How do you heat your fermentation chamber? (Poll)

[MindenMan]

eval, how do you regulate your carboy temperature? I am sure you have have some sort of a 12v power supply. Is it "well, that is close enough..", or "what will I do when it gets real cold?"

 

[brewguyver]

Flex watt heat tape here (the expensive fermentech one) wrapped in metalicised bubble wrap insulation that you can get at Home Depot. I can get 10-15 degrees above ambient that way, without impacting my other fermenters that much.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

This. Floyd recommend it, scored. it. on Amazon really cheap and it works surprisingly well. Not only do you do you get heat, but you also get a fan onboard to recirculate air inside. Paint can isn't giving you that.

Mine has no fan, it's just a ceramic "light bulb". http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HBIYDDO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[westo2]

I also use one that I made. With my two phase controller I have used the setup for a ferment and ramp range of 62-80 for a strong dark Belgian so far. The chamber is a stand up freezer and the environment outside the chamber was 34-56.

Another vote for the paint can heater. I put a computer fan behind it wired up to an old DC adapter to circulate a small amount of air. Works brilliantly.

 

[ianw58]

I made a "Heater in a Can". After going through a handful of incandescent bulbs with delicate filaments, I went with this instead of a bulb...

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=16657676&lmdn=Brand&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

 

[thehopbandit]

I made a "Heater in a Can". After going through a handful of incandescent bulbs with delicate filaments, I went with this instead of a bulb...

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=16657676&lmdn=Brand&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

What are you using for the bulb fixture? Did you wire one up yourself or did you use something else?

 

[schematix]

I found this out by accident, but I use a fan inside my chest freezer to keep the air circulating. It also turns out that the fan creates enough heat on it's own that it will (eventually) heat the chamber and raise the temperature of the beer.

 

[butterpants]

Mine has no fan, it's just a ceramic "light bulb". http://www.amazon.com/Ceramic-Emitter-Turtle-Reptile-Heater/dp/B00HBIYDDO/ref=sr_1_5?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1387156331&sr=1-5&keywords=150w+ceramic+110v

You missed out bro, the fan model rocks!

 

[TungstenBeer]

I use a Fermwrap hooked up to an STC-1000 controller. Right now I just have it in a cabinet in the basement - so no coolin element - but this time of year my basement is in the 50s anyway so I only need a heating element for the next ~5 months.

My temp is always within .5C of target temp.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

You missed out bro, the fan model rocks!

Link?

 

[ndsgr]

Paint can heater with 40W oven light bulb in a chest freezer with the STC-1000.

I went with the oven light after burning out two regular bulbs. Could have just been bad ones, but the oven light has worked well going on 4 years now. I have raised temps to 85+ for a saison in winter (~50F basement).

 

[ianw58]

What are you using for the bulb fixture? Did you wire one up yourself or did you use something else?

The Can Heater. I just left the lid off because no light is emitted. Working great!

 

[butterpants]

Link?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XDTWN2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[okiejoe]

Rubbermaid tub and 100W aquarium heater here. Kept my ales warm in single digit lows. Thermal mass is my friend.

 

[beergolf]

Big cooler full of water and a 150w aquarium heater.

Got a saison sitting at 88 degrees right now in a 58 degree basement. Works like a charm.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003XDTWN2/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?pc_redir=1387209984&redirect=true&ref_=s9_simh_gw_p201_d0_i1

Cool, thanks! That's different than what I use - the link I posted above shows the difference. Mine is like a light bulb, but its coils embedded in ceramic material, that don't emit light. But I used to have one of these to keep my vivarium warm.

 

[butterpants]

The fan makes it a winner for me. Hands down

 

[eval]

eval, how do you regulate your carboy temperature? I am sure you have have some sort of a 12v power supply. Is it "well, that is close enough..", or "what will I do when it gets real cold?"

12V power supply connected to the heating side of the STC1000. My garage has heating and I keep the ambient temperature around 55F during winter.

