Thermostats

[Kullas]

I have looked around and cant find much info on thermostats for a homemade bator. Most of what i have found is using a water heater thermostat. From what i have heard they are not the best to use. im using a wafer thermostat right now and dont realy care for it eather. I made a test box using a fish tank heater taken apart and wired to a light bulb so far so good but i guess i need to test it a little more. Is there any other thermostats that work well?

 

[SpunkyTheMonkey]

$0.02: you'll see if you use a water wiggler or some kind of fake egg and a thermometer with a probe, that the internal temp of the eggs is much more stable than your air temp and changes much more slowly.

a cheap t-stat may appear to be giving you air temp swings which are too big but if your eggs are only getting temp swings of 0.5 degrees or so (and they probably are) then it's good enough. lower wattage bulbs (try 25W) seem to be better for minimising temp swings too.

bottom line, a wafer t-stat should be fine although i believe that the manufacturers recommend replacing the actual wafer every 1-2 years (should cost you about $10 i think).

as far as water heater t-stats go, i'm using one...the kind with a copper probe which can deal with water heaters, fryers, air temp etc...my wiggler swings from 99.3 to 99.7