What cheap thermostat do you recommend?

[Tree]

I love how people keep saying "I wouldn't trust the Hydrofarm", yet no one has posted proof that they are prone to failure.

Very true, everyone that says "do not use Hydrofarm" has not used one.
people that have used them seem to like them.

I agree most of the cheap thermostats out there are probably junk, but this one seems to be a winner.

I was looking to get a thermostat myself and asked around. this was the one, out of the recommendations, that I am going to use.

[RichsBallPythons]

Very true, everyone that says "do not use Hydrofarm" has not used one.
people that have used them seem to like them.

I agree most of the cheap thermostats out there are probably junk, but this one seems to be a winner.

I was looking to get a thermostat myself and asked around. this was the one, out of the recommendations, that I am going to use.

The ones saying not to use one, are the same ones that have seen similar ones like the alife fail and kill entire racks worth of snakes... And wont skimp out on good prodcut.

[Simple Man]

Why spend good money on snakes and stick them on cheap thermostats? People like to cut corners but that's one of the wrong places to do it IMO. Just my $.02....

Regards,

B

[llovelace]

It seems that people are confusing cheap with inexpensive, like I said before most would love to own a herpstat. I look at it this way, the hydrofarm was not produced for reptile husbandry, but it does the same thing as ranco, johnsons, etc.

Just like when the drug Sildenafil was produced and studied for the use of hypertension & angina, some side effects were noted in the test cases, now that drug is marketed as viagra.

I feel that with the high priced controllers, it's supply & demand, and we will probably see some competitive pricing soon, with new ones coming on the market.

Thought I'd share this emai

Message body

Lisa,

Every time I've heard of or seen one of these failing, it fails in the off position, but I guess there is the small possibility that it could leave the heat mat on...

Regards,

Nicholas Rossi
Technical Support
Hydrofarm-West

[JulieInNJ]

I paid out a little more and went with the herpstat because this statement rang true for me:

Why spend good money on snakes and stick them on cheap thermostats?

Of course there are no guarantees with anything electronic. But I kinda equated it to buying a $1000 dog, and using shoe laces as a leash. Will it work? Yeah - it may even last a while. But a more expensive, heavy duty leash will probably work better and last longer.

[Blue Apple Herps]

Cheap thermostats = dead snakes. There are lots of areas to save money, but don't skimp on a thermostat. It literally controls the life of your snake.

[knox]

So, is it price alone that makes the other on/off thermostats better?

Has anyone compared the components of the Hydrofarm to the more expensive on/off?

I am not here to "champion" the Hydrofarm. I have used it with success. My favorite thermostat, though, is the Herpstat. I have owned 3 of them, but sold them along with the racks they controlled.

The thing I don't want to see is an emotional response to any question. If the components of the Hydrofarm are truly inferior, that is one thing. If they are on par with the more expensive thermostats, yet give the SENSE of being inferior because of price alone, that is something else altogether.

I don't know what components are used, I am just throwing this out for discussion. I would feel cheated if, after all this time, the same electronics were used in all of these thermostats and we have all been hosed.

[kitedemon]

I have quite extensively tested 3 hydrofarm T-stats. I do some consulting work and part of that is to evaluate products for adapting for other uses.

most of that study is under anon-disclosure doc. but generally it works ok. It is a basic on and off type it has all the pit falls of that type (they typically like warmer rooms and heavier or non direct heating.) Generally it could be made to work quite well in a rack. longevity remains to be seen.

The biggest issue is the probe. The probe is metal clad and so to respond to changes not really a problem in a rack as temp shift isn't too much of a problem most keep racks in warm rooms (77+) so this isn't an issue (tubs in shifting rooms it could be.) the bigger issues are the off and on points and the reading of the probe. They seem to shut down 2ºF over the set point and 3 under it. (the tested units are 'new and improved' models) The real issue is the unit is very poor accuracy the read out it is is just wrong. The 3 better accuracy versions I have the best is over a degree high and the worst is 3. The read out cannot be trusted.

If you are using a indirect heat source and set up this does not matter anyway but if you expect the probe to be correct you might be unpleasantly surprised.

Hosted on Fotki

[knox]

Thanks, Kite!

[kitedemon]

Personally with a rack i think I'd rather see a proportional t-stat and a on/off back up as a first choice but a hydrofarm and hydrofarm back up beats a ranco or Johnson as a single unit in my mind anyway. I might even say a dual on/off is as good or better than a single proportional unit in this case with a rack.

A thermostat is only as good as the security of the probe, no matter whom makes it. A fail safe or back up protects against a moved probe.

There was a post a while ago about catching a probe wire and pulling it free with a door I think all the snakes died but one whom had nerve damage but at last I heard was recovering. Sad and tragic but a simple fail safe would have prevented that accident where a herpstat or anything else would not have done so.

I personally will never use a thermostat with out a fail safe second unit. I believe that accidents can and will happen it is not an 'IF' but 'WHEN' and a probe caught by something (like a tub sliding over it) is a simple easy to make accident that can carry a very large cost.

I feel that hydrofarms make very very good back up t-stats, cheap and simple they will kill the power to a runaway unit for what ever reason. The chances of two units failing at the same time both in the on position is very very very low.