Incubator thermostat.

It should, just make sure to attach it to something metal, and be sure to have a fan in the bator, to circulate the heat.

 

I don't know what a water heater theromstat costs, but if I were building your type of incubator I would spring for $17.00 and get a complete Hovabator unit from GQF. This would be way more sensitive than a water heater unit and easier to adjust.

 

This is dave27889. I am running a comparison on the waterheater thermostat against the wafer type thermostat and the wafer is keeping the unit well within the desired rage with less than a 2 degree range. The waterheater thermostat is ranging about 20 degrees different. THE WATERHEATER IS GOING FROM 104 TO A LOW OF 84 DEGREES BEFORE IT KICKS BACK IN. IT IS TAKING ABOUT 15 MINS TO CYCLE THROUGH THE RANGE. That is a pretty wide range. I have never hatched eggs so i am no expert but I would think that might make a difference. The wafer also stopped the heat (Light bulb) to within a degree. It is set at 100 degrees and the saturation went to 101 degrees. The range is a low of 99 degrees and a high of 101 degrees. The waterheater is set at 100 degrees and the saturation went to 104 degrees. I have both bators loaded with a dozen store bought eggs and everything else is the same. I have the waterheater thermostat mounted on a metal 4 by 4 steel plate. The wafer cost me less than $20.00 and the waterheater thermostat cost me $8.00 at Lowe's. You could wire in two of the waterheater thermostats to cover the range but then you would be up to the price of the wafer thermostat and it is a lot better IMO. These are homemade foam cooler incubators I made. I am trying to see which works best and then hatch some chicks for myself. I am then going to make about 20 of these type bators and sell them localy and then have the cub scouts that I work with make a couple for themselves to work with. I hope this helps and feel free to email me if you need to. Thanks, Dave27889