Pages: 1 2
Submersible Aquarium Heaters
I have plenty of fridge space for carboys and such. I don't want to have to install a thermostat on my fridges. Has anyone ever used one of these devices to warm their beer to lagering temperatures inside a fridge? They are very cheap, and easy to obtain. If the ambient temperature is around 40*F would this device even be capable of warming up to the proper fermenting temperatures? I have a commercial sized fridge and my dream is to be able to chill a couple of kegs and bottles along side a fermenting lager and an ale which would save me some space, not to mention I would never have to use the swamp cooler method again and wouldn't have to install a thermostat in an expensive fridge(I don't want to screw it up).
Any feedback is greatly appreciated, I also plan on calling the manufacturer of the heaters to see if they have enough heating power to raise the temp of a 5 gallon batch 20-30 degrees.
These submersible heaters also have dual temperature controls(+/- a half degree) and are only around 15-25 bucks.
DUDE thats so crazy u posted that, i have a fish tank and was thinking the same exact thing the other day LOL
I had a similar question posted for how to store kegged beer and ferment in the same fridge. I was told that I should use a fermwrap heater, a thermowell, and a digital thermostat for the fermwrap. The downside is price the digital thermostat is $99 the fermwrap is $30 the thermowell is $20. The heater might be a good thing to experiment with especially if it's only 15-25 bucks. I should definitely try that because it could save me a ton of money.
I checked out the fermwrap heaters and it seems to me that they would not have the power it takes to get the temperature up to where it needs to be. I didn't talk to anyone yet about this but plan to. The ad I saw was on the midwest site and it said that they are capable of raising the temp by about 10-15 degrees. Not enough in a 40*F fridge. They also mentioned something about combining it with a keg jacket (or wool blanket which I read also in a post on this site). I would wrap the carboy/fermenter in something to keep out the light and to insulate it to conserve as much energy as possible. The other reason I would use the submersible heater over a fermwrap is the degree of accuracy in temp control.
Wizlock23, I might buy a new heater for your beer, unless the one you have hasn't been used already.
Fishing and beer=good. Fish Flavored Beer=not so good.
I'll keep posting as I find out more info
LOL...as of yet no i havnt used it, but it was just a idea that passed throught my mind . but not any plans as of now for anything likethat
Rooster wrote:
I checked out the fermwrap heaters and it seems to me that they would not have the power it takes to get the temperature up to where it needs to be. I didn't talk to anyone yet about this but plan to. The ad I saw was on the midwest site and it said that they are capable of raising the temp by about 10-15 degrees. Not enough in a 40*F fridge. They also mentioned something about combining it with a keg jacket (or wool blanket which I read also in a post on this site). I would wrap the carboy/fermenter in something to keep out the light and to insulate it to conserve as much energy as possible. The other reason I would use the submersible heater over a fermwrap is the degree of accuracy in temp control.
Wizlock23, I might buy a new heater for your beer, unless the one you have hasn't been used already.
Fishing and beer=good. Fish Flavored Beer=not so good.
I'll keep posting as I find out more info
1) the digital thermostat works with the fermwrap, so accurately controlling temperatures is not a problem
2) the fermwrap will probably work to 30 degrees or more if you use a keg jacket
With all that said If the aquarium heaters will work I will definitely get that instead.
The only problem I see is that an aquarium heater might not heat evenly.
Uneven heating shouldn't be a problem due to the size of the heater(looks to be about 12" long) in such a small volume of liquid(5 gal). If you search for Electrim 75 immersion heater you will see what I'm talking about. I have researched this a little bit and have decided to go ahead and buy one. Now the problem is which should I get. I have not found any immersion heaters specifically for homebrewing located in the states. In a few UK forums and websites I've seen them though. Thats where I found the Electrim 75. Apparently, the British are using them frequently. On one post in particular the individual said that the heater was no more than an aquarium heater with a different label. On another post someone said that they use one in a big 50 gallon conical in their garage with no problems or off flavors from uneven heating or from the heater itself. I figure there are some pretty serious fish people out there so I figure that a heater designed to keep a $3000 dragon fish comfortable in a fish tank would also be of good enough quality to keep my brew warm.
meisterofpuppets, were you planning on connecting the thermostat to the fermwrap? I never thought of that. I also plan on getting a carboy shield to insulate the carboy/fermenting bucket while in the fridge.
I'd also like to correct myself. the fermwrap heats from 5-20 degrees depending on how much of the wrap you adhere to the side of the carboy.
I looked at the Electrim 75. The only thing special about it is that it comes with a stopper fitting. If you get this I wouldn't plug it in without an adapter, or you'll get blown up.
I think this sounds interesting. The only problem with a submersible heater is that its just one more thing to try and keep sanitary because it going into the beer.
Temp control is so important once you really start getting into the hobby, but its also so damn hard to deal with because sometimes of the year you want to keep the temp down the rest of the year you struggle to keep the temp up!!!
Ultimately, I just want a chest freezer for conditioning and serving. And I need one small fridge that can fit one fermentor at a time just for fermentation. Then you could adjust the temp on that to 55F and use a wrap to heat it. In the long run though an externally cooled and heated conical is what we should all be saving for.
Pages: 1 2