Bought the Wife an Upright Freezer

I guess it depends a lot on what you're buying, but the digital PID I use at work is trivial to switch from heating to cooling, it's just an options setting. I'm not sure why it would be any harder in any other model.

Also, what does power outages have to do with anything? If the power goes out the fridge goes off no matter what you're using...

 

i have both the Johnson and the Ranco. both will hold

because the the analog model doesn't need any power to keep its setting. every time the power stops you have to reset the clock radio, right?

doesn't matter though. i have a Ranco and a Johnson, both keep the setting if unplugged or otherwise lose power.

 

if you want to control heating and cooling your digital options are limited to the Johnson and a few others. these are about $72 or so, and most places seem to be competetive. i have bought three over the years. once you learn how to control the box and which dip switch to alter it is not too troublesome. maybe 5 minutes to open it up, then push some buttons in sequence and your done.

the biggest drawback to the analog is not being able to set the cut in range. your stuck with the 5 or 7 degrees pre set. but i dont think this really matters. then again, i dont have any analogs.
fwiw, my Ranco is over 10 years old and never once had a problem. its robust.
Cheers.

 

The model I have keeps its setting when it loses power. I would imagine everything modern does as well, since these things get unplugged and whatnot. What's funny is that the old clock radios losing their time settings are almost certainly due to their being made of analog components.

 

That's not what analog means...

 

Well, the PID I'm using has them, I don't remember the model number though. It's also an OEM product, not a complete set like what you'd use. I'd be sort of surprised if a modern PID didn't have the ability to sustain settings through a power cycle, but you never know.

What do the analog ones do? Are they ratcheting down the voltage? Your fridge's motor might not like that, depending on how it was designed.

 

Huh? My Ranco remembers all settings when the power is interrupted. I routinely unplug it and move it around and never re-program and no battery back-up in sight. To change from heating to cooling involves pushing one button. You can find them on eBay for under 46 bucks.

 

Same my Johnson controller is still programmed when I unplug it to use the outlet.

 

I spent $50 on a Ranco and wired it successfully myself. It cost me an extra $5 for a power strip and electrical tape. It took the guy on the video like 20 minutes, it took me 3 hours. I feel pretty good about what I accomplished though. It does hot and cold. I hear analog has a little more variance on temp, but I've never owned one.

 

I have two Ranco ETC 111000. This is a single-stage unit . . . it will control heating or cooling, just not both at the same time. That means you have to manually unplug your ferm-fridge and re-plug your electrical ferm-wrap when the seasons change then switch setting from Cold to Heat (less than 30 seconds). If you're handy with wire strippers you can save a few dollars by wiring it yourself.

 

The system I have is like $50 on amazon, you just have to wire it yourself. If you care I can find the part numbers.

 

It's more expensive than I thought: http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Displ...M3R8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1369444756&sr=8-5. You need to buy a thermocouple and a switch separately, which add about $15 to the cost.

 

With a two stage controller you can connect a heater and your fridge, leave town for a year, and when you come back the temp will have stayed in the range you have set. But do you really need this for fermentation? Before you drop the extra money, consider how often you need both heat and cold during the 7-14 days of fermenting and you are not around to do a manual switch.

 

it is in this situation. the analog temperature controller has a manual dial and the digital controller has, well, a digital display. when you lose power the dial doesn't move. nothing changes.
though as i said, it doesn't matter as the digital Ranco and digital Johnson retain their settings if the power goes.