Aquarium heater as chiller thermostat

howdy folks! I have a diy chiller I made from a dehumidifier, but wanna get away from the timer setup I have it on. I thought of using the heater in conjunction with the chiller, but that seemed inefficient. So now I’m thinking of just taking the heating element out and splicing into it to turn my chiller on.
Am I dumb enough to make this work or just not there yet? I know they have ink birds and all sorts of pre manufactured things, but I’m a diy’er. Any advice other than saying just buy one would be appreciated.

Use a temp controller man. InkBird is great but there are Far Cheaper options on eBay.

I know you didn't wanna hear "just buy one" but thatsvthe answer you're gonna get from most of us. I don't think $5 would be too much of an issue for you?