Cheaper Thermostat Options

Funny story, I have a Herpstat, a few iPowers, a Jumpstart, and a couple Zillas back from when I had no idea what I was doing. The only thermostat I've had problems with so far is the Herpstat. I used it in a homemade styrofoam box incubator and got an error a few weeks into incubation. The heat turned off and the temp dropped to room temperature for a couple days. I lost two eggs and had one kinked hatchling that died in egg, but the other five eggs hatched fine.

Later on (after a google search for the error) I learned that It's not a good idea to let the probe get too wet, or to put it near other cords. Oops. Maybe that should have been obvious, but I had no idea. Since it was difficult to maintain steady temps in the tiny styrofoam box anyway, I made a new incubator out of a wine cooler and kept the probe out of the egg box and away from other cords. Problem solved. I used the Herpstat again and got no errors this time. Every egg in my second clutch hatched without issue. Six beautiful babies.

That said, none of the other thermostats I've used are nearly as accurate as the Herpstat. Proportional vs. on/off makes a big difference. And that's the main reason I used the Herpstat for the eggs. I didn't want fluctuating temps during incubation. None of my existing snakes seem to mind a 2-4 degree difference, but I still intend to switch entirely to Herpstats over time and phase the others out.

The big thing is that Herpstats turn the heat source off if something goes wrong. Cheap off/on models let the heat source blaze at full power if they fail. High temps have a much greater chance of injuring or killing snakes than temps that are too cold. I've heard of a few people over the years losing snakes to a cheap thermostat that malfunctioned. Usually it's the Zillas, but that might just be because they're readily available at most big box pet stores.

I've gotta admit though, out of all the "cheap" models I have, I like the Zillas the least. They're overpriced for what they are and it's hard to set correct temps with a dial. They also seem to fluctuate more than the iPowers and the Jumpstart. Digital displays are so much better. I kinda perfer the iPowers over the Jumpstart because they're been really consistent for me, but Herpstat rules them all. Haven't tried the Century, but it looks pretty similar to the iPower.

I just plugged up an iPower to my 20g long and they're correct about it taking about 3°F for it to regulate the temp. Hopefully it will work well enough though.

I have a question myself which a Google search brought me to this thread. I was googling herpstats as I have 3 racks that I've acquired and would like to start using once I get everything figured out. I have two 12pc 12quart racks and a 10pc 32quart rack. I was wanting to know what thermostat you all would recommend using. Is the herpstat EZ2 good enough with the two probes, one for each style of rack (12q & 32q) with the analog settings? I see the EZ2 at 160$, and then see the digital thermostats at $300+. So, what you recommend? Is the Herpstat EZ2 sufficient? Or should I go with a digital one? I'm new to the hobby but I wouldn't want to risk that many snakes, even though I'm sure the herpstat brand is reccommended what's the added advantage of the digital/more expensive kinds? Thanks in advance.

The EZ2 would probably work. Can't personally vouch for it since I have a different model, the Redline 2. I don't like dials much, but a dial on a proportional thermostat is still a whole hell of a lot better than a dial on an on/off model. I read through the description for the EZ2 and it sound like it has everything you need. Pretty nice features for a barebones unit. As long as the combined wattage of the two 12qt racks isn't over 300 (and I don't think they should be) you should be fine.

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Originally Posted by the_rotten1

The EZ2 would probably work. Can't personally vouch for it since I have a different model, the Redline 2. I don't like dials much, but a dial on a proportional thermostat is still a whole hell of a lot better than a dial on an on/off model. I read through the description for the EZ2 and it sound like it has everything you need. Pretty nice features for a barebones unit. As long as the combined wattage of the two 12qt racks isn't over 300 (and I don't think they should be) you should be fine.

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Hmmm, how would I test that? With a resistance meter?

My Big Apple thermostat is a proportional one with a dial.