Think this would work?

[arch1tect]

Electric Heater

I've been having an issue with some temp swings in the house now that it's getting cold at night. I was thinking of getting a heater for my fermenter but was unsure of what to get. I found this on one of my other sites to be a good deal so I thought it could apply to my brewing.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I wouldn't.

For the same price you can goto Petsmart and get a terrarium heater made to be used in wet conditions.

Just in case, ya' know.

Or just get one of those temp controlled ferm wraps.

 

[Yooper]

I have a cooler that I put my fermenter in. I add a water bath, and add an aquarium heater to the water and float a thermometer so I can check the temperature. It works great, and it was under $20.

 

[arch1tect]

I have two or three fermenters so I was hoping to wrap them all up in this in one shot instead of having to buy multiple heaters or a gigantic cooler. I'll try to price out the other options though.

 

[Yooper]

If you could put all of the fermenters in an insulated box, and then used this to provide heat, it might work. You don't want to have it touching glass, I wouldn't think, because of the possiblity of cracking and/or "hot spots". You would need to monitor the temperatures inside the fermenters with a stick on thermometer that doesn't touch the heater, too.

I have lots of fermenters, but I usually only brew one batch a week so I've never needed more room for primary fermentation. If you brew more than I do, though, I could see the need.

 

[arch1tect]

I'll give it a shot and if worse comes to worse, I'll give it to my wife for X-mas since she's always cold.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I have two or three fermenters so I was hoping to wrap them all up in this in one shot instead of having to buy multiple heaters or a gigantic cooler. I'll try to price out the other options though.

Electric blanket are notorious for hot spots and failures is all (as are heating pads). the one you link is just an under blanket rather than on over blanket. Prolly a design attempt to curtail shorted leads due to routine folding.

Sure, it's machine washable but not while plugged in.

 

[Yooper]

A question- when you say you have the temperature swings, I assume that you mean just in the room, not in the fermenter, right? It would take a LONG time for 5 gallons of fermenting beer to change temperature. In order to really need a heater, the room would have to be sustaining temperatures under 58-59 degrees.

One other issue with a heater is that it would probably be very easy to go over 68 degrees inside of them so you'd really have to be vigilant on watching the fermenter's temperature inside.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Yeah I also would not go with the mattress pad....
swmbo was looking at heating pads last night (knee is bothering her and she realized we don't own one) so I told her to look at a brand called Fermwrap D) . A couple reviews popped up talking about how Shotty the quality was compared to the pictures of them online. Anyone have experience?

 

[arch1tect]

I'm sure there is a better way for me to tackle this and like I said this just popped up on a site I use.

Currently I keep my fermenters in a closet in our living room by the thermostat. I figured this would be the most constant temperature in the house, but it still sticks close to 65F and would like to bump it up. My last two batches started bubbling within 4 hours or so but died out within 12 hours. I know not to use the air lock as a gauge but I do think I need to raise the temp in there a little bit.

 

[TechyDork]

I was having a similar problem. My house gets cold this time of year, 60-62 most of the time. I ended up getting two submersible aquarium heaters and using a couple of rubermaid tubs to hold my primaries. the heaters keep the water at 65 and this also allows me to bump the temp up a few degrees at the end of my primary to allow the yeasties to finish up.

 

[Yooper]

I'm sure there is a better way for me to tackle this and like I said this just popped up on a site I use.

Currently I keep my fermenters in a closet in our living room by the thermostat. I figured this would be the most constant temperature in the house, but it still sticks close to 65F and would like to bump it up. My last two batches started bubbling within 4 hours or so but died out within 12 hours. I know not to use the air lock as a gauge but I do think I need to raise the temp in there a little bit.

Bump it up? That puzzles me, as that is generally the highest room temperature I would even consider fermenting in. And fermenting beer generates heat, so it sometimes is 5-10 degrees warmer inside the fermenter. I like most of my ales fermented at 62-65 degree (NOT ambient, but the temperature of the fermenting beer) so I can't imagine try to warm up something that may already be at the high end of the fermentation range of the yeast I'm using.

 

[flagman]

SNB,
I noticed you have a Jalapeno IPA in Primary. Do you care to share the recipe?

Sorry for being off topic!!

 

[Brewin06111]

I don't know how effective it would be with keeping what you want warm but I can tell you electric blankets can be very dangerous. They have a tendency to short and spark causing fires if they are not taken care of properly. You may want to go a different route.