I have converted my freezer using this as a guide. http://www.oregonbrewcrew.com/freezer/freezer.html I noticed that he is putting a lightbulb in the freezed to adjust the temp. Will this skunk the beer? Would a red reptile infrared heat lamp work better?
Thanks for your reply.
Incandescent light will not skunk beer.
Well… incandescent light will not skunk beer as quickly. The tail of a tungsten spectrum extends well into the UV band.
I just found this really neat site: Articles That Inform | GE Lighting
Thanks for the correction!
An incandescent bulb mainly puts off heat and has NEVER skunked a beer in a carboy or bottle for me with at least 10 years of using it to heat the space.
But then, given the beers you usually make, how would yo know??? 
I use a light bulb to help heat the fermenting beer in the garage during winter.
No skunking.
But did I say that the beer is in a SS conical? 
I wrap aluminum foil around the bulb.
It allows heat to be transmitted without the light.
Works for me
I try to protect my beer from as much light as possible, no matter what the source, as cheap insurance. The foil over the bulb seems like a good idea, even a dark towel wrapped around the carboy would work.
Myself? I use an old water bed heater pad in the ferment chamber during the cold months and flip the switch on the Johnson A419 to heat mode. Works like a charm!
I did that once to make a reflector for a light bulb. The boil touched the socket and was electrically charged. It was humming all though my arm and that was in Germany where we have 220V. I’m happy that I’m alive.
To heat my chest freezer I now use one of the energy saving bulbs (13W) and put 2 brown paper bags around it. Eventually I want to put some sort of heating mat at the bottom. I think that this will make for a more even heat distribution.
Kai
Yes electricity can be dangerous.
Use aluminum foil on glass part only. It is pretty inefficient to heat this way.
There are ceramic heaters that screw into light bulb socket.
You can find these heaters in pet shops but they are around $30.
Heating pad like FermWrap is also a good option but they are around $35.
I use a 40watt bulb in my lagershed. That is a old concrete walkout that ends under my deck now. I boxed it with ridged styrofoam and put in a trouble lite. Seems to hold the ambient right about 40degrees.
i lagered in buckets and wasn’t worried about the light.
I use a light bulb in a freezer and ferment in buckets, never had a problem.
Fred
I have done the same with a low watt bulb in the temp controlled chest freezer (in the unheated garage) during the winter months. I usually ferment in steel or plastic, and have not have any skunking issues. Given that the chest freezer is well insulated a very small source such as a night light or 15 watt lamp is enough.
+1 I do the same thing to keep my fermenting fridge and my serving fridge (both are in my unheated garage) from getting too cold in the winter. I use 15-watt bulbs in reading lamps in the bottom of the fridges. This provides just enough heat that the temperature control will cycle the fridge to run occasionally.
I’d recommend making a “heat bomb”. Just put a submersible fish tank heater in a plastic bottle of water and seal it with some high temp silicon (or don’t).
For less than $30 you could get one with a built in adjustable thermostat.
I wonder if you could use a high temp spray paint on a bulb like grill or exhaust paint. Might cause some uneven expansion and ultimately shatter, but you never know till you try. I’d probably only try it in a GFCI receptacle though…
Picture is worth 1000 words.
I am using 40W light bulb wrapped in aluminum foil.
Image is here:
I use a dual-stage temp controller for my fridge; the cool side is for the fridge (obviously), and for the hot side I picked up a small (well, tiny actually) space heater at Target for $10. Works like a charm.