I think it's very cool device! I also think that not everyone here would get use out of it. But I think that it has it's place.
For me, I now have a freezer that (cross fingers) I will be making into a lagering chest. But that will only work well for one type of beer - Lager. If I wanted to make an ale, I'd have to either get another fridge/freezer, or mess around with swamp cooler.
With one of these, I could lager in the freezer AND ferment a batch of Ale in the house.
I had actually recently started studying the potential for using peltiers for a single bucket fermenting chamber. I think that idea has potential, but for me to get off the shelf parts, the prices was not much less than buying a small fridge and a controller. The real unique feature would have been the small footprint.
So, yeah, if that price were around $100, and could get down to 32-ish, I think it could be a winner. As it is, I think most would like it under $100 and then it would really be bought for Ales.
Don't forget, many of the people who homebrew beer are also into it for the DIY aspect.
For me, I now have a freezer that (cross fingers) I will be making into a lagering chest. But that will only work well for one type of beer - Lager. If I wanted to make an ale, I'd have to either get another fridge/freezer, or mess around with swamp cooler.
With one of these, I could lager in the freezer AND ferment a batch of Ale in the house.
I had actually recently started studying the potential for using peltiers for a single bucket fermenting chamber. I think that idea has potential, but for me to get off the shelf parts, the prices was not much less than buying a small fridge and a controller. The real unique feature would have been the small footprint.
So, yeah, if that price were around $100, and could get down to 32-ish, I think it could be a winner. As it is, I think most would like it under $100 and then it would really be bought for Ales.
Don't forget, many of the people who homebrew beer are also into it for the DIY aspect.