Outside or inside?

Hi everyone, another newbie here

I'm considering brewing cider, but I'm not sure where I should ferment it. My options are:
- on the kitchen bench
- out on the balcony
- in my room

A few questions:

1. If I put the air-locked bucket in my room/kitchen bench, will it make the whole place smell of fermented apple? Or is it ONLY carbon dioxide that gets out of the air lock?

2. Also, I'm wondering whether the smell (if there is any) will attract insects.

3. If I put it outside, will there be yeast that can withstand Melbourne weather? (ie experiencing the four seasons in a week, so temperature fluctuations of around 41 F to 80 F)

I live in an apartment so the "garage" is not an option.

Thanks!

Outside is not an option. The temperature changes will be bad for your yeast. At the low end the yeast will stop producing and at the top end it will ferment too quickly. Not to mention the sunlight.

Inside will be fine. I usually only experience one day or so that I can smell the apples when I am simply in the same room. plus I like the smell. If everything is going properly, it should be a pleasant smell. At least with champagne yeast. Others could be potentially different.

So I would pick a cool dark place that will have a consistent temperature. 60-65 is ideal for most. But a little higher has been in my case.

Also I don't think that the smell would attract insects, but if it did, there would be many more to attract outside. I have not had a problem with bugs brewing inside.

In your bedroom for the primary - assuming it is just slightly warmer there ... then in the coolest room in the house once you rack into a secondary - shooting for around 65* to 67*F.

A warm spot in the kitchen may be on top of the refrigerator.

Your questions ...

1) it will smell slightly of the fermentation ... but assuming you are not using montrachet yeast and have a lot of hydrogen sulfide being produced, this is I think a somewhat pleasant smell.

2) The smell won't necessarily attract insects ... but if your must drips or you have any juice that is not cleaned up promptly you will invite fruit flies. You do not want a fruit fly infestation. Very annoying.

3) I would not put it outside.