Fermentation Chamber Heating Recommendations

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thomer

thomer

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I have an old freezer (with Inkbird controller) which I am using as a fermentation chamber.
I live in Phoenix AZ so cooling is more important to me.
However in the winter the temp does get down to about 65 degrees in the chamber if left unheated.
So I don't need much heat, just enough to raise it a few degrees.
Any recommendations?
 
C1B2358C-763E-40F5-93C5-36889E7C9D67_1_105_c.jpeg


Wow @MaxStout beat to the reptile lamp in a ceramic base. I took a bit longer to get this picture which shows how I set it up. The ceramic base sits on that plywood square. The metal tube with holes in bottom covers the base/bulb. At the top of the tube is a muffin fan. This one comes with a normal plug and is always on. I find having constant air circulation in the chamber helps with temperature stability whether the controller is calling for heat, cooling or nothing at all. I also have one of these fans in my keezer.
 
FermWrap works really well. Shop around because it can be found fairly cheap under the name "Heat Tape for reptiles". Wrap it around your fermenter and plug it into a temperature controller. Make sure the temp probe is also attached to the fermenter and insulated so you are measuring the temp of your beer and not the ambient air.
 
MaxStout said:
@eric19312, I like the chimney design with fan.

Mine is in one those surface-mount ceramic lamp receptacles, mounted on a small board. I have a 120v computer fan behind it to blow across the ceramic heater and move the air inside.
Click to expand...
I think my receptacle is same as yours. Usually see them mounted to a basement ceiling... The fan is blowing up, to pull air past the bulb and push it out the top of the chimney. This is to prevent air from startifying with colder air pooling in bottom of the freezer and warmer air collecting in the top.
 
For @thomer, you probably won't need much wattage to keep it warm in Phoenix winters, unless the chamber is really huge.

For comparison, I have a 7 cu ft freezer with an added insulated collar on top, so probably 9 cu ft or so. It sits in an unheated garage in Minnesota, and I have no trouble maintaining warm temps inside it with a 50w ceramic heater bulb. If you go that route, they make 25w versions, which might be all you need to bump temps a bit. Alternatively, a small seedling heating mat around the same wattage should do well.
 
MaxStout said:
Beat me to it, @DBhomebrew!

I use a small ceramic infrared heating lamp, that screws into a light socket. The seedling mat is another good option.
Click to expand...
+1 for the seedling mat. I have two of them running vertically in my glass door fermentation chamber and that setup works great. Mine is indoors, but my basement temp in winter is probably the same as the outdoor temp in Phoenix...
 
thworted said:
+1 for the seedling mat. I have two of them running vertically in my glass door fermentation chamber and that setup works great. Mine is indoors, but my basement temp in winter is probably the same as the outdoor temp in Phoenix...
Click to expand...
Yup, me too. I've had 2 of these waterproof seedling mats for about 3 years, and they work great. I think they're about $20 for 2 of them on Amazon. I epoxied some pvc caps to space the mats from the fridge walls and added some plastic clips I had laying around to hold them in place. My basement temp in the winter is around 65 and these supply more than enough heat for my purposes. In fact, I just did kveik hornindal cider with carrot juice, fresh ginger, and turmeric. That's not what is pictured here below, but it looks and tastes like Tang! The chamber easily held 88 for the several days it was in there.
ferm chamber.jpg
 
kc.rkitek said:
Yup, me too. I've had 2 of these waterproof seedling mats for about 3 years, and they work great. I think they're about $20 for 2 of them on Amazon. I epoxied some pvc caps to space the mats from the fridge walls and added some plastic clips I had laying around to hold them in place. My basement temp in the winter is around 65 and these supply more than enough heat for my purposes. In fact, I just did kveik hornindal cider with carrot juice, fresh ginger, and turmeric. That's not what is pictured here below, but it looks and tastes like Tang! The chamber easily held 88 for the several days it was in there.
Click to expand...
What's in that Carboy? The inside looks so clean??
 
I use a fermotemp wrap (from Northern Brewer) and have it plugged into an inkbird 308 along with a 5cu ft chest freezer.

Does a great job maintaining temps and allows me to do controlled temp drops and increases pretty easily.
 
