chest freezer question

Help...I'm looking to purchase a chest freezer; however, as you know it's not going to be used to freeze anything. To keep a chest freezer from freezing temps, all I need to do is plug the chest freezer into a thermostat device and plug the thermostate into an outlet, correct? By setting the thermostate at say 55 degrees, the chest freezer will stay at approximately 55 degrees, right? This was my understanding, but the salesperson at Lowe's was telling me the freezer can not go that high, blah, blah, blah. I tried to explain my thinking to him and that I was wasn't interested in keeping popcicles cold. Any insight you guys have would be appreciated.

You are correct. Plug the freezer into in the controller and the controller into the wall. Most have a temperature setting and a differential setting. You can set your temp to 55 with a 2 degree differential....so if the temp rises to 57, the compressor will kick on and cool until the temp falls to 55. Be careful with the differential...if its too small, the compressor will cycle to frequently. I have mine set to 4 and it does just fine.

Are you going to purchase a single stage or two stage controller? www.controlsdepot.com has the two stage for about 58 bucks....you'll have to wire it yourself, but its pretty simple to do.

The guy at Lowes will be clueless UNLESS he's a homebrewer or has dealt with home brewers before. With a freezer you should be able to go anywhere from 20 to 80.

vtfan, sorry, what is the single stage or double stage thermostate? And which would you suggest?

single stage means that the controller can either heat or cool. Double stage means the controller can heat AND cool. With the single stage, you can have it run your refridgerator so that it cools once a certain temperature is exceeded. But if its the middle of winter and you need to keep the fridge WARMER than the outside air, you would have to unplug your fridge and hook the controller to heating source. With the double stage, the controller can control both at the same time.

Which one you choose will depend upon your needs. If you live in a climate that is always cold or always warm, the single stage will be fine. If you live in a climate that fluctuates greatly, than you may benefit from the double stage.

I have a single stage. I use it to keep my fridge at fermentation temps in the warmer months. In the cold months, I just ferment indoors because its cold enough.

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask more questions if you need more explanation.

Very good, thanks. I think I would need double stage were I live, hot summers and cold winters.

If you're even a little bit handy, I would recommend you avoid the Brew shops for this. Buy the controller and then buy a cheap cord from the hardware store. Just follow the diagram and you'll be up and running in no time. B3 is charging $129 for a Ranco two stage wired. Now, theirs contains a nifty electrical box that has plug for each device. Again, www.controlsdepot.com sells this exact controller for $54...hardware store will have cords and even the electrical box. I would imagine you could save yourself at least $30-40 by doing it yourself. Good luck!

Try this link

Vtfann, thanks for all the help. I not real handy, but hopefully I can figure it out the wiring. Thanks again.

Born Brewing, i paid $49 for my regulator from Northern Brewer, and all you do is plug the freezer into it, then plug the regulator into the wall. set your dial on the tempyou want, and walk away. you don't have to wire anything together. they have more expensive digital units for $89, but not worth it to me. they have a 3 degree differential to where it stays, and isn't constantly cycling off and on. i have mine set to 68 degrees while my APA conditions. works great.

vtfan99 said:

You are correct. Plug the freezer into in the controller and the controller into the wall. Most have a temperature setting and a differential setting. You can set your temp to 55 with a 2 degree differential....so if the temp rises to 57, the compressor will kick on and cool until the temp falls to 55. Be careful with the differential...if its too small, the compressor will cycle to frequently. I have mine set to 4 and it does just fine.

Click to expand...

OK, I may be wrong here, but doesn't the temperature differential go both ways? If you set it at 55 with a two degree differential, the compressor should kick on at 57, chill down to 53, THEN turn off. That's how it works with home programmable thermostats with a differential, anyway.

All I know is that my Ranco single stage controller is set to a 4 degree differential. I have the temp set at 58 right now. When the temp rises to 62, the compressor kicks in and continues until the temp falls back to 58.

bikebryan said:

OK, I may be wrong here, but doesn't the temperature differential go both ways? If you set it at 55 with a two degree differential, the compressor should kick on at 57, chill down to 53, THEN turn off. That's how it works with home programmable thermostats with a differential, anyway.

Click to expand...

correct-a-mundo! it "floats" three degrees either way from the set temp on the dial. i have a little thermometer in my freezer just to double check the temp. it's always in the range.