What cheap thermostat do you recommend?

I'm going to add a 4th snake to my collection and now I need a thermostat. However, I dont know which one to get for my snake rack and how to use it. I saw the zilla temperature controller, but I dont know how it will control the temperature when it doesnt have a reading for the temperature. So I need help, which thermostat, that is cheap, is good to use for a snake rack and explain how to use it please.

this is the one i have and it seems to do pretty well. only varies by up to 2 degrees and super easy to use. just plug the heat pad in and set the temp on the digital readout and your good to go.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

does this work for flexwatt tape for racks?

most likely it will. it handles up to 1000W so thats quite a bit of flexwatt.

I use the thermostat above on my rack with flexwatt and it works great. The only problem it will allow the temp to drop 2-3 degrees before kicking back on. Really not a big deal, for the price you can't beat it.

Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk

buy cheap get cheap, and sometimes it will cost you more in the long run. when it fails, hopefully the only thing you will need to replace is the thermostat.

i just got a hydrofarm thermostat in the mail. i bought it to test to see if i feel safe with it or not. planning on at least 2 tests right now. one i am going to plug it in with nothing plugged into it and place the probe right next to the probe for my herpstat. try and see where it reads compared to a known good brand. another test is i have a bunch of random tubs laying around. i figure ill throw a quick rack together and put in tubs and aspen and flex watt and see how well it heats teh tubs. no snakes will be in the tubs. i also want to run it with heat rope and compare the heat output vs. flex watt.
any other ideas on tests just let me know what you want to see and ill see if i can do it. not sure when ill actually start the test but ill get to it....lol
adam jeffery

Warning!!! When you use any thermostat with flexwatt, please note that you will need to tape the reader under the substrate of your choice on the inside of the tub where the heat tape lays. I have always stuck the temp therm. in the middle cage with my snakes. Then one day I smelled burning plastic! The reader was on the cool side of the cage (just from opening and closing it) and so it was trying to heat up the cold side. I have some very nice thermostats and they were not cheap. So just please keep this in mind when you are plugging everything in. I just put it in the middle cage of my rack, tape it right under the substrate, on top of where the flexwatt meets under the tub. Since I have been doing that, no stinky smell and no little burn hole! Oh and make sure empty slots at least have empty totes in them. That can affect the thermostats temp. reading.

http://images15.fotki.com/v230/photo...CA_9509-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

I did a series of tests on the hydrofarm the probe accuracy is... poor at best. The silver thermometer (reading 26.9ºC <80.42ºF>) is a traceable very accurate thermocouple, basically it is correct. The hydrofarms are 83.8, 82.4, and 81.6. The best of the three is a degree high. these are the new and improved accuracy versions. What the older versions are like I can only imagine. The probe response is ok but the unit overshoots easily and takes 2 or 3 degrees to kick in and off.

I'd say it might be ok in a rack especially if the rack is in a controlled temperature room. It works best with indirect heat in a mostly regulated room. Not so great in cool rooms with direct heat on thin walled enclosures.

personally I'd not trust a rack of animals to anything but the very best available. 5-10 animals on a single unit, trusted to a 30 dollar seedling starter thermostat seems a poor decision to me.

I never recommend cheep thermostats. Period.