Building A Heating Lamp For My Ferm Chamber

[bignath]

they look like a really good option to me.

Cheap too. Might have to do something like that for my D Rest beers...

 

[JoeF]

I second this. Got it form ebay for about $23 shipped. Wove it through an unused fridge shelf and placed it standing upright at the back of the fridge - everytime i've checked it since it's been 18.5 to 19 spot on.

I've heard you can route a board and sit them in that also - this is what the reptile peeps do and it heats up the board evenly.

Will try it with a Saison when it warms up a bit. No point in wasting all that energy! It'll be lagers for me for the next few months!

Further to this, with it getting colder overnight in Melbourne the reptile heat cord i purchased is only 15W and after checking the past few mornings I've only been hitting around 17.6c when having it set to 19.0c . Not too bad, but it's only going to get colder so if you are thinking about going this route I would advise you get at least a 30W +

 

[IainMcLean]

QldKev,

Since they sent you that link to Uxcell you're hooked on their cheapies aren't you

Must admit, they look good to me too.

:icon_offtopic: How's the new element coming? Anyone want to buy 2 unused KegKing elements for heating their ferment fridges via a tub of water?

 

[QldKev]

QldKev,

Since they sent you that link to Uxcell you're hooked on their cheapies aren't you

Must admit, they look good to me too.

:icon_offtopic: How's the new element coming? Anyone want to buy 2 unused KegKing elements for heating their ferment fridges via a tub of water?

It's become my first stop of deals at the moment, move over ebay...

So far with the one element I gave it a test run with 50L of water. No problems.
I ordered a couple more elements directly from them, to get some more power as the one by itself isn't going to boil up to a 100L of wort by itself, he needs friends.

Once they get here time for a brew day.

QldKev

 

[ekul]

Back in the day when i used to brew kits and my only source of info was dodgy brewshops and the can i used to strive to keep temps at a stable 25C. IN winter this was quite hard so i used an immersable aquarium heater. I cut a little notch in the top of the fermenter and plugged up the gap with blu tack so i could still seal it up with gladwrap. The heater had an inbuilt thermostat so i could set the temp exactly and walk away (25C) for 4 days. :blink:

At this stage i never used sanitiser yet somehow i never once got an infection using this method. I never made a good beer with this method either, but that was more to do with ****** ferment temps with ****** yeast.

I'm not saying this is a good way of keeping a brew warm, just putting the idea out there. If i didn't get an infection with a lack of sanititser, it might be alright with proper sanitation?

 

[QldKev]

Back in the day when i used to brew kits and my only source of info was dodgy brewshops and the can i used to strive to keep temps at a stable 25C. IN winter this was quite hard so i used an immersable aquarium heater. I cut a little notch in the top of the fermenter and plugged up the gap with blu tack so i could still seal it up with gladwrap. The heater had an inbuilt thermostat so i could set the temp exactly and walk away (25C) for 4 days. :blink:

At this stage i never used sanitiser yet somehow i never once got an infection using this method. I never made a good beer with this method either, but that was more to do with ****** ferment temps with ****** yeast.

I'm not saying this is a good way of keeping a brew warm, just putting the idea out there. If i didn't get an infection with a lack of sanititser, it might be alright with proper sanitation?

25c, how could they let you ferment that cold :unsure:

 

[Truman42]

Well the fan heater works well to keep my starter warm. It only switches on for about 30 seconds every30 mins or so. But it won't fit in my bar fridge with my fermenter.
In fact I've only got a 4 inch wide compressor hump so am very limited with what I can do.

@kev. Do you have one of those infrared heaters you link to or know anyone who does? If so How do they perform? It would fit perfect against the back wall of the fridge.

How does putting an aquarium heater into water keep you brew warm? I couldn't see the warm water giving off that much heat into the airspace so curious how this works.

I've considered putting the aquarium heater directly into the wort but not to keen to do this and directly heat the wort.

 

[glenwal]

How does putting an aquarium heater into water keep you brew warm? I couldn't see the warm water giving off that much heat into the airspace so curious how this works.

It doesn't need to give off a lot of heat as the water has a greater thermal mass than the air.

