best thermostat?

[fallenangelfyre]

hey all!
so have been dream-storming up a pretty ambitions diy terrarium. i currently house one 6mo old juvie using a generic ten-gal setup with a uth, a rheostat, and a daylight/nightlight combo to keep the air temps up in this frigid winter.
i am planning on getting a few more leos and have an old dresser that i am going to utilize my carpentry skills, and the many great ideas on this forum to build a sort of rack system, and keep the ten gal as a quarantine tank. i am planning on getting it up and running to do a couple-week dry run to make sure everything is up to par before introducing the new leos.
my question is: what is the best thermostat to go for? i would like to take price, durability, reliability, and included options (i.e. dual temp. probes, etc.) into account. also, maybe tell me how many tanks one thermostat can control. thanks for your input!

 

[sammer021486]

I can not speak for the helix or herpstat, but I am extremely pleased with my Rancos. The Ranco can handle up to 1500W and has the potential to use 4 thermisters on one unit to provide an average temperature.

 

[scottjusa]

The “best thermostat” would be a proportional thermostat, which means it will vary the power to your heat source instead of turning it on and off. This is especially good if you are using a basking light because instead of the light going on and off, it dims to maintain the temperature instead.

The top two competitors in the reptile realm would be Helix and Herpstat. I ended up buying the herpstat after learning it has more features and costs less then the Helix.

Herpstat costs $109.00
Herpstat ND costs $135.00

The Herpstat ND has the night drop feature, which will allow you to set the time of night you want the temp to drop and the temp you want it to drop to.

On the warm side of my leopard geckos aquarium I have a UTH and a red basking bulb plugged into my Herpstat ND with the sensor about a quarter inch above the bottom of the aquarium (above my UTH and below the heat lamp) and it maintains the temperature I set perfectly.

 

[Mel&Keith]

We run our all of our racks with these Johnson thermostat and for $79.99 it's the best out there, IMO. They have a 1500W capacity so you'd have to see what all of your UTH usage adds up to but it should easily be able to handle them.

 

[fallenangelfyre]

thank you, thank you, thank you-

 

[Taquiq]

I like the Johnson ones to.

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

I use Herpstat and love them all. Very reliable and steady temps all year.

 

[fallenangelfyre]

thanks to all for the input. leaning towards herpstat with the night drop feature.

 

[Latlaw]

I have a Herpstat for 3 tanks and a Johnson for my other 2. Both are excellent and I have no problems with either. The Herpstat is smaller and more compact. Has a nicer look but the Johnson has been great too. Maintains temps very nicely.