I have spent a long time with the trials and travails of a rheostat and the unfortunate fact that no one around here sells good thermostats. Well i bit the bug and got a Ranco after being told numerous times "if you buy quality at first, you wont have to worry about it when it really matters." Well i bought a Ranco prewired and an IR Temp gun from Reptile Basics and i couldn't be happier. Its scary when you actually see the temperature of a certain surface you "thought" was perfect. Now i never have to worry about my hot spot going from 94 to 86 within a day cause the the rheostat cant do the job well. Now i just have the Ranco at 94 and i get perfect 91-92 degree hot spot and a cooler area thats about 84-85.

I am so glad i made the right investment, you all were right!