Thermostat option?

[Foster82]

Found this nice line thermostat that I though would work good for a lager box in the summer, or running a small heater in the winter.

Thoughts?

http://www.amazon.com/Lux-Heating-C...&sr=8-9&keywords=line+voltage+thermostat+cool

 

[Nosybear]

You'd have to mount it inside whatever you're using to lower temperature because it doesn't have a probe. That's two holes or two cords running through the door.

 

[Head First]

Ya you would have to mount it inside unit. Johnson controllers sold at hb online stores are very acurate and work very well. Yes twice the price but a one time thing. If that was mounted inside a frig would it hold up to humidity?

 

[Scrumpy]

I bought one of these last year to run my greenhouse exhaust fan. Solid product, but I agree with the last posters recommendation for a 'johnson control' box to run a ferm chamber.

 

[Foster82]

Now that I think about it more the first one is not ideal. With that I am now looking at this one
http://www.amazon.com/Control-Produ...ature-Controller/dp/B0057APR3I/ref=pd_cp_hi_0

I am liking it because you would not have to open it up to switch between cooling and heating modes like the johnson control models. Additionally it would work great for my location in virgina were winter temps have been swinging from 80 to 20 in less than 24hrs. Hook up a heater and the cooling, a little programing and let it do its thing. Yes there is wiring involed but that does not bother me, heck I have everything here at the house already needed to wire it.

Anyone using this model?

 

[LarryBrewer]

I just bought and installed that model for my fermentation chamber. I use a light bulb inside a paint can as the heat source. It works awesome so far, we have a blog post planned for that.

Wow, and it is on sale. I paid $59 for mine... go for it!

 

[chessking]

If you don't mind some wiring, than this,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/30-Off-110V...963?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc6101acb

is a great dual stage controller that can be surface mounted in a fridge, or whatever you choose to ferment in. I have one running my ferment chamber, and two more working the two sides of my kegerator.




Its designed for an aquarium, but works great with a cooling system. The temp reading is in centigrade only, but just get a chart and tape it to your chamber.



You can set both cooling and heating temps, as well as a delay to prevent over working your compressor. you can also set a range that the temp should be within (for example .5 degrees either side of the target temp). It has a temp probe that can be taped to the side of a fermenter.

If you buy it from ebay it will take about two weeks to ship from china.

 

[Foster82]

First: Chessking, impressive setup!

However I did opt to go with the Control Products model as it has a 30 amp rating, vs the STC-1000 which appears to only have a 10 amp rating. It has also been my experience that electronics made in china (at least those not made for large corporations), can be had for dirt cheap, but the quality control is severely lacking. I would not have peace of mind with the STC-1000 that it would not fail at much lower amps than it is rated for.
Yes a small freeze normally pulls less than 2 amps, however let’s say the stars align, the compressor fails to start (made be cycled to quickly), then the overload protection fails to break the circuit, and suddenly the amps are rising as the compressor continues to try and start, and the thermostat is left there to handle load.

Could it happen? Yes. Will it happen? Most likely not. I am sure that 99% of the STC-1000s will perform to standard, but it’s that 1% that I worry about.

Also most homes have 15 amp breakers, which means the thermostat is the weak link and could fail before a breaker trips.

Longer story short, the STC-1000 is a great find, but for peace of mind I opted for the Control Products model.