Adding heat to a deep freeze fermenter.

[brandtrepair]

Wanting to be able to add heat to my ink bird controller heat side to control fermentation temps in my deep freeze. What is the best route to go by doing this.

 

[McKnuckle]

Reptile/seedling blanket, small portable space heater, or a lightbulb in a paint can.

 

[tellyho]

I have tried all three. I prefer the heating mat. Lightbulb in can = smelly and inefficient. Heater = cycles too frequently. Heat mat wrapped around fermenter puts the heat right where you want it.

 

[brandtrepair]

I have tried all three. I prefer the heating mat. Lightbulb in can = smelly and inefficient. Heater = cycles too frequently. Heat mat wrapped around fermenter puts the heat right where you want it.

Im assuming you still keep the freezer pluged in right?? Just to make sure it doesnt get 2 hot?? The heat side just intimidates me for some reason.

 

[Stand]

Im assuming you still keep the freezer pluged in right?? Just to make sure it doesnt get 2 hot?? The heat side just intimidates me for some reason.

Fermentrack is where it's at.

 

[brandtrepair]

Fermentrack is where it's at.View attachment 623437

I'll need to look into that

 

[McKnuckle]

The simple answer is yes; you keep the freezer plugged into the cold receptacle, and the heating mat plugged into the heat receptacle. They never engage at the same time.

Are you saying you want to keep the freezer cold but ferment something at a warmer temp at the same time? I think that's going to be unpredictable. The mat is going to generate significant ambient warmth in that small space.

I use the two receptacles in my serving keezer - the cold side is set to 40F, and the heat is set to turn on if it drops below 35F during a cold snap.

 

[brandtrepair]

The simple answer is yes; you keep the freezer plugged into the cold receptacle, and the heating mat plugged into the heat receptacle. They never engage at the same time.

Are you saying you want to keep the freezer cold but ferment something at a warmer temp at the same time? I think that's going to be unpredictable. The mat is going to generate significant ambient warmth in that small space.

I use the two receptacles in my serving keezer - the cold side is set to 40F, and the heat is set to turn on if it drops below 35F during a cold snap.

I just want cold to kick on if fermenter gets 2 warm or vice versa.

 

[brandtrepair]

The simple answer is yes; you keep the freezer plugged into the cold receptacle, and the heating mat plugged into the heat receptacle. They never engage at the same time.

Are you saying you want to keep the freezer cold but ferment something at a warmer temp at the same time? I think that's going to be unpredictable. The mat is going to generate significant ambient warmth in that small space.

I use the two receptacles in my serving keezer - the cold side is set to 40F, and the heat is set to turn on if it drops below 35F during a cold snap.

I want do use Kveik yeast so i need my fermenter to get fairly warm.

 

[Stand]

I haven't tried my setup yet in the winter months to keep stuff warm, but I live in North Carolina, so I don't think I'm going to have a problem with the mat (It's 45w I think?).

Get one of those reptile lights (Ceramic lamp) and a PC fan if you're worried. That way you can put bigger sizes in if you size it wrong.

My understanding is that 60-75w would be all you'd need. You could probably install a dimmer switch, but don't quote me on that.

https://www.amazon.com/Reptile-Cera...mic+heat+lamp&qid=1556046273&s=gateway&sr=8-4

 

[tellyho]

I actually don't plug in the freezer when I'm using the heating mat. Seems a waste of energy. Generally if you're heating, you're not overshooting by a whole lot.

 

[tellyho]

I'm in MA and have no trouble hitting 90 in the winter with the reptile mat. My house is at 62 generally, 55 at night.

 

[RPh_Guy]

FermWrap on fermenter in fridge.
40 watts easily keeps kveik at 95 without cycling too much (with 65-70°F ambient). Some insulation around it helps.

 

[tellyho]

View attachment 623573

FermWrap on fermenter in fridge.
40 watts easily keeps kveik at 95 without cycling too much (with 65-70°F ambient). Some insulation around it helps.

View attachment 623574

Here's my setup - reptile mat, controller, insulation.

 

[brandtrepair]

I'm in MA and have no trouble hitting 90 in the winter with the reptile mat. My house is at 62 generally, 55 at night.

How large of a mat are you using? 5 gal batch in a small deep freeze. And i also see some have a thermostat. Are you relying on that thermostat or the ink bird controller?

 

[tellyho]

I have a controller. I think the mat is 7.5 watt, but it's been a while. I have it wrapped around the fermenter - heat where I need it.

 

[Curt Parker]

Travel hairdryer works for me.

Cost about 10 bucks and has a gfci breaker on the plug.

 

[Stand]

No reason I can think of that it shouldn't be safe if you have a gfci, but boy does that make me nervous.

 

[FatDragon]

Not to thread jack, but I've got a chest freezer/heat wire setup and I get nasty humidity in the freezer, such that I find spots of mold growing more often than I'd like to admit. Anyone have a good solution for preventing that humidity/condensation?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Anyone have a good solution for preventing that humidity/condensation?

