Use of heat lamps in a brewing cupboard?

[mortonbrew]

Hi Guys & Gals,

I'm interested in building a brew cupboard for my fermentation vessels. One which is temperature controlled for cooling and heat to keep a steady temp.

My question is this. I have bought a st-1000 temp controller relay to control both the heat and cooling circuits. For cooling I intend to use a fan, but i'm a bit unsure of what method for the heating side? Oil filled radiator, Electric Fan Heater, Heat Lamp?????

Any suggestions?

Ben.

 

[joe1002]

Will a fan cool enought if it is just moving around the air that is already in the cupboard?

IMHO you are better off trying to get a fridge off Ebay or freecycle and putting a tube heater in it. With those connected up to your STC-1000 you will have a great little fermentation fridge :thumb:

 

[mortonbrew]

The fan will be extracting air from the cupboard. I haven't thought of the fridge idea. Would you still use the fridge as a fridge, controlled by the ST-1000?

 

[gibb58]

Yh and just put a light in there for the heating side

 

[mortonbrew]

The more research i do, i think the fridge idea is the best idea. Found some really useful hints on the forums and since I haven't spent any money on this yet i think is fridge all the way!

 

[rpt]

A fan on its own isn't going to cool. In winter it will work as the air outside is cold but in the summer you will be trying to cool with warm air. I've seen people put PCs in cupboards with a desk fan. As the cupboard door was closed, all this did was make the air warmer!

I have an STC-1000 controlling my fridge with a tube heater. You need to mount the STC in a box with mains sockets - have a look at mine here.

 

[jonnymorris]

As above, a fridge is the way to go for cooling and also doubles as an insulated space to heat/cool. A 50W tube heater from ebay will sort your heating. Job done.

 

[mortonbrew]

A fan on its own isn't going to cool. In winter it will work as the air outside is cold but in the summer you will be trying to cool with warm air. I've seen people put PCs in cupboards with a desk fan. As the cupboard door was closed, all this did was make the air warmer!

I have an STC-1000 controlling my fridge with a tube heater. You need to mount the STC in a box with mains sockets - have a look at mine here.

Thanks for your reply. This is EXACTLY what i'm looking to do. Superb!