Help with thermostat controlled brewing cabinet

I keep running into need for temperature controlled brewing cabinets.
ATM im just trying to get my kombucha groove on, beer and wine down the road. Ive been looking online for a good temp control design but none seem to really fit the bill for me. I was hoping some of the smart folks here could describe what I need for a simple setup.

The criteria:
- A heat source suitable for heating a wooden cabinet (perhaps small ceramic type room heater from walmart?)

- A thermostat controller to control heating and cooling (basic household type or peehaps a digital PID controller?)

- A temperature display of some sort

- Simple computer fan type cooling/venting. Doesnt really need a cooler as its very cold here generally.

- Emergency overheat shutoff, preferably with audible alarm to avoid burning my house down lol

All this as low cost as possible, pretty tight budget here.
Thanks again for any help !

I use a Ranco dual stage controller for overall control on
My ale ferM chamber. The fridge part of my chamber does the cooling & I installed a std bulb fixture w/ a ceramic bulb ( reptile cage type) so no light worries or fire. I've had one of those w/ a cheap Wally World heater. I use a basic clip on fan for air circulation.
On my lager ferm chamber I use a single stage Auber controller since heating isn't an issue. Again, a basic clip on fan for good circulation.


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govner1 said:

I use a Ranco dual stage controller for overall control on
My ale ferM chamber. The fridge part of my chamber does the cooling & I installed a std bulb fixture w/ a ceramic bulb ( reptile cage type) so no light worries or fire. I've had one of those w/ a cheap Wally World heater. I use a basic clip on fan for air circulation.
On my lager ferm chamber I use a single stage Auber controller since heating isn't an issue. Again, a basic clip on fan for good circulation.


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Click to expand...

Oh nice! I was looking at the Auber controllers as an option. Light fixture and ceramic heat emitter, I like that idea a lot!

Thanks!

Here's a construction picture of my cold-season ferm cabinet, along with the 100W resistor heater array I built from parts on hand. The cabinet was designed to hold fermenters on the left side (the shelves on the left are adjustable and one can be removed for a pair of 6.5g carboys) along with four cases of bottles in full-extension drawers for conditioning, and still have a bit of gear storage. Since I switched to kegging years ago the drawers are crammed full of gear now.

I run the heater with a single-stage Ranco with the probe strapped to a carboy and insulated with 1" closed cell foam. Works great...

Cheers!

Wow I really like that setup. These ranco comtrollers... I was looking and there seems to be quote a few modles with various prices. Which ones should a person look at for jist simple thermostat control, heater and vent fan ? And ive heard you can just use a standard cheap manual theromstat like any jardware store carries. Like the type that controls wall heaters. Yet I dont see a lot of people using these. Is there any issue with using one ?

Day trippr do you happen to have a picture of the front of those caninet doors. Im also building my own cabinet from scratch and I love the way yours is put together. Thanks again !

Kombucat said:

Wow I really like that setup. These ranco comtrollers... I was looking and there seems to be quote a few modles with various prices. Which ones should a person look at for jist simple thermostat control, heater and vent fan ? And ive heard you can just use a standard cheap manual theromstat like any jardware store carries. Like the type that controls wall heaters. Yet I dont see a lot of people using these. Is there any issue with using one ?

Click to expand...

You could use a room thermostat - I originally powered that resistor array with a cheap Honeywell room thermostat meant for electric baseboard heating (you cannot use the type of thermostat that governs gas or oil heating systems - those are very low current 24VAC units).

But I've come to prefer metering my vessels - whether carboys in ferm chambers/fridges or kegs in cold-conditioning/carbing fridge or keezer dispenser. And that requires a remote probe - not a feature found in typical room thermostats.

The single-stage Ranco ETC-11000 will do the job for a ferm cabinet that only needs heating control. I will say, however, that there are less expensive solutions (MH1210, WillHi 7016, even STC-1000) that might be considered. After all, unless you pay for someone else to wire up the controller, all of these will need wiring to be functional...

Cheers!

Kombucat said:

Day trippr do you happen to have a picture of the front of those caninet doors. Im also building my own cabinet from scratch and I love the way yours is put together. Thanks again !

Click to expand...

Here's the unpainted finished unit, sporting its Federal Blue formica top.


Cheers!

Wow that is really a fantastic looking cabinet. I take it the top under the formica is plywood with a routered wood frame sort of like the frame on the doors ?

I started with a 2x4 base topped with plywood, then pocket-screwed the 1x3 bones together to form the frame. Skinned it with luan, topped it with plywood, insulated with rigid foam, then installed the interior components.

You'd think there'd be a ton of routing but except for the doors everything is just butt-jointed or lapped.
You can see I'm a huge fan of pocket screws...

Cheers!