Tiered system and temp control

[ttownbrew]

Ok guys, need some brainstorming help here.

In my garage, I have a small enclosed workshop that has a central air vent. One wall has two cubby hole areas on either side of a fireplace (never used) in the office on the other side of the wall. See pic:

I know, the shop is a bit messy right now but I just finished installing about 500ft of wood flooring so please forgive me.

I have been wanting to redo the workshop anyway and I want to incorporate my brewing equipment to the process. The bench you see is going to be moved to another wall so that opens up full access to the shelf area.

My thought was to rip out the shelving and replace with wire shelving to help circulate air. Use foam insulation board to line the walls, and fabricate some sort of door. From the bottom, I can run the floor vent into the enclosure.

In the winter I will be pumping in warm air to bring the fermentation temp up and in the summer I will be pumping in cold air to bring the temp down. We keep our home thermo right around 70 year around and this room with the shop door closed will maintain 55-60 in the winter or ~80 in the summer. I think piping the air directly into an insulated enclosure should maintain temp pretty well, but I worry it will get to hot or cold depending on the air.

If that becomes a problem, I figure I could regualte the air flow one way or another with vents.

Any thoughts on this project?

 

[FlyingHorse]

I'm about the 10,047th-ranked DIYer here at HBT, so take this with a grain of salt:

I don't know that the amount of control you're going to get over your temp is worth the amount of work you're going to put in. You're at the mercy of the house thermostat...if you're insulation's really good, you' could overheat in the winter and overcool in the summer. Or underheat and undercool...you just won;t be able to control it.

I think you could use the space to create a fermentation closet, if you add some auxilliary heating/cooling. Yuri_Rage's brew closet might be a good inspiration.

 

[Sea]

Yeah, it's a great place to build a fermentation closet, but you won't be happy with the temp control. Th cooler side isn't that big of a deal, but 80 degree ferm temp will make most yeasts produce Feusal alchohol flavors that taste nasty.

Get a two stage temp control, Ranco, or Johnson. Get the smallest window AC unit you can find, and a heat lamp, and Presto.

 

[ttownbrew]

Yeah, I suppose a closet is the way to go.

For the heating, what does everyone recommend? I have seen talk of a light bulb, heat lamp, space heater, heating pad, belt, etc. Will they all work as well as anything else or are their ideal solutions?