How important is temp during secondary?

Hi, I have a 2 can cooper'sstout (1x stout, 1x dark ale) sitting in my fermenter at the moment. It's finished the primary ferment (at approx 24 deg C - sitting in a water bath to try and keep the temp down a bit) after about 5-7 days, now it has been sitting for 2 (or 3 - don't have the notes on me) weeks all up as I am waiting for my kegging stuff to arrive. So my question is how critical is it to keep the temperature down/constant during the secondary phase of fermentatiion? As I read it, this is used to clean up any stuff the cause off flavours produced during the primary phase (possible due to temperature). So is it nothing to worry about to let it get a bit warmer during secondary (it would probably be an about 26 deg C for up to another 2 weeks)?
Also should I wait for the kegging stuff to arrive in about 2 weeks (I have the kegs just no QDs etc.) or should I get it into bottles and keg whatever I do next.
Cheers

Edit: just to clarify I have not moved this to a secondary vessle, still sitting on the yeast cake.

As long as fermentation is finished, (and I'm sure it is in your case) the temperature is less important. However, I believe that it is temperature fluctuation that is more detrimental than temps that are a bit high but consistent. If you can keep the temp consistent it would be better.

Also, for most ales (just future reference), you will probably want to ferment at around 20-21 deg C. 24 degrees is a bit high in my opinion.

You should be fine leaving it on the yeast for another couple of weeks.

Thanks, yeah I know 24 deg isn't really ideal but it is the best I can achieve with my simplistic setup, one day I will upgrade to something that is a bit more acceptable! At the moment I can get good beer out with my methods (I definately think I would benifit from better temp control though) so I am happy.
Next time I will not bother moving it out of the water bath until a day or 2 before bottling/kegging although the temp lately has been pretty constant even at night.
Thanks again.

How are you going to keep your kegs cold? At those temps, your beer is probably done. If you have a refrigerator laying around, you'd probably be better off holding your secondary (at this point) around refrigerator temps than 26 C.

pkeeler said:

How are you going to keep your kegs cold? At those temps, your beer is probably done. If you have a refrigerator laying around, you'd probably be better off holding your secondary (at this point) around refrigerator temps than 26 C.

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I have a fridge that I can squeeze 1 keg in at a time. I can't modify it but I will eventually be getting a chest freezer when one comes along at a good price. Between finishing a keg and the next being chilled down I will rely on bottles to get me through!
The problem with the frisge is it is used for other stuff so I can't use it for fermenting in, plus my fermenter doesn't fit inside anyway.