Thank you for your info and suggestions! As far as the thermostat, not sure what kind it is but it has 2 lights one for power and the other for heat source power. It said on tue package to plug all heat sources into it, so thats why I plugged the lamps in there too (just switching night and day every 12 hours). I have to admit I have a crappy thermometer, so exact air temps are not reading, I will be replacing that very soon. The thermostat air probe is about a half an inch over the hide on the hot side