I'm coming out of the closet - Johnson Contollers

[rich]

No, you bunch of perverts, this is not a sexual topic.

I just scored a free Kenmore 19 cubic feet fridge. And can finally quit fermenting my ales in a spare closet, start lagering, and ferment in general at more precise temperatures. I will use a analog Johnson controller, but have a few question for you that are already using this setup.

1. Since this is a freezer on top model, I assume that the Johnson Controller will render the freezer useless. Is this true?

2. The unit will live in the garage. In the winter months, what have you guys done to raise the temperature in the unit?

Thanks in advance.

[BeerPal]

1. Since this is a freezer on top model, I assume that the Johnson Controller will render the freezer useless. Is this true?

Yes, it is true. Your freezer will not work well as a freezer.

2. The unit will live in the garage. In the winter months, what have you guys done to raise the temperature in the unit?

I solve that probelm by not living in a place where temperatures indoors are likely to drop into the freezing range. But failing that, you could place a FermWrap heater (or similar) inside the fridge and run a 2-stage temp controller. That way when the temp in the fridge gets below your set point, the heater will kick in and bring it back up.

On the other hand, just how cold does it get in your garage? A fridge is pretty well insulated. Is it really a concern that temps in the fridge will drop too low?

On the other, other hand, you could do what I do in my chest freezer:

[BrewBum]

For fermenting in the fridge you would want a dual controller like BeerPal said but for my keg fridge I just hung a 70watt bulb in mine and it keeps it around the 35-40 degree range pretty well in below freezing temps. This last week we dipped in the negative teens and my keg fridge was down to about 20, threw the bulb in and in a day it was staying consistently 35-40 without much problem.

I don't have to worry about the temps in the fridge until it dips below 15 for a number of days in a row, then it is time to throw the bulb in. Otherwise the fridge is insulated well enough.