Hello BMWFan,
A few things to add to Streamer's comments...
Yes, your first post has to be approved by a moderator, and depending on how available one is to have noticed it. I appreciate the additional info for sure!
From Minnesota... Gets Cold there, for sure! That could be a benefit of having an electric heating element - easier to fashion an indoor brewing system if you brew a lot. I brew with propane on a part covered back patio. Works great most of the time and I love it out there, but there are a few times in the winter when cold - raining / windy, or just extremely cold that I would rather have an indoor setup. You might get more of those days than me...
QUESTIONS & Things to Think About - HERMS Setup:
Are you sure you want to go through with a HERMS setup? Seems like a much more complex setup that will not make better beer and will not give you higher efficiency. In fact, traditional full volume BIAB will likely be a little higher. Some say the wort is a little clearer, but after fermentation and cold crash - beer will not be any clearer. The equipment is "cooler" looking, and for sure is more complicated and will require more time to clean...if that is desired.
As far as tracking beer making process for better repeatability, our BIABacus file along with being diligent with recording benchmark "checkpoints", volumes and gravities with BIAB will do that as well as it can be done.
Some people on here, Mad_Scientist comes to mind, brew inside with some sort of electric heating element. There are some posts on here that could give better advice than me with electric.
When new to this, I loved the thought of a counterflow chiller, and bought one. But I drew the line with a pump - DID NOT want to have to add a pump to my brew day cleaning requirements! The CFC actually worked fairlly well but without a pump was slow to chill, and was kind of a pain to clean. Finally ditched it - sold it to someone else - and built a larger than you can buy immersion chiller. Works great! Much Better!!!
Anyhow, from my perspective simpler is better provided it works well. And traditional full volume BIAB works great! My 16 gallon stainless brew kettle will produce around 8 to 8.5 gallons Volume Into Packaging (VIP - into bottles or keg) of 1.052 OG wort). You have 25 gallon, doing the math that should have you able to brew 12-13 gallons Volume Into Packaging.
I would recommend trying some of the simpler equipment arrangements and then consider if complicating it really is a help... If it improves your beer - great! But if not...
The temp controller will be a big help with having a temperature controlled fermentation chamber. And that, along with ability to "cold crash" will be a big help!
Glad to have you on the board, and like Streamer said, new post on the beginner section with any questions.