but, that wasn't the point of the post. i was asking if anyone had used this particular tstat and if the claims they make about it are valid. a tstat is not a complex piece of electronics. i made one using 3 different methods in college in the lab. we called it a chicken cooker, it was just a light bulb that had a temp probe taped to it and the voltage to the bulb was varied to keep within a desired temp range. i did it once using a breadboard and op amps, another time using a ni-daq card hooked up to a mac, and a third time using Allen Bradley PLCs. so to me it doesn't seem inconceivable that a company could be making a good, yet basic tstat for a reasonable price. The specs on the one i listed SEEM to be good, but as we all know there isn't necessarily truth in advertising.