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Heating source for fermentation chamber

 
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Kevman007




Joined: 11 Nov 2020
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PostLink    Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2021 2:11 pm    Post subject: Heating source for fermentation chamber Reply with quote


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Hello Kal and All,
I am new to the forum, and I have my electric brewery almost ready to go. I will be fermenting with 2 - 5 gallon Spike conical fermenters in 2 merchandise glass front refrigerators controlled by external InkBird temp controllers. The cold is no problem - these go easily down to 34 degrees.

the challenge is the heating element for conditioning closer to 68-72 and higher for saisons and final diacetyl rests. I have tried small electric ceramic heaters Laslo and iSiler but these all seem to have auto turn offs after a block of time or internal device temp and then blow non stop cold air. No dice.

I have also tried external carboy wraps and seed germination mats - not enough power

JonnyMac looks like he uses office or car seat warmers...

The British have "Tube Heaters" used for garages and greenhouses which look cool but I am wary of the different voltages requiring adapters.

Any advice?

Thanks so much!!!
Mug

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kal
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Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2021 2:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi and welcome to the forum!

In my ~30 years of brewing I've rarely ever needed to heat up past ambient temp (~72F) while fermenting. The only time I can remember going higher than that was brewing a Super Saison which I fermented as high as 95F. I used the simple light bulb in a can method. You can read more about it in the recipe text and pics/videos here: https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/belgian-super-saison

I also have suggestions and other info in my FERMENTERS guide here: https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/fermenters
See the "Controlling fermentation temperature" section.

Good luck!

Kal

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Timothy_W
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PostLink    Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 2:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What about portable generators? Have you considered the possibility of creating an autonomous heating system with their help?
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kal
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Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 4:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Timothy_W wrote:
What about portable generators? Have you considered the possibility of creating an autonomous heating system with their help?

Not sure I follow. What does a portable generator have to do with heating a fermenter? Why would you want it to be autonomous?

Kal

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Timothy_W
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PostLink    Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kal wrote:
Timothy_W wrote:
What about portable generators? Have you considered the possibility of creating an autonomous heating system with their help?

Not sure I follow. What does a portable generator have to do with heating a fermenter? Why would you want it to be autonomous?

Kal


I just thought about maintaining the temperature in the room where the fermentation process takes place. It seemed that the idea of equipping autonomous heating and power supply system would reduce the risk that the process would be disrupted due to a power outage. Probably, I misunderstood the essence of the problem.
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kal
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Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2021 1:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Timothy_W wrote:
I just thought about maintaining the temperature in the room where the fermentation process takes place.

But why heat up the entire room unless you want to / have to? Much more energy efficient to only heat the small fermenter. As well, some beers (like saisons) will ferment at 90-95F (32-35C). Heating a room to that temp would expend a lot of energy and make the room uncomfortable, like a sauna. Never mind that no room is insulated/sealed so you'd lose a lot of heat in the process of keeping the room warm. Even large breweries will not heat (or cool) the entire room but instead heat (or cool) the fermenter itself. The only time I've seen brewers do an entire room is for cold storage of finished beer (like to store kegs or bottle condition). But that's because they room will be usually entirely filled with beer. Basically a walk-in fridge.

You can certainly do whatever you like of course. There may certainly be cases where it makes sense to hear (or cool) an entire room.

Quote:
It seemed that the idea of equipping autonomous heating and power supply system would reduce the risk that the process would be disrupted due to a power outage.

Yes it would.

Though I think someone that is prone to frequent power outages will already have generators or some sort of redundant power system with a cutover in place already however. Not that uncommon in rural areas as when power goes out for isolated customers due to storms or similar, the power companies may take a while to get them back online as they focus on areas that affect the most customers first. Usually the idea behind backup power is to keep food from spoiling, keeping the furnace or heat running, and similar. Short outages like only a few hours are fine for fermenting beer (or even your food for that matter) as there's usually enough mass to keep things hot or cold as needed.

Kal

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