Ideas for creating a flexible fermenting environment

[chadm817]

Anyone have good set ups or ideas on how to create a good consistent temp for my fermentation?

I live in Chicago and it can be hot and humid or freezing and dry.

I'm moving into a new place and also don't want to spend a fortune keeping the temperature at the right brew temps but I might if I had to.

Any tips and suggestions?

 

[brew_ny]

chest freezer

 

[BigFloyd]

Fridge or freezer plugged into an STC-1000 controller.

You wire it into a standard 2-plug outlet that you mount in some kind of project box (either homemade or bought at Radio Shack). One (cool) outlet is for the freezer/fridge. If your fermenter chamber is placed where it’s cold (like a garage in winter), you plug some kind of small heater into the warm outlet and then put that heater inside the freezer. Otherwise, just use the cold outlet.

Set the target temp (in Celsius) on the STC-1000. Set the tolerance (default is +/-0.5*C). When the temp (as read by the sensor) climbs 0.5*C above the target, it powers up the cool outlet and keeps it energized until the temp drops to the target and then turns it off. Likewise with the warm outlet if it gets 0.5*C too cool. You tape the sensor on the side of the fermenter and place some kind of insulation like bubble wrap over top of it so that it reads the bucket temp and not the air.


http://www.amazon.com/All-purpose-Temperature-Controller-STC-1000-sensor/dp/B00862G3TQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382149071&sr=8-1&keywords=stc-1000


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/stc-1000-setup-beginners-433985/#post5538096

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ebay-fish-tank-controller-build-using-wal-mart-parts-261506/


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ebay-aquarium-temp-controller-build-163849/



http://brewstands.com/fermentation-heater.html

 

[hbtasdfg]

immersion in water helps a lot because it acts like a heat sink

 

[eluterio]

Ive got a freezer with something similar to the STC-1000 controller great for hot days like where I live and I turned it off this fall/winter and placed a cheap 12 dollar heater from walmart to keep it at 68F. Works wonderful.

 

[brew_ny]

Ive got a freezer with something similar to the STC-1000 controller great for hot days like where I live and I turned it off this fall/winter and placed a cheap 12 dollar heater from walmart to keep it at 68F. Works wonderful.

that or 60 watt bulb in a paint can