Heating a conical

[dannythemanny]

Hi all,

I've recently purchased a 30 L SS conical. I haven't yet thought about how to maintain fermentation temps. It will be in an outbuilding, so very cold. A ferm chamber is not an option due to lack of space. I'm thinking the simplest way may be to buy some sort of heating pad and control it with an Inkbird style thermostat. However, I've heard that that might not be safe due to the potential for the fermenter to become live if there is a tear or something in the heating pad. Not sure how much of a risk this actually is, though..? But it would be nice to not have to worry about it.

Another option is that the fermenter has a cooling coil in the lid. Presumably I could pump warm water through it to raise the temperature? This seems a bit of a faff, though, because then I would have to set up a pump in some sort of receptacle of water, and some method keeping the water warm.

I doubt that I'm the first person to face this issue, but I've read varying opinions about the safety of the former option, and haven't heard of anyone doing the latter. What do you all think?

Cheers!

 

[Buffers brewery]

If you're worried about the electrical safety of the conical why not fix a stout earth wire to it (making sure there's good continuity between it and the place where you intend to fit your heat pad). Fit a three pin plug to the earth wire (no connections to the live and neutral terminals) and plug it in. Alternatively fit it (the earth wire) to the heat pad plug earth connection if that's possible.