cheap and easy temperature solution

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Brewberoza

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hi guys
so with the fall in temperature I noticed my old bottling wardrobe is not as warm as it used to be and consequently not warm enough to get the yeast active enough for full carbonation.

So how can i get round this?
 
The light bulb does sound easy. Right now I have moved a crate of beer next to a heater. Easy because a small yield. How do those plug in thermostats work?
 
bobsbeer said:
An easy way is to fit a incandescent light bulb. Even a 40w bulb gives off a lot of heat in a small space.
Yeah I've also heard of people using Christmas tree lights to do pretty much the same thing :geek:
 
peelman said:
bobsbeer said:
An easy way is to fit a incandescent light bulb. Even a 40w bulb gives off a lot of heat in a small space.
Yeah I've also heard of people using Christmas tree lights to do pretty much the same thing :geek:

Wow!!! :eek:
Gotta love homebrewers. We are not just a bunch of raving alcoholics! :drunk:
 
Brewberoza said:
peelman said:
bobsbeer said:
An easy way is to fit a incandescent light bulb. Even a 40w bulb gives off a lot of heat in a small space.
Yeah I've also heard of people using Christmas tree lights to do pretty much the same thing :geek:

Wow!!! :eek:
Gotta love homebrewers. We are not just a bunch of raving alcoholics! :drunk:

Speak for yourself!
:cheers:
 
i have bought two single electric blankets for about a tenner each, wrap them round the bucket and then wrap them in a blanket, the electric blankets have three setting on them it works for me
 
+1 for electric blankets. Plus they allow you to step up the temperature for specialty yeast like WLP56 Saison strain. Worked for me. Youjust need to work out what temperature each setting heats to. You can get intermediate temps in your wort by increasing the space between the blankets and your bucket. A bit tricky but a lot of benefits!
 
Brewberoza said:
The light bulb does sound easy. Right now I have moved a crate of beer next to a heater. Easy because a small yield. How do those plug in thermostats work?
A cheap fan heater into a plugged into a digital thermostat...easy peasy. If you can insulate your fermenting cabinet even better. Very cheap to run.
 
bobsbeer said:
An easy way is to fit a incandescent light bulb. Even a 40w bulb gives off a lot of heat in a small space.
I have a 40watt bulb in each of my fv fridges, works brilliantly.
 
I have a mauled hand and was given a demo under floor heating tile to warm my hand on. This draws around 18W and with body warmer and jacket can raise the temperature of the 30 litre fermentor 10 degs above ambulant the amount of course dependent on jacket thickness. However the big problem is the heat given out by the fermenting process its self, this is rather unpredictable so really need some thermostatic control. I can't make up my mind a cistern thermostat will clearly fit around the fermentor with easy would need to ensure temperature can be set low enough some start as zero other don't start until 40 degs but it is the gap between on and off temperature which is missing from many adverts. Room thermostats not as easy to mount but do say how many degrees between on and off to get 0.5 degs needs to be electronic type. But no gland for cables with room thermostat so rather a Heath Robinson afar. Fish tank heaters seem little on the large size min seems to be 25W and although they say fully adjustable don't give the range so again could be too hot. So what thermostats have been used and how well have they worked?
 
For any temperature controll you won't beat a pid controller. I.e stc1000 available on ebay cheap.
 

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