Temp controller for Ferm chamber.

After searching these forums, I've decided on what type of fermentation chamber to build. I have a load of old insulating boards available, so I plan to go with using them to build a box, with a section in the back to blow cold air in.

All the posts I've seen never go into detail about the temperature controller being used!
I am completely clueless, and would have no idea where to start. Im in the UK which doesn't help as most the ones ive seen mentioned are for the US.

Im under the impression, I need something that has a LCD screen to display the temperature, a probe to read the temperature, and the ability to turn a fan on/off when the temperature gets too high, to blow the cold air from the back compartment in.

What do I even need to look for? Iv'e done searches for temperature controllers, thermostat controllers, and just general things and cant seem to find anything specific!

Also, being in the UK, this will be great for the warmer months, when I will need to keep the fermentation cooler than the outside temp. But at the moment it is below freezing most of the day and all the night. Am i right in believing, with a well insulated ferm chamber, the heat given off from the fermentation itself will keep the fermentation temperature higher than what I would want, meaning I still need to blow cold air in?

Or is there a way, on the same temp control device to wire in a heat device, such as a ceramic plate heater, or even a couple of heat bulbs, that when the temp gets to low, they will kick on to warm the fermenter.

You'll need a Ranco temp controllerl.

I just wired up a single stage (don't need to heat anything). The only diff between a dual and single stage is that mine will only either control a heater, or a cooler, but never both.

This one can have a setting say... min 68 degrees where it kicks on the fans/freezer/whatever, then a max of say 72 degrees where it kicks on some bulbs/heater.

You can buy it unwired and wire it yourself, or just save some time (but spend more money) and buy it prewired.

+1 for the Ranco. I have one controlling my ferm chamber and one controlling my keezer. In the winter when the garage drops below ale temps (65-69 degrees) I have a 40W incandescent bulb on in the ferm chamber at all times. I don't worry about the beer getting skunked by light since I ferment in corny kegs.

+2 Ranco. Mine is controlling a 100w fish tank heater in a large fish tank wrapped with R19 insulation keeping two carboys cozy at 70 deg out in the garage. It was 30 deg outside when I woke up...

Here in Germany we use Siemens S7 PID temperature controllers because shipping plus customs for the Ranco or Love controllers exceed the value of the controllers and in the end these are cheaper. I wish we could pay US prices but this is Europe so we must pay more (I'm not sure why).

Cazamodo,
Here is my plan.

Get two simple cheap mechanical heat only thermostats and two relays.
Set one to say 60* for when it gets too cold and needs heat.
Set the other to 65* for when it gets too hot and needs cooling.
Wire the lower temp one to a simple relay to turn on a heat source.
Wire the upper temp one to a relay that has both normally open and normally closed contacts. Connect the cooling fans to the contacts which are open when voltage is sent by the thermostat signaling heat is needed thus cooling is no longer needed. In other words, the side which closes and powers the fans when the temp in the chamber is above the thermostat’s temp setting.

I hope you followed that. I just guessed on the temp settings. Adjusting the temp setting for each thermostat so they do not turn each other on will take testing. A remote thermometer to check inside temps would be real handy during testing and setup.

You should be able to find all the parts needed in the UK easy enough.

Credit and thanks to Sketerbuck for the idea

Thanks for all the input guys! Im off to hunt for a temp controller today.
I did come across a cheap 'kit' thats was a temperature controlled switch, but couldnt make any sense of it, so no idea if it would be any use to me!

check out this thread for a cheap dual stage temp controller: ebay temp controller

I got a Ritetemp 6020 from Home Depot and it works great but you will need to hack it! See link below for details.



http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Remote-Sensing-DIY-Controller-for-Less-Than-$25


Hope this helps!

Cheers!