Heating and cooling fermenter

[Frigid4H]

The guys I brew with and I are going to be building a fermenting chamber, and since we're in Minnesota and it's going to be in a garage we need it to be able to heat in the winter and and cool in the summer to stay at a consistent temp. I'm going to lay out the ideas we've come up with and I'm hoping to get some feedback from people who've done this successfully.

The materials are going to be pretty standard: plywood, styrofoam board insulation, etc. We want it big enough to hold 6 carboys comfortably.

It's going to be located right next to a mid-sized chest freezer/keezer which stays right around 40 degrees, so for the cooling aspect we were thinking of putting an insulated duct with a fan between the two and using the keezer to cool the ferm chamber. We wouldn't want air to be constantly going from the keezer to the ferm chamber, so I'm wondering if there's some type of vent fan that would only open when the fan is on and stay closed otherwise? I may be dreaming there... Either way we don't want to ruin the keezer because it was just built and it's awesome.

For heating we were thinking of using the ceramic heating bulbs typically found in reptile cages. I haven't heard of many people doing that, so I'm curious why not. It seems like it would be easy to install and control with a thermostat.

We're having a ton of fun brewing (and drinking) now but we want more control over fermentation. I'd appreciate any feedback or ideas from people more experienced than us at this type of thing.

 

[samc]

With a keezer you are most likely limited to the lid for putting ductwork through it. Sidewalls are where all the coolant lines are located. Might be a bit inconvenient having ductwork in the lid.

 

[barhoc11]

Why don't you just get another chest freezer on craigslist and then temperature control it?

 

[Frigid4H]

Sam - the lid of the keezer was raised with 2x6's so it could go through that without compromising the freezer walls.

Barhoc11 - I'd thought of that but there hasn't been much for deep freezes on Craigslist lately, and whatever is there hasn't been cheap, which is why I look there. I can come up with the materials for this thing almost for free, and two of the guys I brew with are construction guys who are just itching to build us something.

 

[barhoc11]

Sam - the lid of the keezer was raised with 2x6's so it could go through that without compromising the freezer walls.

Barhoc11 - I'd thought of that but there hasn't been much for deep freezes on Craigslist lately, and whatever is there hasn't been cheap, which is why I look there. I can come up with the materials for this thing almost for free, and two of the guys I brew with are construction guys who are just itching to build us something.

I understand, I just think its going to be tough to get what you want and I am not sure how running one freezer to cool another would work, I imagine you would need the freezer to get much colder than you want to be serving at.

As for your heating element, a reptile bulb would work but just make sure the light isn't producing UV since that will skunk beer.. Check out my thread where I used reptile heating cable to heat, it seems to be working really well.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-heated-fermentation-chamber-285118/

 

[samc]

Going through the collar is a good idea.

As I recall someone did a thread on balancing the cooling on both sides of a side by side fridge for fermenting ales/lagers. You might want to search for that one.