Heat Boxes

[Roast_womble]

Firstly, i love this forum, so much info.

I'll looking for plans to build a hot box/ brew cupboard.

Any suggestion.


Cheers

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

Hi RW...welcome to the forum & the great world of HB'ing.

I am assuming you are wanting to make something that will control temps for brewing?

There are loads of threads about temp control but there seems to be 2 main ways of temp control...excuse me if this is not relevant.

1. Get an old fridge, put the fermenter in the fridge & use 2 x 2lt coke bottles filled with water & frozen in the fridge & replace these each morning & night

2. Put your fermenter in a tub or the bath filled with water & ice & drape a wet towel over the fermenter. Change the water every couple of days.

This is the best 2 methods for brewing Ales & other types of beer where the temps need to be around 19-20*C
Lagers are much more difficult to brew as the temps need to be around 9-10*C

[Hashie]

I wouldn't have thought you would need a 'hot box' in Adelaide.

I'm in Tasmania, and brew all year round without any heating of, or around the fermenter. I just wrap it in a blanket to insulate its thermal mass. I find over 2 weeks I only drop 3-4 degrees.

If it is for keeping your bottles warm for conditioning, my uncle used a timber cupboard, lined with carpet on the inside. Worked for him.

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

I wouldn't have thought you would need a 'hot box' in Adelaide.

I'm in Tasmania, and brew all year round without any heating of, or around the fermenter. I just wrap it in a blanket to insulate its thermal mass. I find over 2 weeks I only drop 3-4 degrees.

If it is for keeping your bottles warm for conditioning, my uncle used a timber cupboard, lined with carpet on the inside. Worked for him.

Have you ever had any experience with heat pads Hash?...I heard they are pretty good but I always thought winter was the best time for brewing lower temp beers?
I guess my whole spiel was irrelevant but one way would be to connect a 5W light globe & put it in a cupboard

[Roast_womble]

Holy Bitter, i only posted my question less than 30 mins ago...and SHAZAM!

Beers to you all.....Thanks for you advice..


Cheers

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

Holy Bitter, i only posted my question less than 30 mins ago...and SHAZAM!

Beers to you all.....Thanks for you advice..


Cheers

Thats the beauty of working & having fast net speed RW...happy brewing buddy!

[Aussie Claret]

Who doesn't need a hot box, my wife looks after mine.
AC

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

Who doesn't need a hot box, my wife looks after mine.
AC

Wouldnt it be a joint effort AC??

[Hashie]

Have you ever had any experience with heat pads Hash?...I heard they are pretty good but I always thought winter was the best time for brewing lower temp beers?
I guess my whole spiel was irrelevant but one way would be to connect a 5W light globe & put it in a cupboard

As I said Jack, I've never used any form of heating other than insulating the fermenter with a blanket. I may have been brewing for 12 odd years, but I still stick with kit beers that use ale yeast. Good results, good beers, good enough for me.

I have heard of people using light bulbs as you suggest Jack. The people I know that have used that method, have used a 'tea chest' or removalist's box and either fixed a light baton on the inside or used a lead light. Just need to adjust the wattage of the bulb to obtain optimal temp.

[Chris]

Hot box!!!

No-one ever asks about how to build these. My one is a thing of beauty. I can keep an ale warm through the deepest depths of winter.

Here's my method.

I used MDF (multi-directional fibre), also know to some as compressed cardboard. It's great stuff! It is not flimsy, and does not get affected by water. Plus, it is quite dense, and is therefore virtually fire-proof.

I made a box out of the MDF, big enough to fit the fermenter (and airlock), as well as having a bit of extra airspace, to make manouvering a full fermenter inside it not to difficult. It ended up about 1m cubed.

I then made a box inside the MDF box out of ply wood (3mm thickness).
I screwed 12mm spacers to the inside of the MDF box, and then screwed the ply sheets to these. This created a 12mm airspace inside the box. I made sure to heavily reinforce the place where the fermenter would sit.

I then got some roof insulating material, cut it into the right shape, and stapled it to the walls of the fermenter- silver-side in. I now had a silver-reflective, insulated, box-inside-a-box.

I drilled a hole through the side, at the bottom of the box, and threaded through an electrical cable. I screwed a light fitting inside the box, and wired it up. I put in a 40watt bulb.

