Quote Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes View Post
And then then the thermostat fails (lol). This is all fine and dandy but in all honesty if a machine absolutely needed something watching it 24/7 I honestly would not use it...just my perspective though.

That's the point of a thermostat though... it doesn't need watching 24/7; it is there so you don't need to worry about it, nor do you have to constantly check it. You yourself said that you adjust your temps when you pull out your temp gun. That sounds like a lot more work than setting a thermostat and leaving it. That's not to say you shouldn't be keeping an eye on temps.
If how you do things works for you, then that's great! But maybe that wouldn't work for someone without as much experience, you know?
For example, I know that if I didn't use thermostats my snakes would suffer because I don't have years of experience in keeping snakes and other reptiles. Even so, I would still use thermostats personally because I am a busy person - as I'm sure many people here are in their daily lives - and I do not want a pet that requires constant supervision. So I agree with you there, that if something needed watching all the time I would not have it either.

I think that's why everyone else is giving "mainstream" advice though. Even if someone doesn't take that advice and use it exactly the same, at least it's there to support.