Cheap Fermentation Control

With a plastic tub, I can accurately control my fermentation temps between 55-90*F. The ambient temp of my basement is around 64 degrees right now, and keeping it under 60*F is easy by just tossing in a handful of ice cubes a couple times a day. However, I want to control temps for my belgians, and soon saisons, so I needed a way to keep the water temp above ambient temp.


I bought an aquarium heater and an aquarium powerhead. This heater and this powerhead work well. The powerhead doesn't need to be strong, but the heater should be 100-150 watts. I've been able to hold the temperature at 79*F and could easily go higher. I need another 50 watt heater to get the water temp around 90*F in my basement though. It's easy and accurate. I do recommend spending a few more dollars and getting a heater that has a temperature control knob, instead of just low to high; they're just easier to use, and seem to be a higher quality.


A fridge with a temp controller would be nice, but the temp control alone is $60 and the cheapest you're going to realistically find a fridge that will work is around $50. I spent just over $50 on everything. A couple downsides are that every couple days I need to add in a couple quarts of water to make up for whats evaporated, and I won't be able to do lagers, which is ok because I dont have a place to condition them anyways.