InkbirdTemp Control Thermostat ITC1000 Dual Stage Digital Temperature Switch Controller ℃ ℉ Display Heating Cooling Relay NTC Sensor 3D Printer Freezer Fridge Hatching 110 Volt

I have had this for 4 years and it still works great. Easy to setup, very accurate temperature control. I use it to control a full size refrigerator with a heating pad inside for fermentation of beer, wine, and mead. I just bought a second one.

Nice inexpensive digital thermostat, which was available when I needed it and has served me very well. But I now recommend similar Fahrenheit versions instead, as they are equally functional, and more user friendly (just hit Set then Up/Dn to change temperature).I've gotten three of these now, the first one has been controlling a swamp cooler for over 3-years now, without a single hiccup. Another is installed in my old refrigerator, since ordering a drop-in replacement (mechanical) thermostat from the store was going to cost $80, and that's been working for over 2-years, now. The third has been controlling someone else's swamp cooler for over 2-years now.Programming this thermostat is much more difficult than it should be, and takes a little bit of time to understand, but a quick cheat-sheet is good enough for anyone to figure it out when they need to. Terribly disappointing, though, that you can't just hit the up/down arrows to adjust the temperature, but instead need to go through a convoluted process that needs two-hands. Same goes for converting temperatures to/from Celsius all the time.This thermostat fits nicely into a standard 4-inch square, blue PVC, 2-Gang Quick Connect Outlet Box with a matching "blank cover". I surface-mounted it with just two screws near my swamp cooler controls. I cut out most of one side to fit this thermostat, and drilled a couple holes for wires. It's a bigger job than a mechanical thermostat, as you need to find which wires are hot and neutral for power, tap into and run twice as many wires. But it's well-worth the effort. Mechanical thermostats aren't terribly accurate, have a tendency to get stuck from time to time, and don't let you adjust hysteresis or other settings. This one has been super-reliable, offering very fine-grained control, and extremely accurate temperature control, keeping me much more comfortable, while saving lots of money, and also offering much more peace of mind.My refrigerator was a bit of a rush job, but proved fairly easy to modify to use with this thermostat in under 3 hours time with a bit of wire crimping and plastic work. Power was available nearby from the light switch, and there was enough room on the face-plate that it was only a matter of cutting out some plastic. The temperature probe is long enough to place anywhere desired, and picks up temperature changes quickly. While the 2-3 watts it consumes and heats-up the interior of the refrigerator with is less than ideal, it's a fraction as much as the hot light bulbs inside, and lost in the noise of opening the doors a few minutes every day. The ease of mounting inside the fridge (rather than drilling holes) is well worth the very minor heat output.

I live in Florida and decided during quarantine that I wanted to try growing peppers and onions in my office closet. I've spent the last 4 weeks buying every hydroponic solution I could, trying to figure out why my plants were always closer to dead than alive.I have a small setup -- a 5 gallon bucket of nutrients and a RDWC setup I got off Amazon (https://amzn.to/3acGSqG). Little did I know, with the Florida heat and my small closet space, a RDWC can actually cook your plants because of the water that sits in the hydroponic system when the pump is not running. I needed a way to cool my nutrients without investing in a 400$ water chiller meant for (much) bigger grow ops.I read all of the reviews on a small water cooler that would help keep my solution temperatures under control (https://amzn.to/2VcaBMg) and saw a review from the control engineer saying I needed to forget about an expensive controller buy a simple 18$ one -- this one! (review is here for reference https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3C88YUKT446KA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B001JSVLBO). Well that was a stupid idea -- that guy knows way more than I do. If you're reading this now and you need a controller, spend an extra 15$ and buy this (https://amzn.to/34EnDVH). However, if you like to get in over your head like me, keep reading.You'll need a few items from your local hardware store --1. A 1-1/4" hole saw (https://amzn.to/2xnu5o7). You'll need this to drill a hole in whatever tank is holding your nutrient solution.2. A generic wall outlet -- something like this (https://amzn.to/3bcOYkd)3. A 3 prong extension cord, you know, the usual kind (https://amzn.to/2K4ImbZ)4. If you have an extra computer power plug laying around, that should be fine. Otherwise you can use a lamp cord. I used something like this (https://amzn.to/2K7GLSH)5. Finally, a place to put it all, nice and neat. I used something like this, but I took my controller to the hardware store and found one that was a snug fit (https://amzn.to/3bdfw56)6. (optional) an outlet cover, 'cause we're fancy and like aesthetics.Time to put it together!1. Cut the tail off the computer power cord (or similar) mentioned in the part list -- #4. The tail being the part that does not plug into the wall (the female end, cut it off). Pull the casing back a bit and strip the black (hot wire) and white (neutral). Leave the green alone, cut it so that its just the two black and white wires exposed. Put some electrical tape over it for good measure.2. Strip the black and white wires and connect them to the controller by first unscrewing the screws in the terminals. Black (hot) goes into port 1 (closest to the left when looking at the back), the white (neutral) goes into port 2. Screw the screws tight to secure the wires.3. Connect the controller's sensor wire to ports 3 and 4 -- the order does not matter.4. Plug in the power cable connected to the controller and make sure it powers on.5. If all is well, it should startup and show you what the ambient temperature is. Disconnect the power cable afterwards.6. Take your extension cord (part #3) and cut the tail off (female part). Then cut an additional 6-8 inches from that -- we'll need a bit of copper wire for the next steps. Set it aside.7. Grab the mutilated extension cord -- the one with the male plug remaining. Strip all 3 wires -- white, green, black back a bit. Connect the white wire to the neutral screw (mine was silver). The green wire goes to the green screw. Connect the black wire (hot, power) to the temperature controller, terminal #7. At this point you should have: the power cord (section with the male end) connected to the electrical outlet via the white and green wires. The power cord's black wire should be connected to the controller port #7.8. Remember that piece we cut off in step #6? Grab that, pull the black wire out of the casing, and strip both ends. Plug one end into the controller terminal #8, and the other side of that wire goes now to the brass screw on the new outlet (the one that has the green and white wires connected). At this point you should have 3 wires connected to the outlet, green and white directly from the extension cord, and black coming from the controller.9. Make it look pretty! I'll leave this up to you. Make sure to cover any exposed wires with electrical tape.10. Finally -- you should have three plugs now -- one from the aquarium chiller, one from the extension cord, and one that power the controller. Plug the aquarium chiller plug into the new outlet. Plug the other two cables into a standard wall outlet that has power.11. Mount the chiller to your bucket, inserting the probe through the hole and tightly securing it with a wrench. Check for leaks!Congratulations, you're a boss. Go out there and grow!