MikeCo said:
I like the way you've mounted the seed mats; I may have to try something similar with my reptile heater strip.
Click to expand...
I was just thinking the fan is more effective when the air can circulate all around the mats...IDK if it is or not. Seemed like a good idea at the time though.
 
Last edited:
My first heater was a small space heater that I got at Walmart for $10. It works okay. I am not positive how safe it is in a humid fermentation chamber. I like that it has a fan. The biggest issue with mine is that the "overheat protector" will often trip, so I cannot use it to raise the temps several degrees or to keep Belgian or Kveik beers at 85F or above.

On the other hand, I have been very happy with my VIVOSUN branded seedling mat and heat controller that I picked up off Amazon for $25. The mat seems incredibly safe and provides a gentle heat. I might wrap it around a single fermenter, or just prop it up in my chamber if I have multiple fermenters. It has worked great to keep batches of Kveik in the 85F to 90F range.
 
With my ink bird, I had been using a halogen shop light, but worried about how hot it got. I switched to an incandescent light fixture, but two years ago my wife got me a reptile type heating mat, and that's worked really well and I don't have to worry about burning down the house, melting my fermentor or anything in it.
 
kc.rkitek said:
Yup, me too. I've had 2 of these waterproof seedling mats for about 3 years, and they work great. I think they're about $20 for 2 of them on Amazon. I epoxied some pvc caps to space the mats from the fridge walls and added some plastic clips I had laying around to hold them in place. My basement temp in the winter is around 65 and these supply more than enough heat for my purposes. In fact, I just did kveik hornindal cider with carrot juice, fresh ginger, and turmeric. That's not what is pictured here below, but it looks and tastes like Tang! The chamber easily held 88 for the several days it was in there. View attachment 754526
Click to expand...
That Horindal Cider sounds very interesting. What sort of recipe did you use?
 
jcfontario said:
That Horindal Cider sounds very interesting. What sort of recipe did you use?
Click to expand...
Well, not as great as I hoped it would be, but maybe that's because I went all in instead of experimenting with only the apple juice and hornindal isolated at the higher end of the suggested ferm temp range. This was my first time with kveik and the thought was to really coax the tropical/pineapple out of the hornindal. It also was only my second attempt at cider.

My recipe was around 92% member's mark apple juice (7@96oz bottles), 7% bolthouse farms carrot juice (1@52oz bottle), around 6oz brown sugar, and about 4 or 5 'knuckles' of fresh grated ginger. I very briefly simmered the brown sugar & ginger in enough juice (can't remember exactly...a gallon or so?) to bring the entire carboy volume up from 65F to 85F and then pitched the hornindal. I set my ferm chamber at 85F for the first couple days then bumped it up to 90F for another couple. Finally, I unplugged the chamber and let it free fall. It was done fermenting in about 4 days I think...my tilt show no gravity change for around 2 more day after that.

I transferred to keg and dry hopped with an ounce of citra and let it sit for the last couple weeks. I've pulled a couple pints as it ages and it is very orange and cloudy (yeast and carrot juice particulate) and dry/tart enough that I'm back-sweetening in the glass with a little erythritol. I guess hornindal doesn't floc out so good? I do not really detect the ginger that much unfortunately...maybe should have left this raw or used more. Overall, I'm getting a lot of orange drink vibe from it and the citra definitely contributes to that. I just put the keg in the keezer day before yesterday, 2 weeks after transferring. Maybe some of the haze will clear, maybe not. It was an experiment worth trying, but if I do it again I think it will be only with only apple juice, maybe some turbinado, and the hornindal. I'll take a pic later when I'm home if you're interested.
 
eric19312 said:
Wow @MaxStout beat to the reptile lamp in a ceramic base. I took a bit longer to get this picture which shows how I set it up. The ceramic base sits on that plywood square. The metal tube with holes in bottom covers the base/bulb. At the top of the tube is a muffin fan. This one comes with a normal plug and is always on. I find having constant air circulation in the chamber helps with temperature stability whether the controller is calling for heat, cooling or nothing at all. I also have one of these fans in my keezer.
Click to expand...

I discovered that my 18watt fan actually provides plenty of heat. It's my go to heat source when I want to rise the temperature 5-10°F over ambient.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009OWRMZ6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 

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