I want to heat my primary 50 gal plastic vat this yeqar. It will be in a
cold garage. I've heard about using an electric blanket. I was thinking of a
fish tank heater! Any thoughts?

I've used electric blankets many times. A two heating pads wrapped around a
tub works well.

"Lou" > wrote in message
...
>I want to heat my primary 50 gal plastic vat this yeqar. It will be in a
>cold garage. I've heard about using an electric blanket. I was thinking of
>a fish tank heater! Any thoughts?
>

"Lou" > wrote in message
...
>I want to heat my primary 50 gal plastic vat this yeqar. It will be in a
>cold garage. I've heard about using an electric blanket. I was thinking of
>a fish tank heater! Any thoughts?
>

I fish tank has a lot of circulation so that the water heats evenly. I
would wonder whether the small area of contact with a fish-tank heater would
be sufficient to do this in a still environment. I would guess it would be
warm right around the heater but cooler farther away.

Quixote

I agree with this assessment. I've tested fish tanks, and farther away
gets cooler, PLUS, when it turns on, it is more hot so could I guess
impact the wine touching it.

The blanket is the best bet.
--
DAve

Quixote wrote:
> "Lou" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I want to heat my primary 50 gal plastic vat this yeqar. It will be in a
>> cold garage. I've heard about using an electric blanket. I was thinking of
>> a fish tank heater! Any thoughts?
>>
>
> I fish tank has a lot of circulation so that the water heats evenly. I
> would wonder whether the small area of contact with a fish-tank heater would
> be sufficient to do this in a still environment. I would guess it would be
> warm right around the heater but cooler farther away.
>
> Quixote
>
>

"Lou" > wrote in message
...
> I want to heat my primary 50 gal plastic vat this yeqar. It will be in a
> cold garage. I've heard about using an electric blanket. I was thinking of
a
> fish tank heater! Any thoughts?
>
>
My view is that a fish tank heater would have a lot of localised heat would
would do horrible things to your wine.

I have a Flat flexible heating panel that puts out 80w per square metre (10
square feet). I plug it in via a thermostat to keep the temperature
constant.

Either get one big enough to go around about 80% of your vat (leave room for
temperature sensor not to get confused with reading the pad temp and not the
contents temp) or get a smaller one and stick the whole carboodle in a crate
with insulation to suit.

A send temp sensor that retains max/min temps is handy for adjusting airflow
and insulation levels. Too much insulation and the heat generated from the
brewing process can stuff things up.

Next level of complexity is a thermostat that'll activate the heat panel to
warm or a fan to cool. Great for peace of mind if you go away or simply get
inattentive.

"M Lawson" > wrote in message ...
>
> "Lou" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I want to heat my primary 50 gal plastic vat this yeqar. It will be in a
> > cold garage. I've heard about using an electric blanket. I was thinking
of
> a
> > fish tank heater! Any thoughts?
> >
> >
> My view is that a fish tank heater would have a lot of localised heat
would
> would do horrible things to your wine.
>
> I have a Flat flexible heating panel that puts out 80w per square metre
(10
> square feet). I plug it in via a thermostat to keep the temperature
> constant.
>
> Either get one big enough to go around about 80% of your vat (leave room
for
> temperature sensor not to get confused with reading the pad temp and not
the
> contents temp) or get a smaller one and stick the whole carboodle in a
crate
> with insulation to suit.
>
> A send temp sensor that retains max/min temps is handy for adjusting
airflow
> and insulation levels. Too much insulation and the heat generated from the
> brewing process can stuff things up.
>
> Next level of complexity is a thermostat that'll activate the heat panel
to
> warm or a fan to cool. Great for peace of mind if you go away or simply
get
> inattentive.
>
>
Doh! Excuse my grammer, spelling etc. Hope you can make sense of my
post.....

I bought some plastic sheeting- the thick kind used for drop clothes
from HD for about 5$- and wrapped it around a 4'x3'x6' enclosure (3
shelves). I then put a oil filled heater in there and turned the heat
WAY down... happens to correspond to a paint splotch from when it was
in a paint booth.

Anyways, this kept the wines at a comfy 70 degrees or so thru the last
winter. Not much electicity used either- better seals would help that.

Jason

Lou wrote:
> I want to heat my primary 50 gal plastic vat this yeqar. It will be in a
> cold garage. I've heard about using an electric blanket. I was thinking of a
> fish tank heater! Any thoughts?

My method for keeping a carboy at an appropriate temperature for
fermentation involves this:


Placed the carboy in a large plastic tub, filled tub with water
approximately half way up the side of the carboy. placed an 75 watt
aquarium heater in this waterbath. This seemed to keep the temperature
of the fermenting liquid in the carboy more stable than if the heater
was immersed directly into the carboy. Hope this helps

Rick
Lou wrote:
> I want to heat my primary 50 gal plastic vat this yeqar. It will be in a
> cold garage. I've heard about using an electric blanket. I was thinking of a
> fish tank heater! Any thoughts?