DIY Thermostat?

I know there are at least a few people who have some if not all the skills to do this on these forums, myself included. So I was wondering if anyone has thought of making or made a home built Thermostat similar to some of the higher end ones in the market (Herpstat, Helix, ect.)

I had an idea for building a pc controlled thermostat that could potentially run a large amount of devices. It would take me some time as I am more of a hardware guy than software but I may tinker with the project over the next year or two.

Anyone else play with an idea similar yet ?

I dont always talk electronics, but when i do it is with Aaron (TheSerpantMerchant) :gj:

I'm counting on him chiming in. :D Just figured I would see who else may have some insight.

My thought are serial/usb controlled modules. Could make them mountable in standard PC case bays to make it more compact should be able to fit 2 devices per bay doing that or could make the modules mounted else where and fit more per module.

I have a lot of experience working with power circuitry and some general experience with other pcb fabrication. No formal education in it but enough experience that I was able to work as a consultant in the aerospace industry. (primarily in pcb lay out and design)

I just figured by now there would be some systems on the market that could handle more than the likes of the herpstat4 for example. Or possibly a system to control an entire room.

Technically it could work, but it might end up costing more than buying one. I would either use a serial interface or an Audriuno depending on your experience level. Buy your parts online if you're gonna go for it, places like Radioshack rip you off.

I'd just recommend buying a Herpstat. They only cost about 150 for a basic one and have a MUCH better chance of functioning properly. Would you trust the lives of your snakes to something a guy built in his garage, even if that guy was you? Also, time is money and it would take at least 20 hours to build something like this. Just some things to think about before diving into this. I've seen people spend hundreds more than a commercial one trying to build a viv after having to buy tools, materials, etc.

EDIT: Just saw you were talking more along the lines of the herpstat 4. It costs a bit more, but the same things come into play. You could try to get a schematic or buy a used one and tear it down. Profit margin for things under 1000 is usually 50-100% so you could save a bit if you have all the tools.

It isn't about cost so much as it is about practicality. Besides I have the ability to and regularly do order my electrical components at wholesale pricing or less. Seems unreasonable to me to go beyond 6 herpstat4's at that point there should be something to more centrally control everything.

This is also a reason why this will be a long term project if I do dive into it. My collection and breeding plan isn't beyond my own thoughts of what is or isn't reasonable in terms of what is available on the market.

OK, if you're going to go for it then I'd still recommend getting a schematic or a used Herpstat 4. From there you can map out how they work and possibly add more nodes. That's probably the best way to go if you're going to try and replicate its functionality.

How is this going? I'm curious if you ever got it working.