Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Thermostat controlled aeration to control heating

Well, so far I got one inline power thermostat that turns on to cool. Amazon, $19. The sensor is air temp...set the thermostat to turn on (power to aerators) whenever the air temp is above 60...the thermostat stays "on" until air temp falls below 60. Meanwhile, pond temp this morning was 44F...cold water for me! I may drop the setpoint to 55 since the pond is so cold. For summertime, I'll have to get a "heating" thermostat that turns on the aerators whenever the air temp falls below a set temp, say 80F, then to run until air temp gets back up to 80 in the morning hours. These thermostats can be chained so that if one in the chain is "off," there's no power. First in the chain could be pond surface temp, if less than say 82, then "on.." (it will be on all winter and acts to prevent circulating deleterious hot water before it cools in the evening) Second in the chain is air temp, if more than say 60, then "on." (the wintertime setting, always "on" in the summer). Third in the chain is another air temp, if less than say 85, then "on." (the summertime setting, and we rarely get winter air over 85). Modify the connections and these things could be wired in parallel...oh the logic!
At some point a little "pi" computer, long term hourly record storage, various sensors for pond temps (surface and at depth), oxygen at depth, clarity, dissolved solids, and other sensors as smart folk might think to be of value. All recorded hourly or so. Some sensors outputs feed to simple software in the computer to control power outputs. Controlled power outputs could include aerators, surface fountains (cool off the surface?), pumps for circulation, filtering and water falls, powered valves to control pumped flows through bog filters, wetlands, and whatever. The well instrumented pond. I dream of this stuff as just another benefit of having built a small pond of 1/10 acre almost four years ago.

I've been considering doing similar for years but couldn't find the proper thermostat (more interested in the 'heating' thermostat'). Rather than use it with my traditional vertical aeration unit, I was planning to use it with my horizontal aeration set up (circulators). Keep this thread updated with your findings. This is very interesting.

Well the temp controller worked just fine...a norther blew in yesterday evening and when the air temp hit 57, it shut off the aerators, saving me a walk to the pond in 40 mph cold air. Sweet! It should kick back on tomorrow about 11 as temps rise and BBQ commences.
These cheap 110v inline thermostats, $19 on Amazon, cooling or heating (which for our uses is reversed, respectively heating or cooling, claim to handle up to one kilowatt of cooling or heater load, but much less motor loads (about 300 watts).

Amazon, $19. A "heating" one if to turn on when air temp falls below your target temp (say 80F for summertime cooling in south Texas). A "cooling" one to turn on when air temp gets above the target temp (say 60F winter-time in south Texas).

I tried one to keep the pond cool a number of years ago. Set to turn on when the air temp was below 70°F, off when it was above that so I could keep the pond cool enough to keep trout alive.

Great idea, but while the thermostat worked as advertised, the water in the pond didn't read the instructions and it warmed up top to bottom above the 70°F mark. So, while in theory it seems like a good idea, I have yet to see hard data proving that it actually changes the water temp in the pond more than a few degrees from what the surface water temp is.

Somebody please prove me wrong with hard temp data.