[pete b]

I still do the basement thing here in New England. I always intended to add temp control but it’s just worked out so I never bothered. I have an especially deep cellar that is in the sixties late September through May, with a few degrees variance between spots so I can check temps and choose. I can even do lager temps in my root cellar January through March. I occasionally cold crash outside.
What will eventually get me to go to controlling temps is the desire to make lagers for summer.
I use plastic fermenters but am considering getting a couple of ten gallon corny kegs to ferment in.

[reverseapachemaster]

For clean beers I have a small fridge and most of those beers are fermented in the same fermentation bucket I first started brewing with eleven years ago. Smaller batches go in 4l jugs.

If I were starting over I would seriously consider some of the jacketed conicals. They are more expensive for sure but overall more energy and space efficient.

[BaseWerks Brewing]

Spike conicals with a homemade glycol chiller.

I have the same setup.  I really like it.

[ExtractDoug]

I ferment in a heated basement in a 6.5 gallon spigoted plastic big mouth bubbler (no syponing!).  it stays 67 - 72 F year round in my basement (in Maryland USA).

Regards,
Doug

[erockrph]

I ferment in a heated basement in a 6.5 gallon spigoted plastic big mouth bubbler (no syponing!).  it stays 67 - 72 F year round in my basement (in Maryland USA).

Regards,
Doug

I'd be careful, that range seems a little higher than I'd be comfortable with. Fermentation temps can run quite a bit higher than ambient. If the room is at 72F, your beer will possibly get to 78F or higher during peak fermentation.

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[HopDen]

Spike conicals with a homemade glycol chiller.

I have the same setup.  I really like it.

I like mine too! I have a 1bbl and a 1/2 bbl with heating element but have never needed it. I can ferment both FV at lager temps without any issues other than maybe a strain on my electric bill. I keep looking at commercial chillers for homebrewing but as long as the homemade chiller keeps working I will wait. If I remember correctly, I might have roughly $100 dollars invested in it.