wafer thermostat vs reptile thermostat for incubator

[Celiandy]

I'm building a new incubator and I'm trying to figure out the best thermostat option. It seems like the people that have used a reptile thermostat, like this one - http://www.petsolutions.com/default.aspx?ItemId=97637501&EID=97637501&SID=FROOGLE - really like them and the people that use wafer thermostats like them. Has anyone done a comparison? I'm looking for something under $30. Right now I have an incubator using a water heater thermostat that works ok but has about a 3 degree temp change and fluctuates with the room temperature a bit, so I'd like something that was a little more accurate.

Also, where is the best/cheapest place you have found to buy your supplies at?

Thank you for all your help!

 

[aprophet]

the last wafer t-stat I bought was from cutler like 20-22 bucks this is the same type I have in my hova it keep doing well for me

 

[Denninmi]

I took the wafer thermostat out of my old Hovabator and hooked it up to one of those Zilla brand controllers, very similar to the one in your link. I ran it for about day and half/2 days with some unfertile chicken eggs in there just to see. It seemed to do a better job keeping things consistent than the wafer did, which was a nightmare, always crashing or spiking when ambient temps changed. However, this still won't resolve the humidity issues with a Hovabator. I was just thinking about adapting mine as a hatcher for the lockdown period in case I wanted to keep adding new eggs to my Brinsea, but I haven't really needed that yet and would have to experiment more to say for sure whether or not it would work.

But I suspect it would.

 

[Celiandy]

I'm also thinking about making my current incubator a hatching one and the new one for the incubation, but then I wonder if that's just me getting carried away with this hatching stuff. Thanks for your view points on the t-stats. I'm leaning towards the reptile one but I like the simplicity of the wafer and that if it breaks I can buy just a replacement wafer.

 

[dsowens15]

From my experience, I will never ever try to use a hot water thermostat ever agian. I hate them.

 

[Celiandy]

Quote:
What type of thermostat do you use now?

 

[Settin'_Pretty]

I didn't see any rating on how many watts the Repti-Temp 500R Remote Sensor Thermostat will handle
That's a critical piece of information.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Settin'_Pretty :

I didn't see any rating on how many watts the Repti-Temp 500R Remote Sensor Thermostat will handle
That's a critical piece of information.

Somewhere else I saw it ranged up to 100*, but many people use them and they work just peachy.​

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Quote:
Amen.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Oops, I forgot.

Repitemp makes a thermostat that has a digital thermostat and a digital humidistat. You may want to look at them?