Good Inexpensive Thermostat?

I'm in the process of attempting to set up a quarantine room, and I was wondering what inexpensive thermostats are good and reliable for temporary use. For the permanent cage, I have a herpstat, but I don't want to drop that much money for a temporary setup. Anyone have any luck with cheaper thermostats? Are dimmer switches any good?

For some reason this question always reminds me of this:
http://ollmann.cc/web/wp-content/upl...ood-cheap.jpeg

Why would you worry about putting your snake in quarantine if you don't want to worry about getting a good quality t-stat?

The Hydropharm thermostats are around $36 on Amazon . Some people have had bad luck with them.
I have 4 of them, 2 have been running for 3 years with no problems, and my temps are right on.
I also have a Herpstat Intro .... these are only $99, and they are proportional instead of off/on.

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Originally Posted by mohawk

The Hydropharm thermostats are around $36 on Amazon . Some people have had bad luck with them.
I have 4 of them, 2 have been running for 3 years with no problems, and my temps are right on.
I also have a Herpstat Intro .... these are only $99, and they are proportional instead of off/on.

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The problem with the Hydrofarm is that it fails wide open. If you get one put a lamp dimmer between the t-stat and the heat. Set the lamp dimmer so the heat can't get over the mid-90s, and then if the t-stat fails your snake will be uncomfortable but not burned.

By temporary, you mean two to six months? What part of that time do you feel comfortable with a potential failure of the T-Stat that could result in your animals being harmed in such a way that the result is a Vet bill that exceeds multiple times the cost of a Herpstat or other reliable T-Stat? That is of course if the injury isn't fatal which would result in a loss of the cost of the animal and replacing/repairing the enclosure.

Of course you're only talking about saving the difference in the cost of the two, so less then $70. I say go for it. What could possibly go wrong?

T stat is not something you want to go the cheap route on. Spend a little extra for a quality product.

I agree. A thermostat is something you do not want to be cheap on. Rwptile basics has some thermostats that are great prices.

I thought Hydrofarms had a shut off safety feature where if the probe goes over 108 degrees, it shuts all power down.

Ed Lilley from Constrictors NW, builder of Pro-Line caging, breeder of affordable and rather expensive carpet pythons, and former breeder of several varieties of BCI and BCC uses and sells the Hydrofarm stats and has used them for years with no issues, he also uses more expensive stats as well.

You can even back 1 up with another. I have 1 and have had zero problems. I also use Herpstats which I find are the best.

Oddly enough, I remember a thread here recently where somebody was having some trouble with a Herpstat so everything has the possibility of failure.

Inexpensive doesn't always mean a pile of crap.

If you have a Herpstat already, I'd just move the main cage to the room you want for separation, or take the stat from that cage and use it there if you can.

Good advice here:

"If you get one put a lamp dimmer between the t-stat and the heat. Set the lamp dimmer so the heat can't get over the mid-90s, and then if the t-stat fails your snake will be uncomfortable but not burned."

Just out of curiosity, how do dimmer switches work on their own? Any good or not worth it? For clarification, the reason I can't just move the main enclosure to a different room is because it's an enclosure with a divider and there's currently a snake occupying half of it.

I'm liking the idea of using a lamp dimmer between the t-stat and the heat source. It seems like a good idea, in theory.

I appreciate the feedback! :)

Helix, Herpstat, and Vivarium Electonics are all well respected thermostats, and often you can get one for $100 sometimes less

Dimmers are better than nothing, They work ok but if the room you keep your reptiles in fluctuates a lot, then your temps in the cages will too as it wont auto adjust like a thermostat. Although I guess some people like the slight fluctuations as it mimics nature. For me personally, dimmers work ok as my reptile room stays pretty constant so their cages only fluctuate about 2 degrees from day to night and back.