 

[bctdi]

Truth be told, it (blow drier) runs for a few minutes every few ours on the coldest days. The thermal shut off on the drier never engages and it works well. I'm using it on a Ranco controller in a chest freezer.

I watched it like a hawk when I started using it because just the notion of it scared the hell out of me but, since seeing it in action, I can't see needing to go to somthing else.

Oh yeah, it also has GFCI built into it. I'm using it on a GFCI circuit already so not so important for me but it's another way they try to keep ditsy teen girls from killing them selfs with them and makes me all the more confident my solid state temp controller has the intelligence to handle the job.

I use a blow drier too for all those same reasons. Plus it has it's own built in fan for recirculation. It works great, it's cheap, safe, and the best part is no diy required....just plug it in and set the ranco...done!!

 

[Setesh]

I use Flex Watt reptile heating strips/pads. I already had them around from my herp cages, and they work excellent in my mini fridge chambers.

 

[Scutrbrau]

I bought a $10 ceramic heater with a fan to circulate. Works perfect in a two door beverage cooler(something you would get a soda out of at a gas station) in an uninsulated garage. Outside temp last week was in the negatives and it maintained 65 degrees.

http://www.laskoproducts.com/myheat™-personal-heater-model-100/

Same here. I just built a fermentation chamber around a mini fridge and this is what I'm using for a heat source.

 

[m3n00b]

Right now I keep mine inside and they stay in the low 60s. I usually put hot water bottles in the Rubbermaid container and put my fermenter in there for a couple of days to get it up to 70 to finish it off.

 

[arborman]

I use my MoreBeer heated/cooled conicle👍

 

[monkeymootj]

I use a lasko personal space heater in my converted garage under cabinet

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Right now I keep mine inside and they stay in the low 60s. I usually put hot water bottles in the Rubbermaid container and put my fermenter in there for a couple of days to get it up to 70 to finish it off.

I use my MoreBeer heated/cooled conicle👍

There you have the beauty of this hobby! There are so many ways to get the job done!

 

[casesensative]

I live in Florida...so I..umm..don't.

 

[tagz]

Aquarium heater in a growler full of water (inside my ferm fridge). Works like a charm.

 

[thehopbandit]

I bought a $10 ceramic heater with a fan to circulate. Works perfect in a two door beverage cooler(something you would get a soda out of at a gas station) in an uninsulated garage. Outside temp last week was in the negatives and it maintained 65 degrees.

http://www.laskoproducts.com/myheat™-personal-heater-model-100/

I have been leaning towards something like this, but am a little worried about how it is going to work.

For instance, I have a small ~5 cu. ft. fermentation chamber being operated by an STC-1000. The temp probe is insulated and taped against my plastic fermenting bucket. Therefore, it will be reading (close to) the temp of the beer, itself.

Let's say that the beer is currently 60F and needs to get up to 64F. The temp probe reads that the heat needs to kick on. The space heater starts running....and running....heating up the space. Now, the air in the chamber is going to heat up MUCH faster than the big thermal mass that is the wort (remember, the probe is measuring the temp of the beer). Given the nature of this type of heater, it is going to pump out much more heat than a slow, steady heating pad or something. To me, it seems like the chamber is going to get blazing (dangerously) hot since it will just keep running and running while the actual wort is taking longer to heat up.

Any experience with this?

 

[JayUnt]

I have the same size chamber as you. I tried to use a heater and watched it. It did get too hot, where the heater shut itself down before it could cause damage. It wasn't crazy hot, but hotter then those heaters should get because of such the small space. I've changed to the lightbulb method and it works a lot better. The slower heat makes me less nervous too.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[thehopbandit]

I have the same size chamber as you. I tried to use a heater and watched it. It did get too hot, where the heater shut itself down before it could cause damage. It wasn't crazy hot, but hotter then those heaters should get because of such the small space. I've changed to the lightbulb method and it works a lot better. The slower heat makes me less nervous too.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Home Brew mobile app

Thanks for the input. That's what I was thinking.

Did you just buy a light fixture or build your own?