Temperature controllers for fermentation in fridges .... Feedback wanted

[Max Ballbagz]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to purchase one of the 'turn ya fridge into a fermentation cabinet' controllers that do both heat and cooling and want to know if anyone has invested and whether they are worth it? Whether the results are obvious etc? And feedback good or bad .....

Cheers fellas!

[Craig Howard]

Your fridge is creating ambient cooling temperature...what is creating ambient heating temps?

I assume not a heat pad or belt on the keg.

[Sam DT]

Yeah on the fermenter with insulation over the top is definitely the way to go (short of a thermo-well). You generally hit 2-4 degrees above ambient mid fermentation as its an exothermic process so unless you set your ambient deliberately lower you could end up in the danger zone

[Dave]

What sort of controller are you using? As Sam correctly says, you need one with the delay for refrigeration (like the ST-1000) that has a delay timer to stop the fridge turning on and off too soon. From memory, mine is set so that the fridge can't turn on for 2 minutes after it stops. The temperature should not be an issue, I have an old fridge that I run at fermentation temperatures, then down at 1 degree for cold crashing no issue.
If you constantly turn it on/off this would kill a fridge.

[Grant R Baker]

STC-1000 set to 6 minute delay with a 0.6 degree varience.

The 'other' STC which only does Heat or Cool has less options and only a 1 degree sensitivity... but can also set a delay so it is good for a largering fridge, mashtun temp control etc