Finding fermentation location

When trying to find a location that is in the proper temp range couldn’t you fill up a bucket with 5 gallons of water and place it in somewhere and monitor the water temp for a few days. I know active fermentation causes a temp increase and but you could find a base temp of a certain location right? I’d rather measure the water temp than ambient air temp. 5 gallons of water isn’t going to change was fast or as much as ambient temp might. Does this make sense or no?

Yes you can do that.

A cheap and easy way to control fermentation is using a swamp-cooler. Basically a larger bucket than your fermenter, full of water, that you place your fermenter into. Then you can regulate the water temperature surrounding your fermenter with frozen water bottles.

I ferment in my basement using a swamp cooler. I’ve found that–usually–I can get away with a swamp cooler filled with water and no frozen water bottles for American/English yeast strains. The benefit to this is that it will provide protection against temp swings as the ambient temp fluctuates slightly through the day.

In the summer I normally have to add ice or frozen water bottles to get a low starting temp (low 60’s). After that I let the temp rise naturally.