Helix VS. Herpstat Thermostat for Incubator?

Building an incubator and am buying a new thermostat like today. Wanted to see if anyone had a preference. Helix or Herpstat?

Both are fantastic units. My local breeder uses Helix for all of his incubators. You can't go wrong with either.

got a herpstat on my incubator,,, 100% hatch rate last year~
spooky

Im bias to herpstat but in all fairness I have never used Helix. I am curious myself, I am in the process of building myself an incubator :)

I use a Helix, haven't had any troubles with it, and it work just fine even after the power goes out. I don't have experience with Herpstats, so I can't say anything either way about it.

I have a helix and it's worked just fine over the years like it's supposed to work. However, a couple of times a year I have power outages - roughly a few hours up to maybe 5-6hrs. To alleviate this, I use a computer UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) that usually gives me about 3 hours of additional power once the power goes out. I don't have a generator (I need to get one) or else I'd hook my incubator/t-stat up to that.

With that being said, I don't use my Helix on my incubator. I use a Ranco which is an on/off type t-stat. For some reason, proportional t-stats such as Helix's, do NOT work with other power supplies such as generators or UPS boxes. I tried hooking my Helix up to my UPS and it threw an error message right off the bat and blew the fuses (luckily it was only the fuses). The on/off t-stats like Ranco's and Johnsons do not have this problem and they work just fine with generators and UPS boxes.

I've never had a herpstat but I hear they are pretty popular and I've only heard good things about them. But if they are proportional type t-stats and not on/off type, then I'd assume they would have the same problems with the additional power supplies. Of course if you don't use any kind of backup, then all of this is really not that important and a Helix will work great on an incubator. In fact, I'd prefer a proportional on an incubator over an on/off, but both do work. Just something to think about..........

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Originally Posted by jonf

I have a helix and it's worked just fine over the years like it's supposed to work. However, a couple of times a year I have power outages - roughly a few hours up to maybe 5-6hrs. To alleviate this, I use a computer UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) that usually gives me about 3 hours of additional power once the power goes out. I don't have a generator (I need to get one) or else I'd hook my incubator/t-stat up to that.

With that being said, I don't use my Helix on my incubator. I use a Ranco which is an on/off type t-stat. For some reason, proportional t-stats such as Helix's, do NOT work with other power supplies such as generators or UPS boxes. I tried hooking my Helix up to my UPS and it threw an error message right off the bat and blew the fuses (luckily it was only the fuses). The on/off t-stats like Ranco's and Johnsons do not have this problem and they work just fine with generators and UPS boxes.

I've never had a herpstat but I hear they are pretty popular and I've only heard good things about them. But if they are proportional type t-stats and not on/off type, then I'd assume they would have the same problems with the additional power supplies. Of course if you don't use any kind of backup, then all of this is really not that important and a Helix will work great on an incubator. In fact, I'd prefer a proportional on an incubator over an on/off, but both do work. Just something to think about..........

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Thanks I think I'm gonna end up going with the herpstat. They are both similar but the herpstat runs about $20-$30 cheaper. Anyone know any specials for a herpstat or a helix. If not I'm just gonna buy it straight from spyder robotics