# Honey heater plans?



## Fuzzy (Aug 4, 2005)

Yup. 

I have boxes with lamp(s) and set supers on top to warm. Use a thermocouple and controller to switch the lamps at 95 Degrees air temp. I stack 3-4 supers on and leave them for about 48 hrs. *BUT* do have a drip pan underneath in case of accidents.
Best bet for the controller is probably a johnson control unit that you can find in a brewers supply catalogue. The ones on line will work but you need some real knowledge to set them up properly or they will burn out quickly ( personal experience here ).

Fuzzy


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## Billy Joe Adair (Mar 28, 2008)

http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com/16.39.0.0.1.0.phtml


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/PECO-Line-Voltage-Ventilation-Control-4MY93?Pid=search
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DAYTON-Remote-Bulb-Thermostat-2YU88?Pid=search

Yes, it's worth making! At least from the plans on this site.


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## kevinva (Apr 21, 2008)

Thanks

Very usefull information. I'm going to try a different thermostat control first to see if this works before the bigger investment. I found a thermostat control for reptiles. http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiTemp-Remote-Thermostat/dp/B0002AQD9A. It allows to me to plug two things in at once. Temp range is 70 - 110 degrees so I will try this out with the plans that I found online.

If it doesn't work, looks like I have three solid options above. I will put flashing on my boards since I'm using the light bulbs.

I'm considering making a really large one using some foam and sheet metal too for putting all my frames in. I could see putting all the supers in something to get them warm for a couple of days before extracting. That may be a nice feature.


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## brushmouth (Jan 17, 2010)

I picked up a wafer type incubator thermostat from ebay.
They can keep temp within several degrees of set point and are less money.

http://honeybee.bz/honeyheater.html

BM


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## danno (Dec 17, 2007)

I use a old chest freezer, a Johnson digital control and a small ceramic heater with the internal thermostat disabled


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

Space heaters also work. I crisscross the supers on each other so the heat gets into the supers. I also run a thermometer to get the room at about 90 degrees. This works really well...I have never had problems. Just don't place the heaters too close to the supers. A fan circulate the warm air also helps mucho. The cost is very low...except you will notice a rise in your power bill until extracting is over.


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## Fuzzy (Aug 4, 2005)

Alpha6,

Don't know your exact situation. Myself, I never extract more than 6 supers per day.... So, two stacks of 3 supers on top of heater boxes.

The difference, is that your space heaters consume more than 1000 watts per hour. My heater boxes consume 50-80 watts per hour.

Fuzzy


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## alfredd (Jul 24, 2011)

DAMHIK, but if you heat the frames up a bit too much (over 100F) the wax foundation tends to press right into the extractor wire supports. Better to keep them a bit cooler unless you use plastic foundation and do not mind the mess.
Alfred


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

Fuzzy, I usually pull between 200 and 300 per day...so it's just a little bit of a difference.


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## kevinva (Apr 21, 2008)

Quick Update

Project is complete and I used the plans shown on the site. Basically 2 100 watt bulbs. The reptile thermostat for 24.00 works great. The project took about 1 - 2 hours to assemble everything.

Thanks for all the replies.


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## Swobee (May 18, 2007)

I use a 120V water heater thermostat. The lowest setting is usually 90°F, but we usually exceed that temperature slightly. I also am switching to reptile heating elements with edison type bases. More efficient and longer lasting. Eventually the incandescent lamps will becomd more difficult to obtain and they will become more efficient at light output and produce less heat per watt than presently. In the end, the higher cost will be outweighed by more efficient heat output and not having to replace the lamps nearly as often.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

midwestsupplies.com is a home brew place with just what you need for 69.95. You can set temps off this thermostat from below zero to 220 degrees I think. I went to the pet shop and paid $50 for one in the snake warmer section that only heats to 100 degrees! Which was enough for my plan but this one would be much better.


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## kevinva (Apr 21, 2008)

The final update.

The design is great. The thermostat shuts off at the right time and I can keep it at 100 degrees which works great. Ive warmed 2 five gallon pails in 12 hours and filtered them. Looks like I need to make one more so I can do 4 at a time.

Thanks for all the tips. Amazing that two 100 watt bulbs throw that much heat.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

kevinva said:


> Amazing that two 100 watt bulbs throw that much heat.


Have you ever tried to touch a 60 watt light bulb right after you turned it off? They'll work just as well in an insulated box. May take a few seconds longer to reach the desired temp. vs. 100 watt bulbs. Good job!


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