For the lid, I screwed some long off-cuts onto the inside, to act as a seal around the join.

I later added a dimmer switch to the light, so that I can adjust the heat levels going into the box at any time.

My main control mechanism is a timer switch though, which I set to run at night (when it's coldest), and switch off in the morning as it warms up.

After 2 days or so of playing with it, you can work the switch to keep the temperatures within 1.5*C.

This was really easy to do, and makes those winter ales nicely. I can get those ciders and ginger beers brewed and matured for summer!

It is also very useful to store your bottles after bottling. You can warm them up nicely if they are not carbonating quickly enough.

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

Geez, ya just full of spritely ideas arent ya chris...fantastic post mate...I love the idea...makes me wanna go out & make one myself!!

[Chris]

The whole thing only cost me 1 day and $40 total.

I've gotten a lot of use out of it. Even if just to condition bottles.

[Rubber.Piggy]

Holy Bitter, i only posted my question less than 30 mins ago...and SHAZAM!

Beers to you all.....Thanks for you advice..


Cheers

Thats the beauty of working & having fast net speed RW...happy brewing buddy!

and having Jack "The Forum Monitor" Sparrow around

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

Holy Bitter, i only posted my question less than 30 mins ago...and SHAZAM!

Beers to you all.....Thanks for you advice..


Cheers

Thats the beauty of working & having fast net speed RW...happy brewing buddy!

and having Jack "The Forum Monitor" Sparrow around

You said it buddy...I asked Olly to gimme moderator access but alas I have not heard from the allusive beast!!

[Hashie]

Jack moderator Sparrow...scary thought

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

Jack moderator Sparrow...scary thought

Im not sure I understand what you're suggesting here Hashie?

[Roast_womble]

Hot box!!!

No-one ever asks about how to build these. My one is a thing of beauty. I can keep an ale warm through the deepest depths of winter.

Here's my method.

I used MDF (multi-directional fibre), also know to some as compressed cardboard. It's great stuff! It is not flimsy, and does not get affected by water. Plus, it is quite dense, and is therefore virtually fire-proof.

I made a box out of the MDF, big enough to fit the fermenter (and airlock), as well as having a bit of extra airspace, to make manouvering a full fermenter inside it not to difficult. It ended up about 1m cubed.

I then made a box inside the MDF box out of ply wood (3mm thickness).
I screwed 12mm spacers to the inside of the MDF box, and then screwed the ply sheets to these. This created a 12mm airspace inside the box. I made sure to heavily reinforce the place where the fermenter would sit.

I then got some roof insulating material, cut it into the right shape, and stapled it to the walls of the fermenter- silver-side in. I now had a silver-reflective, insulated, box-inside-a-box.

I drilled a hole through the side, at the bottom of the box, and threaded through an electrical cable. I screwed a light fitting inside the box, and wired it up. I put in a 40watt bulb.

For the lid, I screwed some long off-cuts onto the inside, to act as a seal around the join.

I later added a dimmer switch to the light, so that I can adjust the heat levels going into the box at any time.

My main control mechanism is a timer switch though, which I set to run at night (when it's coldest), and switch off in the morning as it warms up.

After 2 days or so of playing with it, you can work the switch to keep the temperatures within 1.5*C.

This was really easy to do, and makes those winter ales nicely. I can get those ciders and ginger beers brewed and matured for summer!

It is also very useful to store your bottles after bottling. You can warm them up nicely if they are not carbonating quickly enough.

That my friend , is exactly what im after.

Cheers

[Shaun]

Roast_womble

A simple way to warm the fermentor is to use a heat belt/pad pluged into a timer so it turns on and off then wrap the fermentor in a blanket. You will need to play around with the timimng to get the temp you want I found during the night on for 15 min and off for an hour, during the day 15min on and 2 hours off held 22 for me in Melbourne.

Works well if you have this gear while waiting to building your hot box.

[The Carbonator]

old carboard box.
Old lamp.
Low wattage bulb.

Its almost free, and takes 2 mins.

[guy poppe]

Instead of switching lights on and off, couldn't you just hardwire a thermstat which would switch the light on and off as needed?

Just a thought

Guy