Brew Belt??

[vscottcolorado]

I use a oil filled upright space heater in my basement full bath. From what I can tell from my May Electric bill it cost me roughly $ 28/month to run this. I have been reading about Brew Belts and was wondering how accurate they were? Do you have to have a room with a constant temp? Could your Primary and Secondary be placed in a room with a temp of 60-65 with a Brew Belt attached? Can they be used around Plastic Better Bottles?<?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />
The way I figure it, I could of bought another high-end kit for what it cost me to go through fermentation on the last 4 kits. Thoughts please!

 

[Wade E]

I have never used 1 on a better bottle but cant see any reason it would be a problem as they dont get that hot. I use them on both primary bucket and glass carboys through out the winter in a room that stays about 62-64* and the belt keeps the must at around 70*. It will certainly be much cheaper to use this!

 

[vscottcolorado]

Wade.. As usual mucho thanks
Scott

 

[Jeff D]

Scott, if you have the room you might also consider a chest freezer. With a temperature controller they work quite well for cool fermentations and you can also use them to hold at whatever warmer temps you like.


Jeff

 

[Wade E]

By putting a heating blanket in there?

 

[Jeff D]

Wade, on mine just closing it up will give you a 10 Degree jump in temp. during fermentation. If it's cold I place a light bulb in there for a while, they are insulated so well it does not take much.


Jeff

 

[vscottcolorado]

Thanks for the tips.. The Chest Freezer is a good idea but I would be moving carboys up and down into the basement when done fermenting. I have a mechanical room in our walk out basement that would give me an area of roughly 6 x12. My thought would be to wall off between the furnace and the storage area,(I have doors at both ends), build an insulated cabinet, 6 x 4,that could be used for fermenting, using Brew Belts. Shelves for bulk storage and an area for some custom racks for bottles.Might even give me room for a sink.The last couple of days average temp has been around 65 with outside temps in the mid 70's. If I take off the insulation on the 2 foundation walls I think I could lower that by a couple of degrees. <?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />
I just want a dedicated room!

 

[vscottcolorado]

I just ordered an Island Mist kit with a Brew Belt from George. Going to monitor temps and see how things work. Thanks again to all
Scott