I use a chest freezer that sits in the garage. I have it hooked up to a Johnson Controls A419 controller and it works great in the spring, summer, and fall. Right now it is holding at a steady 68 degrees. My concern is with this Alberta Clipper coming in, the temperature will drop as the temperature drops in the garage. What kind of a setup do I need in an effort to heat the chest freezer to the desired temp. should it drop? Will the A419 heat and cool at the same time if set up that way? Looking for different ideas to heat the chest freezer this winter.
I’ve used an incandescent light in the freezer hooked up to the Johnson. It has to be set to either heating or cooling so you have to choose which one to use (assuming it’s the same one as mine, but there’s only one plug, right?). NB and other places sell other ways to warm things up to like a heating pad, etc…
I use a drug-store heating pad. You need one with a real switch, so that you can leave it “on” and let the controller work it via cutting the power to the outlet. Most have a 2 hour time limit too.
A good option is to put a 7 watt incandescent lightbulb (like a nightlight) in the freezer and leave the temp controller set for cooling. Leave the light on always and allow the freezers cooling ability to do as it is supposed to and cool the freezer when necessary. Yes, its a bit wasteful of energy but not that bad since we are only talking about a 7 watt bulb.
I use a 100w reptile heater bulb.
When I had a chest freezer, I did the heating pad method as well. It had a cut off at an hour on, so I had it hooked to a timer to run for 55 minutes every couple of hours.
I saw those fermentation wraps and wondered if they would work. The description says they are safe with plastic too.
I may look into one as I have a tough time even in my basement getting temps to sustain in the upper 60’s. Kind of makes the DA rest hard, but I do digress.
I like what others have said as they seem to be cheaper options.
I went with a ceramic heater that has a fan built in, reversed the A419 temp controller and have been spot on at 68 degrees for two days not. I debated hard between the ceramic heater and the Zoo Med reptile tank heating pad…so far I’m happy with my decision.
Thanks for all of your help and suggestions.
