So, I have been paying a little more attention to my incubator operation this season. My thermostat has not kicked on in the two weeks I have actually been recording data (yes it still works). I am currently using an igloo cooler that fits 9 egg tubs. Three of the clutches are within their final 2 weeks. The youngest clutch was laid five days ago. I incubate at 88. The ambient temp in the room is 86. I am running three different probes. Thermostat probe is outside the egg box. I have an old school mercury chicken egg thermometer also outside the egg boxes. I have a digital probe wedged between a couple eggs. Temps are pretty consistent with the incubator temp hovering between 88 and 88.4. Egg temps are normally about 2 tenths higher than the air temp in the incubator. As near as I can tell the eggs are managing to boost the incubator temp and hold it a full two degrees higher than the room ambient temp without any assistance from the heat tape. I knew the eggs generated a little heat but I never thought it was enough to actually maintain the temp in the entire incubator. Has anyone gathered similar data?
