How quickly should inkbird mat raise temps?

[Monmouth00]

I just got the inkbird 308 and the 20w heating mat through the awesome offer in the sponsor forum.
I’ve plugged it all in and have set the temp at 68F.
The temp probe in the thermowell is reading 65F, and the 308 indicates the heating mode is on.
It’s been about an hour, and the temp hasn’t budged from 65F. The mat also doesn’t really feel warm to the touch.
Did I get a defective mat, or am I just really impatient?
How quickly should it raise temps? I’ve taped it to the side of the Big Mouth Bubbler. Is there one side or another of the mat that should be facing the carboy?
Thanks All!

 

[DBhomebrew]

One selling point of the 20w mat is its very gentle warming. I wrap it around my fermenter then place the fermenter's box over it upside-down to give it a cozy dark home. Try a wrapped blanket, sheet, or somesuch.

 

[grampamark]

20W is 68 BTU. You’re not going to heat a relatively dense liquid very rapidly with that much energy.

I use a 40W bulb inside a piece of 3” aluminum dryer duct. It takes about 24 hours to raise 5 gallons of beer 2° F with that unit. The ambient temp in the fridge goes up pretty quickly; the liquid, not so much.

 

[IslandLizard]

As said before, wrap the heater around your fermenter, and wrap some insulation (blanket, towels, sleeping bag, bubble wrap, Reflectix, etc.) around that whole setup.

Otherwise you may lose as much heat to the environment as the "mat" generates. 20W is not all that much power, unless you can trap most of it. It then adds up over time.

 

[Saunassa]

I use a fermwrap taped around the outside of my big mouth bubbler and the fermenter on a piece of cardboard. Just the act of wrapping a heavy towel around the outside makes all the difference. Oh and I may or may not have ( not admitting anything) plugged the wrap into the wrong outlet on the inkbird more then once.

 

[Sammy86]

I just got the inkbird 308 and the 20w heating mat through the awesome offer in the sponsor forum.
I’ve plugged it all in and have set the temp at 68F.
The temp probe in the thermowell is reading 65F, and the 308 indicates the heating mode is on.
It’s been about an hour, and the temp hasn’t budged from 65F. The mat also doesn’t really feel warm to the touch.
Did I get a defective mat, or am I just really impatient?
How quickly should it raise temps? I’ve taped it to the side of the Big Mouth Bubbler. Is there one side or another of the mat that should be facing the carboy?
Thanks All!

No very fast at all...its 20W...going to take a nice, long, gentle warming up.

 

[Monmouth00]

I’m going to wrap some extra reflectix around it. Thanks!!!

 

[IslandLizard]

I’m going to wrap some extra reflectix around it. Thanks!!!

Put something insulating (e.g., a towel) underneath too. Heat loss through the bottom can be considerate, and often overlooked.

 

[Monmouth00]

Put something insulating (e.g., a towel) underneath too. Heat loss through the bottom can be considerate, and often overlooked.

Yep- I realized it was sitting on a cold tile floor, likely sucking heat from the carboy. So as you suggested, I put a towel under it. Wrapped with reflectix, and put a blanket on top. Temp has already come up about half a degree in the last hour or so.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

How quickly should it raise temps?

In my experience, not very quickly (or at all). Of course, my fermentation fridge is in my garage, so the temps might have been too low for the mat to overcome. I stopped using after ~48 hours and went back to my low-wattage space heater.

 

[phbern]

I just got one through the offer as well. Took about 10-12 hours to get 6 gals of 50f water to 71f. Holding there nicely for the last 3 hours. I have mine wrapped in reflectix inside a CoolBrewing insulated fermentation bag. I put the reflictix on the bottom and top as well.

I do my fermenting in the basement which is a pretty stable 65f. I plan to use the mat for diacetyl rests, so the temp difference won't be as big as above.

 

[J2W2]

I did not jump on this offer because I'm already using an Inkbird WiFi ITC-308 on my fermentation chamber (mini-fridge) that sits in our basement mechanical room.

I like to raise my beers to 70 degrees to finish, which is possible in the summer, but during the winter the basement temps only run around 67. I've used a space heater, plugged into the ITC-308, which works but isn't the most efficient to heat an entire room just for the beer. Last batch I put a heating pad in the mini-fridge, not touching the fermenter. It raised the temp a couple of degrees in a matter of hours. Not sure if that's a good method or not.

So I was interested in the Inkbird heating mat when I saw the offer. I assume with a slow warm-up, it's fine to wrap it around the fermenter (I have a SS Brewtech Brew Bucket)? I did not want to do that with the heating pad - afraid I might "cook" the beer touching the sides of the fermenter!

Thanks!

 

[Monmouth00]

So after the reflectix and the blanket, the temps are holding where I set them.
I’ll plan to bump up to 71degrees for a diacetyl rest for the two days before I cold crash.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

Glad you got it sorted out!

 

[Monmouth00]

So I was interested in the Inkbird heating mat when I saw the offer. I assume with a slow warm-up, it's fine to wrap it around the fermenter (I have a SS Brewtech Brew Bucket)? I did not want to do that with the heating pad - afraid I might "cook" the beer touching the sides of the fermenter!

Thanks!

I would assume the 20watt mat is fine to wrap around just about anything. From what I've experienced so far, it does not get hot. It's barely warm to the touch, and takes quite a bit of time to raise the temps - even with insulation. I would say it's totally fine to put in direct contact with anything.

Good luck!