A cordless dehumidifier.

 

[Stand]

I had one of these when I had a chest freezer:

https://www.amazon.com/Improved-Eva...+dehumidifier&qid=1556132788&s=gateway&sr=8-4

It worked OK, but make sure your seals are really good. Fixing my seal made a bigger difference. If it sounds like the lid comes down on a cushion of air, you're probably good. Otherwise, I'd be thinking about replacing gasket to get a better seal.

 

[bleme]

I'm in MA and have no trouble hitting 90 in the winter with the reptile mat. My house is at 62 generally, 55 at night.

LOL! I set my thermostat there one winter. Before the next one, my wife had bought me a fermentation chamber

 

[bleme]

Not to thread jack, but I've got a chest freezer/heat wire setup and I get nasty humidity in the freezer, such that I find spots of mold growing more often than I'd like to admit. Anyone have a good solution for preventing that humidity/condensation?

A tub of calcium chloride. Throw it in the oven once in a while to dry it back out.

 

[LittleRiver]

I had one of these when I had a chest freezer:

https://www.amazon.com/Improved-Eva...+dehumidifier&qid=1556132788&s=gateway&sr=8-4

I use the big brother to that model in my fermentation fridge and in my keezer. They work great, the plug in drying function is sweet.

 

[Stand]

My biggest issue was that it took forever for mine to dry.

 

[mongoose33]

Similar to what @RPh_Guy has above, except less elegantly:

 

[Aristoi]

I use reptile heat mat. Dont go crazy as there is a lag anyway for heat to normalize in the Keg/fermenter. I initially got a 24 watt 8x18" mat and it was too much for my small refrigerator ferment chamber and ambient would get way too hot before temp in thermowell would catch up and shut it off. I find 8w is perfect for small fridge/single fermenter, and i use the 24w in the large upright freezer multi vessel fermenter, although i think 16w would get the job done. This is to get a couple degrees movement in 24hrs. If you looking at larger temp swings you will need more power but be careful to not overheat especially in a sealed chamber.

 

[Aristoi]

Fermentrack is where it's at.View attachment 623437

I have the same freezer and looking to add gas just like you did. Curious how you routed (where drilled) the supply line to your manifold to come out of the hump like that. Looks like a good way to go!

 

[RPh_Guy]

Similar to what @RPh_Guy has above, except less elegantly:

View attachment 623717

I was inspired by your setup
It works great, so thanks again!

@Aristoi
That's weird. I haven't even seen my 40W Fermwrap overshoot ... Do you not have the mat directly against your fermenter like the above photos?

 

[Aristoi]

@Aristoi[/USER]
That's weird. I haven't even seen my 40W Fermwrap overshoot ... Do you not have the mat directly against your fermenter like the above photos?

No, not it direct contact with fermenter, off to the side upright leaning against fridge wall. I did not see it overshoot on inkbird, and that is the problem. I have brew buckets with thermowell and there is a lag to get that temp to catch up. I found low and slow works better for me. When using the thermowell with inkbird i lay the ss brewtech digital thermometer on top of fermenter to monitor ambient air temp since it cant occupy thermowell while using it with inkbird and i freaked out when i saw it overshoot by nearly 15F vs setpoint using the 24w heat pad in a small fridge. As a work around until i got a lower power mat i took inkbird probe out of thermowell and hung it up in the fridge to monitor/register ambient air and set inkbird to 2F above target setpoint to limit overshoot. Like someone said earlier I am more worried on the heat side to not get to hot.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I did not see it overshoot on inkbird, and that is the problem.

Ambient temp doesn't matter as long as the beer fermentation temperature is at target. I don't see how it could get any more accurate than a thermowell.


You'd see the same ambient fluctuations when cooling. When the compressor is running, ambient temperature is very cold and fluctuates wildly when cycling on/off.
Air has much lower heat capacity than water (beer), so the air temp fluctuation is a non-issue whether heating or cooling.

 

[Shady]

I use a reptile bulb for heating. I wrote my own controller using a raspberry Pi and 3 DS18B20 temperature sensors. I have one in the thermowell, one in the freezer and one in the room. It works very well. Whenever the freezer or heater are activated, I disable the other for 2 hours. This stops it bouncing between the two.

 

[Stand]

I have the same freezer and looking to add gas just like you did. Curious how you routed (where drilled) the supply line to your manifold to come out of the hump like that. Looks like a good way to go!

The hump is only sheet-metal, so if you take out the screws (9 I think?) it will come right off. Behind it on the right hand side there is a large rectangular cut-out in and exposed foam. I just pushed a screwdriver through to make sure I wasn't hitting anything (there's nothing there), and then drilled a hole to bring in power for a PC fan, heat mat cord, temperature probes, and the CO2 line. I sealed everything with Silicone and drilled holes in the sheet-metal hump. Love those Aviation connectors.

It was super easy.

 

[Aristoi]

@Stand thanks for the info, I did not realized that cover came off so easy. I am going to give it a try