The only thermostats I would use are Herpstat which is my first choice, then Vivarium Electronics. Helix's are good too but I've never used them.

Herpstats have a fail safe, that if something goes wrong it kills the power. These cheaper thermostats Zilla, jumpstart etc.. don't have that. So when it fails, it gets blasted wide open. This is why I never recommend those thermostats because once you factor in the cost of the snake it's not really worth it to cut cost on a thermostat. Sorry this happened to you.