Cheap thermostat and heat pad, FAIL

[drew5337]

I've got all my BP's in tubs, with stick on zilla/zoo-med/whatever brand heat pads, got the probe for the cheap amazon digital thermostat where it should be between the tub and pad, and cannot get to or hold temps worth a thing.

Years ago, when I barely had money for food for myself, I was at least smart enough to buy a helix and flexwatt for the snakes I had back then.

So, yesterday I bit the bullet and now reptile basics is preparing the stuff I should have actually bought in the first place, including a GOOD thermostat.


I've said it to my customers and friends for years and don't always have enough sense to follow it myself:

IT'S EXPENSIVE TO BE CHEAP.


This post brought to you by hubris and shame.

[Reinz]

I have no experience with the cheap on off Tstats. I’ve heard enough horror stories that pushed me into good quality proportional Tstats, Herpstat.
And it was hard to come up with that kind of cash.

I prefer to to learn from the mistakes of others rather than my own.

Thanks for posting a good reminder for such an important topic.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

IT'S EXPENSIVE TO BE CHEAP.

This right there.

What people don't see is that a reliable thermostat might be around $115 but it will last you for years, I am still running T-Stat that are 10+ years so if you break down the cost compared to one that is $30 and will break down within a year or two you are actually saving money.

Not only that but cheap thermostat have a tendency to fail wide open while the more expensive one will actually cut off the heat all together if they ever fail, so there is also the piece of mind there that to me is priceless.

[EL-Ziggy]

There's a difference between cheap and inexpensive imo. I've had Hydrofarm thermostats on all my heating elements for the last 7 years without any issues or failures. I'm all for using quality equipment but you don't always get more just because you pay more. The way I see it is I'd have to burn out 3-5 Hydrofarm units to cover the cost of one Herpstat or VE unit. I may not have some of the added bells and whistles of the more high end devices but my temps are always dialed in. I am thinking of getting the Herpstat 6 though just for aesthetics and convenience since most of my AP cages are stacked.

[Craiga 01453]

I've been using JumpStart tstats for years with no negative results.
That's not to say that Herpstat isn't a better product, it is. But I've never had a single problem with my JumpStarts or Big Apple tstat.

However, I just had a Ranco tstat fail on me. Not sure what it cost, I got it second hand with the enclosure. I know it's less than 5 years old.

[drew5337]

My baby boxes are all over the 80deg range temp wise, except for Chompy's, which is sitting on 90 for the hot spot. Guess who ate and who didn't...

Chompy may have eaten simply out of his hatred for the world and desire to destroy it though.







He is the tiny orange and yellow dragon of death.

[Bogertophis]

Looks like Chompy-the-Death-Dragon really wanted your thumb instead? I love your theory that he's driven to eat "the world" out of pure hatred for it, LOL.

[Cheesenugget]

I use Zilla heat mats for my snakes. I picked up a Zoo Med heat mat this past weekend when I got my new snake at the expo. It sucks! It barely heats up and placing it under the tank was problematic as it has a 'bulge' device thingie. Either way, I returned the Zoo Med and picked up another Zilla which worked fine. With that said, I do not like Zilla products in general, especially their basking bulbs do not last and they are a waste of money. I use Exo Terra for basking bulbs for my lizards and they work great.

For my thermostats, I have three Herpstat 2. They are pricey but worth it imo for the alarm and other security in case of a failure. However, I used the cheaper ones (Ie Jumpstart, Century, etc) previously and I still do for my leopard gecko and for quarantine. So far so good.

I think all things have a potential to fail or become defective, even a Herpstat. There is a clause to this though: you get what you pay for. The risk of failure is obviously greater in cheaper products of any kind than a more expensive, well thoroughly researched and high quality product. And with that price tag comes with a peace of mind, which is priceless for some people.

[drew5337]

Peace of mind to me is defined as one less thing to have to worry about. I want to get my temps dialed in and not have to mess with it, and have my snakes be comfortable. Order shipped yesterday, so this thing will be fixed up and good to go shortly.

[EL-Ziggy]

I highly recommend Ultratherm UTHs if you're going to use one of those. Nothing beats RHPs though imo.