P I D tempature controllers

So I am building a cage system to house various types of snakes and reptiles with different heating requirements. I know the easy answer is to buy two or three herpastat 4's but at almost a grand for three its kinda pricey. I have seen inexpensive P I D controllers for sale on the net but I have never worked with one before. Was wondering in anybody has tried this before. I need a minimum of six temp controlled ares more would be better. This is for a nice cage display so I need it to look good as well as function good. Am I out there with this idea. Or should I save my money for all the herpastats? Help and opinions are appreciated .

I use PID systems in the robots that I build. Some are more accurate than others, but I think that you could make a decent one work.

Personally I would just use herpstats

Yeah, I am getting ready to do the same as I think I should be able to do something nice as I calibrate, adjust ans repair pid controllers for a living. $30 controller, $10 solid state relay, and a nice enclosure, you looking at somewhere around $60 for each zone, about half the cost as already made ones.

If you want to look into it further, I would Google DIY sous vide and you will find pretty good instructions on the basic principle, just minus the whole crockpot, water, and vacuum sealed meat part. :)

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