Try sticking a bucket of warm water in your fridge and closing the door - I guarantee the ambient temperature in there will rise fairly quickly.

edit: spelling

 

[Truman42]

It doesn't need to give off a lot of heat as the water has a greater thermal mass than the air.

Try sticking a bucket of warm water in your fridge and closing the door - I guarantee the ambient temperature in there will rise fairly quickly.

edit: spelling

Ok I will give it a try then. Thanks.

 

[QldKev]

I've never seen the ceramic heating before, so nope no-one I know uses them. I don't have any heating in my fermenting fridge, up here for both the weeks when it's too cold to ferment ales at 18c I just ferment a lager. (to give you an idea of temps, todays forecast is 17c/26c, so 18c is not an issue; but then I see your weather Max is less than our Min)

I would not use a fan heater as such in the fridge for the fear of the moisture level causing issue and shorts, but thats probably a joy of living in a more tropical environment.

I like the look of those ceramic infrared plates but keep them off any plastic surface, I would build a wire frame to have them sitting in.

Otherwise a few people have got the reptile heaters, which seem to work well. Either the mats or the cords.

A few people like the water bath in the bottom with the fish tank heaters, but once again I would not go that way due to the excess moisture level that would be created in the fridge, creating mould etc. But that may not be such an issue in the different climate.

QldKev

 

[stux]

Heat Belts.

They work very well and use no space

 

[Truman42]

(to give you an idea of temps, todays forecast is 17c/26c, so 18c is not an issue; but then I see your weather Max is less than our Min)

I would not use a fan heater as such in the fridge for the fear of the moisture level causing issue and shorts, but thats probably a joy of living in a more tropical environment.

QldKev

I lived in Broome for 18 years so know where your coming from. Did my first ever batch up there and it fermented at 26C in a cupboard in Mid November because I didnt know any better. I won the Coopers kit in a radio comp and you had to brew a batch which was judged at Matsos a month later. Pity I didnt know about AG and temp control back then, I could have kicked arse.

 

[Wolfy]

I think an ideal fridge-heater would be something that warms gently at low wattage (but not too low as Joe Pilsner found out), that way the temperatures will not spike up and down due to the large input of heat that a highly rated device might provide. In addition such high heat input also could cause issues in where to mount it and localized damage/melting of the fridge's interior.

For safety's sake - this thing is going to need to be turned on for weeks/months on end - I'd also prefer to use something designed for heating and designed for the purpose, not only should this be safer but also more efficient.

Brew belt, brew mats (or anything similar) or reptile heating cords/rocks/logs - used as a 'space heater' and not directly touching the fermenting beer - would all be high on my list of 'best' options.

It's easy to add a 12V computer-type fan or two to provide air circulation inside the fridge, so that should help keep things more efficient and stable too.

 

[ekul]

How does putting an aquarium heater into water keep you brew warm? I couldn't see the warm water giving off that much heat into the airspace so curious how this works.

Was this comment directed towards me? If so i was putting the aquarium heater directly in the wort.

 

[Truman42]

Was this comment directed towards me? If so i was putting the aquarium heater directly in the wort.

No mate, somone else was putting it in a water bath and I was curious as to how good it worked.

 

[lagers44]

I tried the heat lamp method with a 40w golbe in the fridge with the door closed and it worked fairy well until one day I found the globe leaning against the fridge wall and it had burnt a nice 10mm hole through it.
Now I use a heating belt wrapped around the fermenter hooked up to a temp controller set to 19C and the probe stuck to the side of the fermenter under the level of the belt.
This has worked very well for years now.

If you are short on space then the belt or pad would be the way to go.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

http://sillybeertricks.blogspot.com.au/201...dge-heater.html

Too easy.

 

[QldKev]

http://sillybeertricks.blogspot.com.au/201...dge-heater.html

Too easy.

Did you put the cover back on the diecast box? Just wondering if the globes to too hot being in a seal box.

QldKev

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Did you put the cover back on the diecast box? Just wondering if the globes to too hot being in a seal box.

QldKev

Yes. I thought people might be more interested in what I had done inside the box than the box itself.

I am yet to replace a globe.

 

[iralosavic]

I use a reptile heat lamp. Not sure what draw it is, but it's undirectional and gentle. I just sit it in front of the compressor hump and put the FV on the first shelf height.