how do you guys heat your fermenter?

[jourelemode]

if you don't have one of those warming belts, what do you guys do to raise the temp in your fermenter?

 

[moxie]

In a pinch, I once wrapped my fermenter in a string of Christmas lights... Way cheaper than a brew belt, but sort of unpredictable. If it's a glass carboy, you would have to figure out some way to keep the light out of the glass.

 

[jaba]

I use one of these if heat is necessary...

http://www.petco.com/product/6353/Zoo-Med-Repti-Therm-UTH-Under-Tank-Heaters.aspx

It keeps the carboy about 10 degrees warmer than ambient usually.

 

[AnonyBrew]

water bath & aquarium heater

 

[klyph]

Turn up the heat.

SWMBO: Why is it 75 degrees in here?!
Me: Diacetyl Rest
SWMBO: Your dice kettle has got plenty of rest, turn the g*d d**n heat down!

 

[Brewsmith]

Homemade heat lamp/radiator

100 watt bulb under a coffee can

It keeps my fermentation fridge at 68º through the harshest of the dreary Los Angeles winter.

 

[scrambledegg81]

Heating blanket. Under & over.

 

[martinworswick]

i use a heat lamp mounted under the fermenter with a cheap home heating thermostat regulating it, once active fermentation gets under way i put several frozen bottles in the styrofoam box its in to keep the temperature down as i'm not set up to cool just yet, the idea is that the bottles over cool the fermenter and 'fight' with the heating,it cost me nothing as i got all the bits from work and it works reasonably well for now.

 

[JonK331]

Heating pad, push low temp on ale, or make lager. Pick the yeast for the environment, not change environment for the yeast. Unless of course...

 

[rl1373]

same as above, I use a rubbermaid container filled with water and an adjustable fish tank heater. All can be had on the cheap.

 

[hbhudy]

+1 for the rubbermaid container/toat. I put some phone books in the bottom of one and then place a blanket in and put another toat on top to create an insulated container. Add a fish tank on a time (picked up an outside plug-in time for lights) and have it cycle on and off for 15 minutes about every hour(did some testing first) to keep a constant temp). Swamp cooler cheap and easy for heating and cooling and ironically it is "free" as the boss has a million around the house.

 

[dfc]

I just live in Arizona. My fermenting buckets stay warm enough.

 

[Improbable]

Stick the bucket in the closet with the water heater, which stays a couple degrees warmer than the rest of my apartment.

 

[SeaBass512]

I keep my carboys in the bathtub in our first floor bathroom. It's the smallest room in the house, so in winter I just close the door and adjust how much I open the heater vent. I left it open one time and it got to over 80* in there....and we keep the thermostat at 68 or 69.

 

[SeaBass512]

--Oh and I keep a towel wrapped around the carboys, but that's more to keep the light out, not for insulation purposes. I forgot to mention I bought a cheap $5 thermometer at the hardware store so I can keep an eye on the temp. in the room. Sometimes if I want to warm just the bathroom for the beer, I'll put a space heater in there for 10 min. at a time until it gets to where I want it.

Hope this helps.

 

[Skarekrough]

If you own a home don't overlook setting up your fermenters near your hot water heaters.

Last year we replaced the inefficient one we had. That thing was a heat monster; I could ferment and bottle in an absurd amount of time and the room was as dark as night all the time!

Now it isn't as warm but it's still warm enough to get the job done.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Electric ceramic heater and chest freezer.

 

[jourelemode]

thanks for the suggestions guys...i can't do the christmas lights thing since i'm using a carboy but I think the aquarium heater thing will do. So i just stick my carboy in a platic vessel and put water in it and immerse the aquarium heater in the water correct? how strong of an aquarium heater should I get? thanks

 

[scottyyyc]

I don't think everyone needs to add a heater, I keep it upstairs with the house at about 70, the fermenters are at about 71-72.

 

[hbhudy]

thanks for the suggestions guys...i can't do the christmas lights thing since i'm using a carboy but I think the aquarium heater thing will do. So i just stick my carboy in a platic vessel and put water in it and immerse the aquarium heater in the water correct? how strong of an aquarium heater should I get? thanks

I picked up the smallest one the pet store had that was fully submersible. Keep in mind that if you use 2 toats (roughly 19-20gallon with a blanket squished between them to help insulate) you can get that puppy HOT.. I encourage using something to cycle the heater on and off.. Northern Brewer sells a controller, but I used a simple 24hr timer to turn it on and off throughout the day. I had it on for a longer period of time at night as I let the temp in the house drop 60* during winter and up to 68* during the day.

Simple and easy and the water mass keep the temp from swinging when the heater kicks on.

 

[BigJerk]

I set my fermentor on a heating pad covered with a folded towel. I just turn it on low if I need a little heat boost (Opened the door to the brewery (spare shower) just this morning to see the temp had dropped to 60, Turned on the heating pad and now its a balmy 64, kinda like Palm Springs for yeast)

 

[celticcolorado]

I wrap my carboy in a blanket and set up an electric heater in a little corner of my basement.

 

[jkreuze]

I have more problems keeping fermentors cool than warm. Ever since I lined the walls of the basement with 4" of extruded foam insulating sheets it's a straight-up 68 degrees in there, rain or shine, cold or hot out.

We'll see how it goes in mid-January, though.

Gets pretty cold up here.

 

[jourelemode]

thanks for the info guys! I ended up buying a heating belt. I'll get a 24hr timer at radioshack or someplace tomorrow. thanks again!

 

[calpyro]

Water bath and fish tank heater. Has a thermostat and fine temp control. Best of all it is simple and cheap

 

[Yooper]

Water bath and fish tank heater. Has a thermostat and fine temp control. Best of all it is simple and cheap

That's what I do, but even though I live in a cold climate, my temperature rarely drops below 60 degrees, so I almost never need it.

 

[jollytim]

I like to show my fermenters porn... that get's them pretty heated.

 

[Heckle]

I use one of those oil-filled heaters that wal-mart sells. I set it up in a spare closet and put my fermenter in there and monitor the temp with an indoor/outdoor thermometer. I just put the "outdoor" remote part in the closet.

 

[cheezydemon3]

You are in Cali, ease down on the AC!

I live in Ky, and all my brews go in the basement because the rest of the house is too warm.

 

[maida7]

I use a ceramic element that screws into a light bulb socket. I have it in a cheap desk lamp in my fermentation fridge hooked up to a dual output Ranco digital temp controller. One side controls the heat element, the other side controls the fridge for cooling. I can dial in any temp and be within one degree of the setting. Hot or cold, it's da bomb!