Fermentation chamber heating question

The freezer will never heat up. But put a lamp in the freezer compartment and plug in into Mr. Ranco. Use a differential of around 4 (play a little with this one). For a 12 foot freezer you may need two lamps (or one big 'un). And don't just plug it in and go to bed, rather tweak it for a day or so and learn its nuances. I'm currently fermenting a Belgian in the low 80s using this method. The sole purpose of the freezer is to insulate the outside cold from your generated heat.

You set the Ranco in the Heat mode and the differential is below your set temp (i.e. initially set 67 with a diff of 4 to average 65). There's even some youtube videos that show this. You can accomplish the same with a ferm wrap . . . I just happened to have a lamp laying around.

 

I agree 1 or 2 100W light bulbs wired into the heat cycle of the Ranco should do the job.

 

Yep, you got it.

Best I can tell the probe is not waterproof. I just lay mine on the hump of the freezer which will accurately regulate the air temp of the freezer (not the wort).

Others will tell you to attach the probe to the primary and insulate with bubble wrap and use a very narrow differential. I'm not keen on this method. Instead I use an aquarium thermometer probe (Amazon, $3) placed on the primary (insulated with bubble wrap). I know about how much heat to expect from fermentation and set the Ranco accordingly, then cross check the aquarium thermo. Ideally your wort will swing less than 1° doing this. You can even snake the aquarium thermo line through the door and not have to open the freezer to check your temps. After about one time you'll figure it all out, I do recommend a test run with a primary filled with water.

The only time you would need a dual-stage controller is if you have major swings in temp and plan on fermenting absentee.

 

Or you can get a stopper thermowell and put the temp probe down it. Then you're getting actual readings of the fermenting wort temps.

 

Yes, this is what I evolved to, but guessed the OP might not be ready for this yet. My cheapie aquarium thermo is actually accurate and reliably measures the temp in the middle of the wort. I ferment in a bucket, so just drilled the top, inserted a grommet, placed the thermowell, and in business for less than 20 bucks.

 

I have also seen a hair dryer used for heat. Seemed to work well.

 

I used this:
http://www.reptilebasics.com/12-heat-tape

Following these instructions:
http://mattmegbrew.blogspot.com/2009/11/cheap-fermwrap.html

You could easily set that up on the inside of your fridge. I just use a large plastic tub and have it taped to the inside, connected to my Johnson controller (single stage). In the summer, the tub gets converted to a swamp cooler. A dual-stage would probably be ideal in your situation, but not an essential at all. You can just switch from heating to cooling in the warmer months, then when the ambient temp drops, switch back in the cooler months.

 

I use a 100W lamp to defrost the upright freezer in my garage (-20F is an excellent time to defrost the freezer). One of my Liberal nutjob friends once scolded me for not using CFL or, even better, an LED lamp for this purpose. I was too stunned to reply!

I would suggest covering the lamp with an inverted coffee can or something similar to shield the fermenting beer from the light.

I once used a hair dryer to defrost my freezer. It melted a hole in the plastic interior wall of the freezer. I would advise extreme caution when doing this.

 

I use a heating blanket for mine.

I would advise either building or buying a dual stage temp controller. With the single stage controller you can either heat or cool, not both. Lets say that you have the lamps on or the reptile heat pad or heating blanket and have it set to 65 with the temp probe taped to the carboy (this is what I do, more accurate of the wort temp than the ambient air temps). Lets say that the fermentation gets vigorous and you have that freezer shut (trapping all the heat inside). The temp of the wort gets up to 74 degrees during that vigor of high krausen and you have the single stage set at differential of 4, it turned off at 67, but there is nothing in play to keep the temp from going higher than 67, only from dropping below 63. You have nothing to cool the wort so it doesn't get too hot. Dual stage works best for regulating temperature for fermentation, single stage is good for when you start kegging all your beers and use that 12' freezer for kegs and need to keep the temps above freezing. Using the single stage means more work for you since now you have to unplug the heat source when the temps climb above 67 and then plug in the freezer and switch it to cool, and then make sure you switch it back to heat as the fermentation dies down so it doesn't get too cold (no heat source while in cooling mode) and put your yeast to sleep early leaving the beer green, under attenuated, and full of diacetyl.

My system is a dual stage that I built for $40 hooked up to a fridge in my garage. I have a heating blanket inside the fridge that is wrapped around the Better Bottles. I have the probe taped against the side of the fermenter, and a piece of thick cloth between the tape and probe to have it exposed only to the fermenter wall instead of the ambient air. I set it to the temp I want with a 2*F differential so 65*F is 64-66*F ferm temp. If it starts getting too hot the fridge cools it down, and if it gets too cold the heating blanket warms it up. After a few days I go out and up the temp a few degrees to keep it going strong, then a few days later I do this again so it finishes strong and cleans up after itself. After another week or so I will drop them temp down and let it cool to drop the yeast and stuff out. I just set and forget. Only time I mess with the beer from brewday to keg is to ensure that I don't have a killer krausen issue, and to take gravity readings near the end.

 

IMO, this is the best and safest option for heating up a freezer. It's cheap and all you do is just tape it up to the inside. I can get my freezer temps over 100 (used for sour mashing).

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Repti...&qid=1392225394&sr=8-1&keywords=reptile+cable