Hello all, I will be purchasing a Incubator Friday and would like some advice or personal experience with either of the following models. I was set on getting the Hovabator turbo air with the two small windows and manual temp control. $128 with auto turner. until I seen the Hovabator genius with the picture window and digital control mod. this one I found for $203 with auto turner. now my question is obviously witch one is worth the money or are they both worth the asking price. Its a big price difference for what seems to be just the digital module. I do like the bigger picture window. Any input on the two would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
I'm a Brinsea fan myself, so I can't give you input on those models, but here are some incubator reviews that may help you decide: https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/category/egg-incubators
You can get the lower price model with the picture window (that's a model that I have used for many years) for a little more. The digital controls are nice, but I'm not sure they are worth the additional money. I depends on how much hatching you are doing with it. If it costs $75 more and you do 15 hatches, that's only $5 a hatch for a more "hands free" (and maybe better) hatch. Or, get the cheaper one and if you don't like the temperature adjustment, buy a digital thermostat and install it. Do a search on this site for STC-1000 and read about that.
Are you talking about the 1602N Thermal Air? That’s the only one I can find with two windows. I can’t find anything called Turbo Air. Is the other one the Genesis Hovabator 1586 or 1588? Not sure but both are forced air. I have the older model 1588 with the dip switches, not the digital control. That digital control is worth a lot. I’d appreciate a little help with the model numbers. I may be totally wrong in my assumptions. There are some pretty big differences between these. I like the forced air feature. That makes it easier to measure the temperature accurately. It also assures you will always have fresh air for them to breathe late in the incubation and hatch. The 1588 thermostat is a lot easier to adjust. That 1602N looks like it would be a pain and the instructions say it requires more adjusting. My 1588 has 5 water reservoirs, the 1602N only has 2. That means the 1588 gives you more flexibility in adjusting the humidity. The main difference in the 1588 and 1586 I saw is the thermostat. Looks like the 1586 has the same one as the 1602N. The bigger window is nice too but I find the window on my 1588 is adequate. I would not sped any extra money for that bigger window. I’m not sure how well you can see in there with the two widows on the 1602N. If you are talking about the 1588 and 1602N, the ease of operation would be worth the money to me. I’d still go with the 1586 over the 1602N because of the forced air, but I would not like that thermostat. But that is personal preference. The 1602N has hatched a lot of chicks.
I'm sorry, both models are on Strombergs website. The Genesis is mod #1588 and I'm pretty sure it's the digital pre set thermostats correct me if I'm wrong. But the other lesser expensive one is the circulated turbo air model not sure of the mod number. It also has the two smaller windows. Then the mid priced unit has the Manual thermostat with the full size pic window. Mod # 1583 So the prices are $128-man therm, and two small windows# n/a $168-man therm, large pic window #1583 $203-digital therm, large pic window #1588 All prices are with auto turner and free shipping!
I may have found my incubator, I'm going to order the genesis mod #1588 with the automatic turner for $182 shipped. It's the best price for a brand new one I can find.
