Warm box
- Thread starter Beans
- Start date
tinmanwpk
Well-known member
We used to do that for welding rod in an old refrigerator. Worked great for years. Same thing applies for your caulking. Just find an old box, insert an incandescent bulb and you're good.
Half-fast eddie
Well-known member
You won’t need a 60 watt bulb for a caulk-size box. Maybe find an old refrigerator, put a bulb in the bottom, use it to store caulk and paint. You could put the bulb on a timer to come on several times during the day.
I did that for other stuff I wanted dry/warm, started with a dead 33 CuFt freezer - originally had a 60W bulb (porcelain "outhouse" socket in the bottom) - bulb kept it too warm and burned out a couple times a year, so I changed it to a 100 watt rough service bulb (say what??!?)
Oh yeah, I also fed the 100W bulb with one of the HF "speed controls", turned down so the bulb was a dull glow - it gets turned off in summer, temp stays around 80 degrees in winter. The door seal keeps everything totally dust free; originally the drain hole in the bottom had a little "mushroom" over the hole, I replaced that with a grommet for the wire and drilled a hole in the very TOP of the box, inserted the "mushroom" there for a small vent.
Results - all my (smaller) spendy stuff stays perfect, bulb hasn't burned out in about 10 YEARS after the speed control addition. Takes up a fair amount of room, if you want smaller check CL for a dead "dorm" frig (and with that size, one of these would be enough)
First pic below shows the bulb at the bottom... Steve
Sorry, here's the bulb for the above link...
Yeah, I know it's messy; Amazon STILL hasn't shipped that box of 1000 "tuits"
Oh yeah, I also fed the 100W bulb with one of the HF "speed controls", turned down so the bulb was a dull glow - it gets turned off in summer, temp stays around 80 degrees in winter. The door seal keeps everything totally dust free; originally the drain hole in the bottom had a little "mushroom" over the hole, I replaced that with a grommet for the wire and drilled a hole in the very TOP of the box, inserted the "mushroom" there for a small vent.
Results - all my (smaller) spendy stuff stays perfect, bulb hasn't burned out in about 10 YEARS after the speed control addition. Takes up a fair amount of room, if you want smaller check CL for a dead "dorm" frig (and with that size, one of these would be enough)
First pic below shows the bulb at the bottom... Steve
Sorry, here's the bulb for the above link...
Yeah, I know it's messy; Amazon STILL hasn't shipped that box of 1000 "tuits"
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nadogail
Well-known member
Incandescent lamps (Light Bulbs) throw off a lot of heat when operating.
The "heating Element" in the Easy Bake Oven was a 100 Watt Incandescent lamp.
The "heating Element" in the Easy Bake Oven was a 100 Watt Incandescent lamp.
BillK
Well-known member
Where are you located and how cold does it get ??
rburke65
Well-known member
I’m surprised that this is a concern in your location……
Walkers
Well-known member
The best thing would be to build a garage in Arizona, much cheaper to keep things unfrozen here in the winter, then simply move them back to your cooler location in the summer.
nadogail
Well-known member
The OP has not disclosed any location information.
gahrajmahal
Well-known member
Reminds me of the time I worked at U-haul and we wanted to keep our welding rods dry (all stick welding back then). We had an old refrigerator with no compressor etc. and wired it with a porcelain light socket. We added a 60 watt bulb and filled it with our boxes of rods. Looked good at the end of the day, but when we came in the next morning and opened it up the plastic lining had completely melted and sagged to the bottom. Amazing it didn’t catch on fire!
ambenz
Well-known member
Get yourself a Honeywell winter watchman!
It is adjustable so it only turns on a lamp when you want, based on temp...
set it for 50 and the temp drops to 49, the lamp lights till the temp goes above 50.
Sweet little sensor used when house is unoccupied to notify a neighbor of a temperature drop so heating source fault can be rectified before freeze-up occurs.
It is adjustable so it only turns on a lamp when you want, based on temp...
set it for 50 and the temp drops to 49, the lamp lights till the temp goes above 50.
Sweet little sensor used when house is unoccupied to notify a neighbor of a temperature drop so heating source fault can be rectified before freeze-up occurs.
It'll definitely get below freezing here and could sit there for a few days in the single digits.
I'm liking the store it in AZ idea in winter.
I could play golf for a few months then bring back all my stuff
when I return. Brilliant!
Considered a thermo cube but I think it needs to get to 32-35 before it switches on.
Winter Watchman could easily do the trick.
Before the microwave there was the ez-bake.
Before 3-D printing there was the vac-u-form.
thanks for all the ideas!
I'm liking the store it in AZ idea in winter.
I could play golf for a few months then bring back all my stuff
when I return. Brilliant!
Considered a thermo cube but I think it needs to get to 32-35 before it switches on.
Winter Watchman could easily do the trick.
Before the microwave there was the ez-bake.
Before 3-D printing there was the vac-u-form.
thanks for all the ideas!
nadogail
Well-known member
I once built a Hot Box to keep my welding rod dry from a 5 gallon metal bucket with a liner from a short length of sheet metal ducting, a porcelain socket and a 100 Watt light bulb. The space between the ducting and the can was filled with vermiculite. The temperature in the improvised rod oven was in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.