Refridgerator Thermostats

aksea102 · Jul 28, 2009

Although the swamp cooler works and really isn't all that much trouble to switch out ice bottles, I do have a spare fridge in my garage. Seems like a no-brainer to go ahead and equip it with a refridgerator thermostat to ensure the yeast are happy and my beer is fermenting at proper temps. I do reside in the South...

I see there is a Johnson analog thermostat for around $60, a Johnson digital for $75 or the Brewers Edge mac-daddy "all the bells and whistles" for $100 (that sucker better bottle my beer too!!).

With the above said, who likes which one? Any other thermostat recommendations?

greencoat · Jul 28, 2009

I got this and it seems to be working perfectly. It's pretty bare-bones but gets the job done well enough.

blowmax10 · Jul 28, 2009

aksea102 said:
Although the swamp cooler works and really isn't all that much trouble to switch out ice bottles, I do have a spare fridge in my garage. Seems like a no-brainer to go ahead and equip it with a refridgerator thermostat to ensure the yeast are happy and my beer is fermenting at proper temps. I do reside in the South...

I see there is a Johnson analog thermostat for around $60, a Johnson digital for $75 or the Brewers Edge mac-daddy "all the bells and whistles" for $100 (that sucker better bottle my beer too!!).

With the above said, who likes which one? Any other thermostat recommendations?

it depends on what you want to do - I bought three of the cheap Johnson controls ones and they work great for what they are meant to do but on my fridges that I'm using as fermenter chambers I wish I had bought the duel stage ranco so I could run the fridge on one side and a heating element on the other and then have a year round temp box

as is - in the summer I use the fridges and in the winter all the closet space in the house becomes brew space

blackwaterbrewer · Jul 28, 2009

i love my ranco 111-000. if you get one, PM me and i will show you how to wire it. it doesn't come with instructions.

Slasher · Jul 29, 2009

greencoat said:
I got this and it seems to be working perfectly. It's pretty bare-bones but gets the job done well enough.

Mines been working fine for the past week... Seems well put together, but definitely not production line equipment... I'm happy!!!

MBasile · Jul 29, 2009

I have the Johnsons analog and it does just fine for me, and it's built like a tank!

DeafSmith · Jul 29, 2009

I have the Johnson A419 digital and love it. I got mine from Northern Brewer. It comes pre-wired and with the internal jumpers already set for cooling - just plug and play. Accurate temperature sensing and super easy to change the temperature set-point or the differential. Perfect if you only need one function (cooling or heating), or at least only need one at a time.

Scut_Monkey · Jul 29, 2009

I got a Ranco ETC 111-000 as well and have not used it yet but bought it based on price and the fact that a lot people hear recommended it over the Johnson A419. Below is a link where I found great pricing and fast shipping. The bottom link is for the other controller they make which can control two pieces of equipment at a time such as a brew belt and a fridge.

Blackwaterbrewer,
Would you be able to send me instructions on how to wire the Ranco. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

RANCO ETC-111000 Microprocessor Temperature Control: RANC1 Climate Doctors

The Ranco ETC Store

loctones · Jul 29, 2009

I got this one:
Love TS2-010 Temperature Switch

I found the link somewhere else on this site, looked it up, and it looked good. It's a 16A switch, and has the ability to control both heating and cooling (though not at the same time). You can set up hysteresis, defrost cycles, probe offsets, and a number of other things. It's working pretty well for me.

You do have to wire it up yourself (I cut an extension cord in half and used that), but it's easy if you know basic electronics. It only took about 15 minutes to wire.

Refridgerator Thermostats

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