Lager temps? I read you loud and clear.
Oddly enough it was low temps that caused me to get my first fermentation chamber. It was your basic $50.00 Craigslist top-mount fridge (white and about 17 cu/ft). I scrapped the shelves and drawers and built a platform for the fermentors (carboys at that time). Cooling was supplied by the fridge itself and heat by the aforementioned ceramic heater. I only had a one stage controller (Ranco STC-001). It would do heating and cooling, but only one at a time. I wired it through a project box with a switch that directed power to either the refrigeration or heating.
A few years later it died and I got another Craigslist fridge and did the same thing. The problem was that it would only hold two 5 gallon fermentors, so I built a fermentation cabinet using plywood and 3/4" foam insulation, and the old fermentation chamber became my kegerator. The new FC will hold four 5 gallon fermentors (two up, two down), and works like a charm. The doors are 1/2 inch plexiglass with foam seals. Cooling is with a tiny window AC with the thermostat disabled (it will hit 45F), and I'm still using the ceramic heater. The controller is a two stage Ranco (ETC-002 I think). Your STC-1000 is superior to the Ranco because it will do fractional degrees.
Charlie