BBKA Forum

Hi all,
I am wanting to convert a kitchen cupboard into a warming cabinet. I intend to line it with kingspan on the inside with maybe some thin ply to protect it. It will take no more than 2 buckets at a time. I don't want to go down the lightbulb route and would rather have some form of element heater working with a thermostat. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what I could use ?
Thanks, Mick.

I built mine with a tube heaters.
More is better
I have 4 - you can turn the settings down if needed.
https://www.wearetubularheaters.co.uk

I ended up getting mine from Toolstation as they were on offer and they were dimplex brand with their own thermostat.

They are the energy efficient means of heating as you can get remembering quoted watts of power consumption doesn't equate to actual heat output.

You may well need a controller too
I chose an invite plug in type as it can be controlled from anywhere with an internet connection.

My old fridge cabinet was getting a bit nasty so I made another one with another old fridge earlier this year.

Heater: I bought a 12 volt 100 watt PTC 'car fan air heater' from ebay earlier this year and mounted it inside some mesh floor perforated aluminium. It has a fan and heatsink. It's a bit harsh and I needed to turn down the voltage on the power supply to stop the plastic lining of the fridge from going crispy! The powersupply for it fits where the compressor used to be, so there's only 12 volts going into the fridge.
On Alfreds advice I bought an Inkbird controller which works well. Even I can use it!

Some tube heaters might have thermostats which will stop them getting to the temperature you want as they are designed for cooler greenhouses.

The shelves in fridges are not really strong enough for buckets, so if you have a better solution, go for it!

Went from 2 x 100 watt lightbulbs in self build to MelliFlow pro....doubled in price since I bought mine!! But does everything from melting honey to draining cappings to melting wax.....a tool I use most weeks with no regret over buying. I have an oldsingle light bulb powered melter going spare....swap for some wet leaky poly hives

Thanks folks, some great info. PM Nigel