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

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.

Full Disclosure - I was offered a discount on this product in exchange for an honest review.I purchased a Inkbird All-Purpose Digital Temperature Controller Fahrenheit &Centigrade Thermostat w Sensor 2 Relays back in April and have been very happy with its performance. I wired it into a small project box and hooked up my chest freezer to make a nice effective fermentation chamber.I have since picked up a second chest freezer so I needed something to control the temperature. This device fits the bill perfectly!You will see my make-shift controller box build for this unit in my pictures. This is almost certainly not to code, please do not think that I am suggesting you build your box like this. For what it's worth, it is working just fine on my chest freezer right now.PROs:Price - Great low-cost controller, especially if you already have the parts to wire this up sitting in your garage.Ease of Use - Adding the Fahrenheit display makes this much more user friendly.Effectiveness - Control heating and cooling with one device.CONs:Not Programmable - This is not the V1.0 A400 model STC-1000, you can't flash STC-1000p on this.Not Pre-Wired - If you are not sure how to read a wiring diagram, or you don't have the parts/tools around your house, then you would be better off buying Inkbird Itc-308 Digital Temperature Controller Outlet Thermostat, 2-stage, 1000w, w/ Sensor which does exactly the same thing, but is already wired for you.Additional Notes:This appears to be functionally identical to the earlier STC-1000 that I purchased. You can set the temperature, display unit, the compressor delay, and the calibration offset. The temperature probe is the same plastic-coated probe. The screw terminals and wiring diagram on the back look the same. In 7 months of continuous use my first STC-1000 has not had a single issue, I would guess that this one will be just as great.Inkbird is a great company to deal with and are very friendly to customers, I would say that alone is enough reason to pick this model.