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IT's that time of year where the temp. is perfect during the daylight hours,after 11 o clock,but quite cold at night,arounnd 10 degrees here in adelaide.I was thinking of investing in a strap heater from brewcraft,which claims to keep the temp. at 20 degrees when ambient temps. are low.Has anyone ever used these things and if so do they work as claimed?These things cost 41 dollars,so they're not cheap.

I used one when I was in Melbourne there are some tricks to get the most out of them though.

First they have no control they simple heat when turned on so they are good if the weather is constantly cold but if you get a warm day the brew temp will skyrocket.

To over come the above use them in conjunction with a timer it will take a bit of playing with to get the on/off times right for your situation but well worth the effort.

Warm the fermenter in a blanket/towel when using one to give it insulation and even out the ambient temp.

Last is brew lagers as you are lucky enough to get lager brewing weather. No heating required.

or run it through a thermostat, the probe could be in the air space of the fermenter of stuck to the outside with some conductive gel

I'm thinking of getting one too, as I have trouble keeping the fermenter over 20 degrees in this house where people complain about the cost if you put the heating on...

The blanket doesn't seem to make a scrap of difference. I'm buying a heating strap on my next day off.

Put the fermenter in a large-ish box, put a small lamp in it, turn the lamp on. Simple. Cheap. Easy to control temp buy using different wattage globes. I am using 25W now, but will end up using 40W later.


The only way to go in my book.


I use the coopers box i got the fermenter in.

Also, i cut a hole in the side for the globe to poke through, so most of the lamp is OUTSIDE the box - otherwise the globe was too close to the fermenter.

Mark,

If you time your brewing correctly you should be OK. Just brew lagers (with true lager yeasts, of course) in winter and ales in autumn and spring. Drink in summer.

With a bit of insulation (like a thick blanket or quilt) you can even out those temperature drops and keep the heat generated during fermentation in. So you might be able to avoid having to buy a heater, even with overnight temps of 10C.

Cheers,

Oliver

yeah, thanks oliver,i'll just wrap my fermenter in a spare quilt i've got lying around the place.I suppose i've just wasted 40 dollars,but you live and learn.It might come in handy when i need to bring the fermenter to 20 degrees for the diacetyl rest with lager yeasts.

I use a Kambrook foot warmer but still have to wrap the fermenter in a sheepskin overnight to maintain the temperature. I have a heating strap too but prefer the foot warmer.

My Dad used to use the Kambrook foot warmer too, much to mums disgust but it did the trick.

I put my fermenter under the house so the temp is relativley constant but to make sure, I have a length of bubble wrap folded over 3 times and is just the right size to fit the fermenter. This keeps the fermenter temp constant throughout fermentation quite well.