well the trick I found with most cheaper ones is that they often run at different temps and are all over the place.I like to spend e few bucks on a digital one and set your temp to brew.mine broke so Im back to an old one but it does run cooler.but I like the digital ones and they'll last awhile if you take care of them.bout 40-60 bucks depending..less if you really look around prolly.They take all the guess work out of wondering if its gonna be a decent batch or not lol