Heating mats

[Fin420]

Has anyone had any experience with brew belts? I'm having some temperature issues and ought about using a brew belt but now I'm thinking a reptile heat mat would give a bigger surface area to give off heat. I've thought about a ferm wrap but can't seem to find any outside of the US, recon a reptile heat mat could be used in the same way?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have read heat belts are a pain to use as you have to move them up and down the FV to get the right temperature, plenty of pads here - http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...me+brew.TRS0&_nkw=heat+pad+home+brew&_sacat=0

 

[Robin54]

agree with Chippy...belts are a PITA and a heating PAD is the better option, esp. if you brew in a cold kitchen like I do
Even putting a polystyrene tile under a Brew Bucket makes a huge difference

 

[LarryF]

A timer takes a lot of the grief out of a brew belt, between where it's positioned on the FV and the timer settings you soon get a feel for it.

 

[engineer]

Had one ages ago it was a PITA to use. Changed over to a heat mat, vivarium heat mats are cheap and will do the job fine there are loads on ebay.

 

[ScottE75]

I use a 4 dj heat pad. It was expensive, but worth every penny!

 

[Richie_asg1]

Have just gone down this route myself with the reptile heat mat. Just have to put it together once some other projects are done. I regularly have about 8 on the go at once :smile:

It needs an electronic thermostat that can handle low current 240v suppy, so I bought this one - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281809427067?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I think it even has a high temp alarm built in so you can get a warning if you are overheating. It just needs a 12v supply and a waterproof box to keep it in and I'm good to go.

 

[Fin420]

I've gone with a microclimate 100w vivarium thermostat, connected to a 9w and a 20w heat pad, one is big enough for a 5 gallon bucket, the smaller pad is just big enough for 2 demi jons, I've hung the thermostat just above the containers and put thermometers everywhere to keep an eye on the temp, so far so good I've fermented a few batches in there and have them clearing at the moment.

The only problem I had was on one day when the sun was out the room temp climbed and raised the cupboard temp above the level of the thermostat even though the heat pads had switched off, I'll need to find a way to try and regulate the upper end of the temperature scale somehow.

I'm slightly worried about the safety element, so as per the instructions as if I was heating a vivarium I raised the buckets and Demi jons just above the heat pads by 5mm with a few spacers in each corner, to prevent the pad overheating due to being in direct contact with such a large surface, I've also now fixed all sockets etc to the wall, way out of any danger just in case a bucket melts due to malfunction in the heat pad and floods the room, or burns the place down! The paranoia in me threw a fire alarm in there too just to be on the safe side!

I'll post a few pictures when I get back home