How long before no light bulbs for bulb heater cans?

[estricklin]

Those handheld remote thermometers measure IR emission, not the temperature. They don't always give accurate results, particularly when pointed at non-thermal sources like CFL lightbulbs (which emit light by exciting phosphors on the tube surface with strong emission bands), or other objects with strong features in the their emission spectrum. I don't know if that reading is an accurate measure of the temperature of the bulb or not. Those thermometers are fine for measuring dull metals or other dull solid surfaces, but they don't necessarily work on e.g. boiling liquids, shiny surfaces, through glass, etc.

If the CFL bulb draws 16W of power, then the maximum heat it can provide to the fermentation chamber is 16W. All the power input to the bulb gets turned to light and heat, then the light gets turned to heat when it is absorbed within the chamber. For an incandescent bulb, a greater fraction of the input power is initially turned to heat, but eventually the rest is also turned to heat. Since it draws more power, it provides more heat. i.e. the first law of thermodynamics applies.

I'm guessing you didn't actually read all of my post above, but again I'm not arguing that CFLs produce more heat, because I clearly understand that they do not, they do however; last longer.

 

[dyqik]

I'm guessing you didn't actually read all of my post above, but again I'm not arguing that CFLs produce more heat, because I clearly understand that they do not, they do however; last longer.

I did read all of your post. I don't know what the lumens output of a CFL has to do with heating a fermentation chamber. If anything, it's a bad thing, as it gives more chance of skunking beer (assuming you don't take precautions), while providing less heat. In both cases, all of the electrical power used turns to heat, even that first emitted as light.

 

[LandoLincoln]

So much for trying to have a discussion. Why is it that the internet makes people take offense when you don't immediately agree? Oh well.

When you can't even agree on how an infrared light bulb works, then obviously the discussion isn't going to go anywhere.

 

[sablesurfer]

When you can't even agree on how an infrared light bulb works, then obviously the discussion isn't going to go anywhere.

Are you saying I have infrared incorrect? My sources have been wiki and some other sites so far. If you have information to prove my theory wrong please let me know. That is the whole damn point of my asking. Sigh.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Are you saying I have infrared incorrect? My sources have been wiki and some other sites so far. If you have information to prove my theory wrong please let me know. That is the whole damn point of my asking. Sigh.

I don't honestly know which of you is right. I'm just saying it's obvious that you two aren't going to have a constructive argument, since you can't even agree on the fundamental mechanism at play.

 

[PastorofMuppets]

i use a small hair dryer in my ferm chamber with controller.
works perfectly and has GFI incase.

perfection within a degree.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Although I will say this: I'm sitting in my office which is being warmed with an infrared ceramic heater, and while the most heat is being aimed by the fan inside towards me, it is indeed heating the entire office. So your theory that an infrared heater would have to be aimed directly at a carboy or carboys for them to be used as a heat source for a fermentation chamber seems to be incorrect.