I was wondering if anyone has gone to the effort of building a hotbox of some kind. I know the classic is to take a broken fridge (which is ideally insulated) add a 100W light-bulb and a thermostat and use this to store fermenting primaries. I've done the calculations and a 100W light-bulb won't heat a 5gallon batch of a must by much in a day but could raise the ambient temperature of the fridge by 1degree C in about 10-15minutes. So if you add the primary at the right temperature the bulb will easily keep it steady.
I don't have a broken fridge lying about and there is no space in my house other than under my desk and on press in my room I don't use. Was thinking of insulating with 5 cm of styrofoam sheets or similar. The press would be big enough to hold two 5 gallon fermentors and maybe a demijohn or two in between. (I'd like to try small batches of receipies before going for the 5 gallon road)
Any suggestions?
I don't have a broken fridge lying about and there is no space in my house other than under my desk and on press in my room I don't use. Was thinking of insulating with 5 cm of styrofoam sheets or similar. The press would be big enough to hold two 5 gallon fermentors and maybe a demijohn or two in between. (I'd like to try small batches of receipies before going for the 5 gallon road)
Any suggestions?
Last edited:
