Regulating fermentation temp

[BeerOfThePeepHole]

I'm fairly new to home brewing and although I have dived in head first in terms of reading and learning the science of the art I am having an issue I am finding difficult to deal with.

I live in a 2 room apartment; fairly decent size but with poorly ventilation. My bedroom is hot but my living room is frigid (NYC so it's freezing at the moment.) The heat doesn't dissipate well throughout the house.

When fermenting my recent batch I had put it in the living on the kitchen table with a towel around it to protect from any possible sun exposure. For a few days it was 72/74. I would repeatidly freeze the towel and re-cover it in an attempt to bring it to 70. Finally it got there. Now with the recent plunge in temperatures I woke up this morning to it being around 68 degrees.

I am afraid the fluctuating will disrupt the fermantation. Is this something to be concerned about? Any tips?

All advice appreciated. Thank you.


EDIT: My heat is generated from the ground heaters that line the wall so a closet fermantation would heat the beer up.

 

[tjpfeister]

People who are very serious about consistency will tell you that it matters, but I live in an apartment that I have difficulty maintaining temperatures. In winter I have a little better control but in summer it is not uncommon for me to ferment in the 80's. I do this because what choice do I have? I look at it in a similar light to my water profile: I have little to no control over it and thusly it becomes part of my brewery's style.

That being said, I certainly would not be stressing over such small temperature fluctuations. But that's just me. It's sort of like my kegerator, the controller is set to keep the temp bouncing between 38 and 42, so the average temp is 40. So long as your average fermentation temp is where you want it you will get beer like you like it.

To further muddle my answer: Over the years I have identified several key locations in my apartment that are more stable in temp and are generally warmer or cooler than the rest of the place. I use these key locations based upon what time of the year it is and what style of beer I am making. Worst case scenario: Summer 90+ degrees -> Bring the fermenters to my parents basement

 

[nilo]

I recently had to brew at 85+F and this method below, using evaporation to regulate temp, worked really good.
It kept my fermenter at stable 71F when the air temp was in the 80 to 90 range.
Just wrap a thin towel around your fermenter, keep it wet with a fan blowing on it.

 

[mikeysab]

I live in staten island and have a 20 g BK. Lets combine our efforts and ferment at my house. Im in the middle of building a temp control chamber. Then on bottling day, you can just take your share

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

For heat, I bought a small inexpensive heater with a thermostat built in from walmart, and I use a spare closet to ferment in - the closet is in a spare bedroom.I can fit 6x 6-gal carboys in there, and when I set the thermostat @ 60F the fermentation stays right around 66F.

M_C

 

[BeerOfThePeepHole]

I live in staten island and have a 20 g BK. Lets combine our efforts and ferment at my house. Im in the middle of building a temp control chamber. Then on bottling day, you can just take your share

I would definitely be down to meet some fellow brewers in the NY area. Looking into LI homebrew clubs.


Thanks everyone for the advice so far.

 

[asidrane]

A NY area brew club could be fun.