Thermostat + Tub Set-Up Questions

I'm almost finished building my rack system. My heat tape is being shipped now and I've been researching to figure out what kind of thermostat I need to get. So far I've come across quite a few of them, but some of them are insanely expensive. I had no idea they were so expensive.
My budget for thermostat is probably $80(I'm a broke college student who spent a lot of time saving up so I could build my rack system, buy a few more geckos, and have some money put aside for vet bills). What does everyone else use and how much did you pay for it? My rack system will only be holding three tubs(one shelf), but in a year or two I expect to have many more. With this in mind, I don't want to buy a thermostat that's on the cheaper end only to have to replace it later to safely operate my rack system. So far, I've found these: Vivarium Electronics VE-100 - Reptile Basics Inc , Dwyer Thermostat-Prewired: Reptile Products You Can Trust | Reptile Basics Inc , Zoo Med 500R thermostat with probe , BAH-1000DC Reptile Thermostat New Model - Incredibly Reliable Digital Chip for Accurate Temperature Control
If I really needed to, I suppose I could find some more cash and buy a more expensive one, but that would certainly delay my project and I would prefer not to. But I'd rather have a safe system that took a little longer to set up than an unsafe one because I was impatient.

Also, this is the first time I've ever used tubs for leopard geckos. I assume that people who have tons of leopard geckos have nifty ways of making hides or buying them in bulk. What do people typically use? I did check out the thread in the Housing section, but I couldn't quite work out what peoples' hides were made of or where I could acquire such a thing. Also, I've noticed that in a tub set up, most people just have a humid/warm hide and a cool/dry hide. Is this the best way to do it? I've always kept my leopard geckos in 20 longs with three hides(warm, cool, humid), but these 16 quart tubs don't have nearly the space to do that.

Edit: I forgot to ask, is it okay to plug a surge protector into a thermostat that only has one outlet so long as the things you plug in to the surge protector do not add up and exceed the watt capacity for the thermostat?

I dont know about your last question, but this is the thermmostat I use (I ordered everything off of amazon ) it has three outlets, a probe, and works reliably for me!

Amazon.com : NEW DIGITAL CHIP - BAH-1000DC Reptile Thermostat With DC Chip Technology : Pet Habitat Thermometers : Pet Supplies

as for the hides, i just chose to do the Humid/hot hide, and the cool/dry hide. I use large deli cups with holes in the lid for that:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FEDUB3E/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And here is what my tub set up looks like:

Thanks for the reply. How do you like that thermostat? The reviews on Amazon said that it can fluctuate +/-6 degrees. Does it ever fluctuate like that for you?

Are those deli-cups $20 each? That seems really expensive.

I personally have not seen flucuations of more then two degrees on mine, but since i dont use it on my incubator, it isnt an issue for me.

And no its tewnty dollars for 24 of them with lids (go to the second image down of them, on the left side of the screen)

That's good. Perhaps I'll get that one.

And Oh, haha! That makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the link!

I would really, really recommend upgrading to a better thermostat as soon as you can afford it. You get what you pay for, quality and safety wise. I use the lower-end thermostats for single cages and bug bins, where a failure will not result in fatal heat, but I would never run a rack on them. It might be okay for your first shelf, but consider it a stepping stone. (Also, watch the amount of power draw from the tape and make sure the thermostat and surge protector can handle it. Manufacturer should tell you how much power the tape needs per foot, etc.)

Here are a few good articles that I read when I was thermostat shopping, so you can understand the differences/risks:
Thermostats - What type to choose and why
Thermostat FAQ: Reptile Products You Can Trust | Reptile Basics Inc

Thanks for the links, Indyana. Safety is the whole reason I'm asking. I'm definitely willing to spend what it takes to make my system safe. I'll check out those links right away.

Edit: Indyana, what type of thermostat do you have and how much did you spend?

Double Edit: I decided it's not worth buying a lower-end thermostat only to replace it later. My choice is between these two: http://www.reptilebasics.com/ve-200 or http://www.spyderrobotics.com/products/herpstat1Basic.html Both have a 700 watt capacity, and are both about the same price. I'm not sure which one is better. I think plugging a surge protector into either would be fine. My heat tape runs 6 watts a foot, so it would take a lot of it to overload either the surge protector or the thermostat. The only thing is, am I supposede to have one of these things for each shelf level(seeing as they only have one probe), or can I just use a good thermometer to measure the temperature of each level of heat tape and just have the probe on one level? Surely it should all be the same temperature?

I'm a HerpStat girl myself, but I believe both are suitable quality for rack use.

For the HerpStat brand, you should get at least a Basic for running a rack system, and the HerpStat I is even better because it has a built-in alarm system that you can basically set to cut power to the rack if the temperature goes above a certain point. You can see their safety info here:
Spyder Robotics

I bought direct from the Spyder Robotics site, but you may be able to find one cheaper by shopping around. I know Davids Fine Geckos on Facebook is supposed to be selling HerpStats, although I haven't checked out his pricing yet.

For control, most people tape the probe right to the heat tape on the center shelf, then use a temp gun or probe to measure the floor temp in the bins. Then, you tweak the set point on the thermostat until you get all the bins at a decent level. They may not be exactly the same, but it should be pretty darn close unless there's a bad connection somewhere.

Above, when you said "plugging a surge protector into either", did you mean "plugging either into a surge protector"? Because the thermostat itself should be plugged into a surge protector and not directly into an outlet.

Yeah, shopping around seems like a good idea. If I can afford a Herpstat I, I'll buy one. If not, the basic will have to do along with careful temperature monitoring.

And I actually did mean plugging a surge protector into the thermostat. I wasn't aware they couldn't be plugged directly into the wall outlet. See, it looks to me like both of those thermostats only have one outlet, and I'm planning on having several shelves, all with their own strip of heat tape, which is why I wanted to plug the thermostat into a surge protector so I would be able to plug more strips of heat tape into one thermostat. There's no way I would exceed 700 watts with just a few strips of heat tape, so it would be much butter to be able to just plug a surge protector into the thermostat. I'm not going to pretend I know a lot about electricity and what's safe, but I don't see why I couldn't plug the thermostat into a surge protector to give it power, and then plug another surge protector into the thermostat so I have more outlets. Is that an okay thing to do? If not, how do I combat the problem of not enough outlets?

Duh, was not thinking about one plug per shelf when I wrote that, but that would certainly be the easiest to do as far as wiring. Yes, you will need two power strips with this method. The one that runs from the wall and has the thermostat plugged into it is the one that needs to have high-rated surge protection. The other one just needs to be able to supply enough power to all your shelves of heat tape. That's my opinion based upon logic, at least, since I don't see the thermostat itself generating a power surge...

If you have a little knowledge in electrical you might save a bit to a lot.

You can search

a409 from johnson controls...

Or
TC 9102D from control products

I tried both and works fine

I tried several chinese thermostat also shoot me a pm if you want to know the specific brand .


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Herpastat works great and I love the night cooling feature

Thanks for the reply, but this thread is a bit old. =)

I do have a Herpstat now and I love it!