I have to agree with Judy and Kara here first of all the price of the thermostat is relative to what you want to do and how easy you want it. Second I'll just say that I use the Helix DBS 1000 for all my racks, it runs around 125.00 plus shipping. 125.00 is worth it for me considering I had a run in with a lesser quality one that caused a burn. This is the great thing about or hobby!! There is something for every level hobbiest to be able to enjoy. But just like with any hobby as your involvement grows so will the expense. Lets face it everyone want every morphs out there. But not everyone can afford to house feed and keep 50 - 400 snakes.. Find a level that your happy with and work from there.