heater belt , quick question

[Toastie]

hello , just got a heat belt, is says not to have anything els touching it , i would like to rap it in a blankets as well , what do you think ?

cheers d

 

[Mark1964]

you need to use it with a stat or it will ferment your beer too hot

 

[Toastie]

really ? o bloody ell , the temp of the cupboard the kegs in still hasn't got over 20 but i spose it could be hotter inside the keg .

 

[Mark1964]

20 deg c is fine for fermenting even 18 is your better off standing your fv in a larger vessel and fill that with water like a bath or use an aquarium heater

 

[Toastie]

iv got no where to do it that way unfortunately , its in the keg now and just wanted some heat in it before i move it to its colder place on Sunday , since i put the beer it in the keg its been 17 or 18 most of the time , the air in the cupboard is now with the heat belt on at 21 but iv not get a stick on thermometer on the keg , i guess that would be a more useful reading , i can then take the heater off if needs be .


how much is a stat and does it measure the heat ov the bucket/keg or just the surrounding air ?

cheers d

 

[Toastie]

i see a few on ebay for 30 quid ish , i will just have to hope for the best . and keep a close eye on the temp i spos

cheers

 

[Mark1964]

you only need to condition in the keg it will be fine somewhere warm for a week a cupboard is ok. Then somewhere cool

 

[jonnymorris]

You can adjust the amount of heat your belt provides by moving it up or down the FV (higher up for lower heat). It'll need a bit of trial and error and this won't account for the heat the fermenting beer will produce but it is manageable. A thermostat is the ideal solution but it's worth giving your new belt a chance.

 

[evanvine]

There is no problem in wrapping a blanket round the FV and the heating belt.
I do this with 2 heating belts, as my garage is not heated, and control the temp with one of my PIDs.

 

[Dave1970]

I had some success controlling the temp with a heated tray on a timer plug. Your belt could work the same way. You'd need this type of timer plug not the digital type.

mine has 96 little push in segments (15 minutes each) I started with every other one pushed in to give 15mins/15mins off through the day. I then found the beer was ok during the day but getting cold at night so I pushed in a few more segments during the night. Once it started getting too hot I pulled out a few and so on. It actually gave me pretty good temp control and it's cheap - Ebay £2.99 delivered.

 

[jonnymorris]

Or, if you're really concerned, you could take your new belt back to the shop and buy an aquarium heater as mentioned in another recent post. About £8, thermostat included.