Mike

 

I do pretty much the same thing to cool my ferm chamber. I pull cold air from my keezer. I don't see why using hot air wouldn't work, though you may want to be careful about hot spots (don't blow hot air directly onto the carboy/bucket).

 

In a well insulated chamber, it takes very little heat input to maintain temp. My chamber has a volume of about 24 cu. ft., and I'm heating it very successfully with a 100 watt infrared reptile bulb controlled by my STC-1000.

 

I got a couple of the seed germinating mats that go under the germinating trays at the hardware store. They are very water resistant and spread the gentle heat of a fairly large area so you don't get hot spots or temp overshoot issues either. The STC will control it nicely too. I just wrap in on the bucket and use an old T-shirt to hold it in place. Worth a try, anyway.
Wheelchair Bob

 

I have a 15cu ft upright freezer for my ferm chamber, and I just use a regular 60w incandescent table lamp inside to generate the heat. Of course, I live in S. Arizona, so it doesn't get too awful cold here. However, I do find that when I have a batch that is actively fermenting, the heating almost never runs. It's a really shoddy setup right now because I don't have a proper lamp (I just have it propped up in a box), but you can see how simple it is.

-Josh

 

They make those reptile heaters that are enclosed in ceramic too so no light will shine out as well. Saw it on good eats.

 

I use a small ceramic heater in my upright freezer.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lasko-Products-My-Heat-Personal-Heater/16503222





I picked this up for $12.99 at walmart. It's small and heats up the freezer nicely, plus it doesn't put off any light.