Fishtank heater

[SimonHitchcock]

Hi,

I, like many others, am having difficulties keeping my beer fermenting during this cold snap. I have an old fish tank heater which I thought I might clean up and drop in the fermenting bin. Has anyone tried this?

[carpet]

I believe this is a common way of keeping the temp constant - obviously make sure it's thoroughly clean and sanitised!

I'm about to do another brew after moving house (been ages!), and i plan to use a fish tank heater i bought for this very purpose.

[boingy]

Yep, they work well. Make sure you test it in a bucket of water and set the temperature properly before risking it in your brew.
And never plug the heater in when it is not covered in liquid. It will burn out very quickly.

[Prozac]

I've 5 gallons of wine and 5 gallons of beer fermenting out in my detached unheated concrete sectional..... the sterilizing fluid I'd left in a FV was frozen, but the wine and beer are doing just fine wrapped in a sleeping bag and a quilt, sitting on a polystyrene pad on a table.....
A 50w heater is only £15 ....I'd buy a new one.

[RatboyOllie]

ive just bought a couple off ebay for less than £16 for both delivered, ive posted the link in the ebay section of these forums,

as for puttin it in your brew, i read on another thread that the preferred methond is putting in a bucket/vessel of water and then putting your fv into that water. Keeping the temp around the fv at a constant heat rather than actually putting the heater in your brew. i can see how having enough buckets and stuff if your brewing a lot of different stuff might be a problem though..............

either way will work i guess, i just preferred the method above coz then you dont have to mess about trying to seal up the hole where your wire goes into your fv

i only ordered them today so have wrapped my fv's in loft insulation and that appears to have worked a treat while i wait,

im new to all this myself so may well be talking absolute ballicks?!

cheers

Ollie

[Prozac]

That's a good price!! Can't see any great need to seal the lid.... I always leave mine just cracked open a bit to let the build up of gas out.

[Ditch]

Just to add, as this should be a thread that the search facility will bring to the top; Ye want a 50 Watt Heater / 'Stat. That'll be plenty man enough for five gallons.

Also, " Comfort Zone " is said to be a far better make than at least one of the more 'generic' brand names one may be more familiar with. (Sorry. I'm not being coy about the other make. I simply can't remember their damn name right now. But it's far more commonly found than Comfort Zone)

Perhaps worth looking around then? My CZ's carry a 2 year guarantee and are said to simply out last the others anyway. Prices are the same and I found all this out when I questioned why my supplier had walked right past the other ones and picked me out the CZ ones.

I would suggest keeping a back up to hand, regardless. But, given the 'economic climate' everyone's talking about, plus the fact that no kit brew is worth anything like the monetary value of a tank of fish, and the fact that we'll only use our heater/stat's for a fraction of the time an aquarist will? Maybe not that vital?

[RatboyOllie]

totally agree Prozac, unfortunately my cats and dogs likes the smell of fermenting stout, so the sealed lid is a bloody neccesity at my house, just in case..... !!

[Prozac]

totally agree Prozac, unfortunately my cats and dogs likes the smell of fermenting stout, so the sealed lid is a bloody neccesity at my house, just in case..... !!

Don't leave any straws around!!

[brysie]

i used an extra large bung, took the plug off the heater, fed the cable through, put the plug back on, sealed with mastic, bingo.
cut a hole in the fv lid and bobs your muvvers bruvva.

[kenny850]

Electrim 75,s come with a bung already attached

[brysie]

bugger.

day late and a dollar short again. i was planning to corner the market with me idea.
never mind, im working on a plan for the boneless sausage.