KD the odd heating pad lying around the house and a few old bath
towels work fine too. 55 F is not too cold for fermenting whites; if
you want to retains some of the fresh fruity flavors that is
recommended. Sauv Blanc can go either way on that. The fermentation
actually provides a little heat once it gets going too. The furnace
room is a bad idea as you already know, the fumes and the temperature
variations would be a bad situation.

I'm on the east coast too and my basement is similar to yours, I do
everything down there. If you work with fresh juice or grapes next
year the fermentation will be done long before it gets cold, those
teperatures will help you clear and stabilize your wine.
Regards,
Joe


>
> Doug, I'm thinking you may have a point in moving my operation into the
> basement. It doesn't go below freezing down there, but when I started the
> wine back in May it was still fairly chilly here in Atlantic Canada. I
> usually have my main floor no warmer than about 60-65 F in winter, so the
> basement was probably ten degrees lower, a bit chilly to start the
> fermentation process. May be that the answer would be to invest in a heating
> belt for that portion. I had considered the furnace room, but while that's
> warmer, it could provide some unwanted flavours. Nothing like that fuel oil
> note to round out a good white wine.