Just got a free fridge to use for winemaking. I read up on thermostats like the Johnson and figured out heating a belt might be an option too with one of those. Anyone here have any suggestions on what particular model works best with a fridge and perhaps a heater of some sort also?
Temperature controller
- Thread starter Norton
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I've been using this one for four years on my analog Walmart AC unit, $10 on ebay. Works like a champ.
wow...that price is tough to beat Norcal!
I used this one, costs 3 1/2 times as much....35 bucks...plug and play, heat or cool to within one degree of set point
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011296704/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
I used this one, costs 3 1/2 times as much....35 bucks...plug and play, heat or cool to within one degree of set point
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011296704/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
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Here's a pic of it. Takes a little DIY, but pretty simple.
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I have that one that I use for my furnace in the garage - works perfectly !
I also have a Johnson controller for the the freezer which I picked up long time ago
I use that as well. Very simple setup. Works as expected. Might look into adding a heater to plug into it for the cooler winter nights. Love the dual plug (1 hot, 1 cold).
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BernardSmith
Senior Member
The thing about Inkbird is that it is "plug and play". I use it for transforming a fridge into a cheese cave and for controlling an aquarium heater when I want to ferment a mead at a temperature higher than the ambient.
Yes Sir....makes a chest freezer much more useful....freezer, cooler, fermentation chamber, fridge, frankly I do not understand why they don't just make units equipped with these controllers.
BernardSmith
Senior Member
Good question and my knowledge of engineering is zero but I suspect that one can set the temperature control in such a way that the compressor in the cooling unit is being asked to switch on and off so frequently that the unit will burn out after a few weeks. But that said, I have no idea why those shops that design and build fermenters for brewers and wine makers don't build a cooling unit that is thermostatically controllable...
