I came across this old thread and wanted to share my thoughts, even for an old post... I hope you didn't abandon the use of the cooler for a fermenter... There is nothing wrong with fermenting in a cooler, it will not raise the temp of your beer more than probably a degree for a small beer...
If yeast didn't like help in doing their jobs we wouldn't need a stir plate to quickly and more effectively make big starters, I have bottled thousands of beers and in my opinion it absolutely cuts the conditioning time.. I swirl not shake the bottle just enough to kick the yeast up, like 4 or...