Let me start out by saying my husband and I are newly weds and first time home buyers so money is and will be for quite awhile, tight. I can't afford to spend $99 on a herpstat. We have less than that to spend on two weeks off groceries! I currently have my T8 with a heat lamp on a dimmer. I monitor the temps but never have a change of more than 2 degrees but I know an UTH is a better option for belly heat which is what they need more than ambient heat. My question is, would it be worth it to use an UTH pad with a dimmer switch that I manually monitor or just keep what I have? Our house temp only fluctuates about 3 degrees all day so that's less of a concern.

Opinions please?