Again: how to heat my fermentation chamber?

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John67

John
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Nuenen, Holland
Hee hello,

I only see old topics on this topic: there may be new insights...

As I mentioned in another topic I have an SS Brewtech Chronical Fermenter Brewmaster Edition. I took the spiral out of there, since I put the device in a refrigerator.

I work with the STC-1000. I still have to make something to heat the kettle, I used light bulbs for that, but the new refrigerator is made of glass and when I work with light bulbs again, my brewery suddenly lights up.

Question: Is there another safe way to do it differently?

(not https://www.ssbrewtech.com/products/ftss-heating-upgrade-kit ; I think it is too expensive for now)

John
Nuenen
The Netherlands
 
I have a temp controller that does cooling and heating for my fridge that I use as ferm chamber.
for the heat part I just use a 100w incandescent lightbulb.
 
I use a plug in heating pad from CVS. I bought the cheapest one I could find without the auto-off feature, I run mine and the cooling of the fridge off a raspberry pi and relays, but could easily be done with the STC-1000 or one of the inkbird products.
I can get the inside of my fermentation fridge up to about 75-78F without making the freezer part too warm(over 10F, I only keep hops and yeast and some frozen jugs of water for stabilization). I had no choice in the fridge, so the fridge and freezer run off the same cooling source.. I won't be doing kviek until I solve this a little better or the weather warms up and I can ferment in my garage..
 
I use one of these. Works great and because it has a fan it circulates the air.
 

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Thanks for the input. I am still looking for a heater for my fermenter. I think it all looks very nice as it turned out and would love it if it kept looking nice (is not a priority though). The glass walls of the cabinet are chic, but the disadvantage is that you can see everything ...

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Would a tube heater be what?

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The fermentation cabinet is in my unheated double brick garage. Would 35 watts be enough? Even if I would like to ferment a Saison in winter?
 

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I've been doing odd jobs. I decided to use a mirror heater ... What a disillusion: that thing hardly heats up despite the 40 Watt.

I don't have much room in my closet. I am considering providing my crafts with a thermal ribbon instead of the now placed heating and which has zig-zag glued in, but I can switch on an STC 1000 that switches to the set temperature: I keep seeing that they serve as frost protection and switch on under the 5 degrees.

What kind of ribbon do you use?

See photos for what it looks like now, all input welcome
 
I don't know if such a thing is safe.

It is a 200w ceramic heater, it has tip over and over heat protection built in. Connected to a ink bird controller it is safe. Is it overkill at 200w? prolly, but they are cheap, have a fan. and last for ever.
Eric
 
I use a seedling heat mat. Plugs in, provides gentle heat, and can be bungied around my carboy.

Examples here: seedling heat mat | eBay

+1 on seed germination mats. They're waterproof (safe) and provide gentle heating. Bungie cord or duct tape it to your fermenter vessel. Looking at the two seed mats that I have, the current draw for each was low enough that if I wanted to run both on the same heating circuit of my inkbird controller, it wasn't anywhere near the rated limit. As with any electric devices, check the ratings on your equipment/power cords before use.
 
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