Poor man's herpstat

Anybody familiar with the Hydrofarm MTPRTC digital thermostat? I found it on Amazon. It seems to have the basic functions needed for regulating heat. It's rated up to 500 watts, max temps of 110F. At roughly $28, could it be the poor man's Herpstat?

Ehh i've heard people having success and people really getting a terrible unit, so i choose not to risk it. Then again my animals mean A LOT to me and i don't want injure my animals because i didn't want to spend a couple extra dollars on a nice Thermostat.

There's a good chance it could work just fine, but thermostats are not the place to pinch pennies...at least in my opinion...

I'd take a rheostat over that hydrofarm thermostat any day.

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Originally Posted by sho220

There's a good chance it could work just fine, but thermostats are not the place to pinch pennies...at least in my opinion...

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yeah. I had the unfortunate experience of getting a zilla tstat as a gift, needless to say a herpstat was bought, hooked up, and keeping my snakes safe and warm within a week of realizing how bad it was.


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Ill throw in my 2 cents here

I HAVE BOTH

yes, i have a Herpstat, and a Hydrofarm on/off thermostat

I gotta say, they both work AMAZING.

the hydro farm is keeping my leopard gecko warm and happy at 95 - 97F, and my herpstat keeps my boa nice and warm at 89 - 91F.

They both work amazingly. if you cant afford a Herpstat, get the hydrofarm 100% I have had nothing but good experiences with it so far

I use the Hydrofarm MTPRTC on my single rack and it works perfectly. Not sure how it'll work with multiple UTH. I haven't had any problems yet.

I've had 4 racks on my hydrofarm since November, and it's working great. I use a helix for my bator.

I too use the Hydrofarm. Not had an issue yet! If I set it for say 95, then the thermostat I have attached to the glass above it reads 92. So 3 degrees variance doesn't seem all that bad.

I also own one and a ranco, very happy with both. Ranco for bp racks and hydro for gecko rack and my animals mean A LOT to me.

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If it were a couple extra dollars, I'm sure no one would go for the cheaper On/Off thermostats, though for many people $100 price difference is not "a couple extra dollars". Personally I don't know which I will put in my rack, but I can certainly understand those who have other things to spend money on than a 130 thermostat, especially since many people have kept and bred reptiles successfully with the $30 thermostats.

Every set up is differnt, every room conditions vary, I have not used the hydrofarm on off at all, but a zoomed which was junk. The questions I would ask are, does it have a differencial? If you set it at 90 and set the value to one degree will it shut down at 91 and kick in at 89. The zoo med after a test I ran shut down at 128 and kicked in at 85 when it was set to give an average of 90. Not so good. If running a non direct source like a wooden enclosure that is insulating the high spike is absorbed by the material. On a plastic tub the heat is transferred almost instantly and drops very very quickly as well. Just check into that, is all I am saying.

Did you look at the BAH-1000DC Thermostat from big apple? I don't own one either but A local guy does and he swears by it and it is about 45 bucks or so I think.

Thanks for all the input guys and gals, this just got me wondering... Herpstat is always the first thing that pops out of peoples mouth when talking about thermostats. I've seen the reviews and heard all the praises, but is it really the industry standard? And am I really pinching pennies or just avoiding paying an inflated price for a product that has many parallel products on the market? I understand the problems with ZooMed, they've cost me a snake in the past, but I do think spending $130 on a thermostat for 1 rack is a bit superfluous.

Herpstat, Helix, and Ranco.. This is all I personally will ever use. Helix for my racks.. Herpstat for the bator.. Double Ranco for my boaphiles..

I have one and a herpstat, the hydrofarm does a good job on my Cal King.

I actually love the herpstats, the non night drop one is 109. I work with a lot of two button programable devises and the system the herpstat uses in the best by a mile. It works well, simple to use and not overly expensive. I use a very good very accurate thermometer I borrow from work (traceable platinum tip science grade reads .01 degrees) and the herpstat is accurate to .3 better than every thermometer I have. I do not own a helix but I'd be shocked if it was not similar. They work the heat source sits at or near the temp you set and for what it is cannot be beaten. Hell to buy a digital thermometer as accurate as the herpstats probes you will spend 100$ I really hate adapting stuff to do something they were not designed to do, it can work just fine but having to tinker it for me is not worth it at all. It still comes down to your budget. I like the peace of mind I get with the herpstat.