Ferm Chamber question

[Beer_Maker]

So a few years back I built a ghetto fabulous ferm chamber in a closet in my old apartment. Basically it consisted of a couple of sheets of foam insulation board held together by some 200 mile an hour tape. The cooling was done by an old dorm fridge and a Love TS2 temp controller.

I have since moved into a house with a basement and I'm going to be putting something a little more substantial together. I'll probably use the same type of foam board and just frame it out with some 2x4s and sheet it on the outside with plywood.

My basement is sitting about 55 degrees right now. What are the masses using to heat the inside of their ferm chambers during the winter months. And is it possible to wire up a Love TS2 to control both sides of the equation?

 

[Mista_Sparkle]

I used a 40 watt lightbulb to heat my old fridge chamber in 0 degree weather. It should do just fine for a well insulated chamber. Mine was in a clamp light with foil covering it so no light escaped.

Cant answer about the controller though

 

[krazydave]

I use a 15 watt ceramic reptile heater like this one
http://www.petco.com/product/5003/Zoo-Med-Repticare-Ceramic-Infrared-Heat-Emitters.aspx?cm_mmc=bazaarvoice-_-RLP-_-5003-_-productname_link

Plus a small PC fan to circulate air over it.
You can also use a reptile heating pad and stick it to the side of your chamber.

As for my controller. I modified a house thermostat and added a simple relay to turn the heat element on and off with the fan. I've never used a Love controller, but I'm willing to bet it could be done fairly easily with a little electrical research.

 

[gromitdj]

The TS2 will handle cooling or heating, but not both simultaneously. I believe you have to switch modes. The TSS2 is the one you want for that, but you may have to verify what the relay is rated for.

EDIT: After consulting the interwebs, the TSS2 has an 8 amp and a 16 amp SPDT relay, both @ 250v, resistive.

 

[AnchorBock]

Im planning on building a chamber that will hold two or three carboys in the bottom and will store buckets and other misc stuff on shelves above the chamber. Ill use a heat lamp..would a pc fan help at all with heat? 2X4s, plywood, insulation, lamp and a temp controller...should be fairly simple.

 

[Beer_Maker]

Kind of what I had in mind. I will just have to change the mode when it starts to warm up down there.