good idea for warmth?

[ALPS]

Anyone ever use an electric blanket to keep the temp up?
I'm falling below 60 (already) and 2-3 brew belts cost too much.

 

[Sasquatch]

Where are you brewing that it's so cold?

A little heating pad under the carboy might be enough?

 

[david_42]

I've used a cheap electric heater to blow air on the fermenters. You only need one for multiple cans.

An electric blanket would work. A heating pad would probably be too hot.

 

[ALPS]

Where are you brewing that it's so cold?

New York State. More specifically, in the addition off the back end (North facing side) of our 100 year old farm house. That area is over an unheated crawl space. It gets a little chilly here in January and February.

With a one year old walking around, I needed to find a safe spot for my new hobby. I thought it would be easier to keep the beer warm than to keep the kid away.

The area is kind of small, only 4' or so wide, so I don't want to use a space heater or anything that would get too hot for the area. I thought I could put together a cheap "cabinet" and only have to warm an area of about 30 cubic feet.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Have you tried a Brew Belt?

http://www.ebrew.com/miscellaneous_equipment/brew_belt.htm

There's a cheaper one @ http://midwestsupplies.com/

 

[david_42]

Sounds like this is ideal for a space heater, just get one with a thermostat. I think I paid $19 for mine. Have you considered lining the space with rigid foam and making the whole area the fermentation cabinet? A walk-in is pretty posh! I'd put in 2 inches of extruded foam and then cover that with "tile board" to make it easy to clean.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

My wife has some heating pads that she uses for seed propagation in the late winter/early spring. You basically plug them in and they heat to ambient + some degrees F (I'm not sure what that figure is). But they don't get too warm, and I believe they have a thermostat controlled model. One of those under a fermenter might work.

 

[ALPS]

David, I had the idea to insulate the floor and the exterior wall(rear) of the cabinet with the pink foam board. Thanks for the tile board idea! I don't think this will be a walk-in, perhaps lower kitchen cabinet size is more practical. It will be wide enough for three carboys.

 

[Ed_Savage]

I bought two Soft-Heat dry style low-wattage heating pads from ebay. I won them for .99 cents, and the guy combined the shipping for both. I got them both for $7.00 total after shipping.

I will definitely use them this winter. We leave the heat turned off at our house while we sleep. I use the lowest setting. Then I set it on top of the pad, and just wrap a towel around the bucket or carboy. They work great.