Any Cheaper Thermostats for Heat Mats?

[greenthumbomaha]

My Amazon order from Nov. 2010 shows a hydrofarm thermostat was $18.94. Now it cost $32.84 I need another but can't believe the increase. Any cheaper options so as not to overheat the seedlings?

-Lisa

[heirloomtomaguy]

Thats how much i got it for from the local hydroponic store. Seems expensive for what it does.

[Salsacharley]

Here's a real economic a.k.a. cheap way to go.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ain+thermostat

[greenthumbomaha]

I thought about using a dimmer I have but mine only have a few on/off settings, not enough to regulate the heat. Sometimes I forget to put the prong back in after taking a peek under the dome and in a few short minutes the temp changes very quickly. Not something I want to be running and checking all the time.

-L.

[loulac]

I suggest you visit http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ain+thermostat
There may be a few different threads, use the search engine to find them !

[biscuitridge]

Amazon has a very nice one,do a search for Docooler thermostat, it's about 14.00$ I've bought 7 of these and they work great,have questions email me ☺

[greenthumbomaha]

Many set ups, but he Docooler is along the lines of what I was looking for. Price is great. Just to be sure before I hit the check out button, is there any electrical wiring I have to hook up, or can I plug the heat mat in directly to the unit? People are grumbling about the instructions, so thanks in advance for your offer to help getting it set up.

[loulac]

I quite agree with greenthumbomaha's suggestion. T've been using the recommended thermostats for 2 years , they work perfectly. A drawback : the directions for use are either written in Chinese or the manufacturer's English is rather difficult to undertand, so I'll paste the last two lines of one of my threads :

They should have directions for use written in English. If it is not the case all is not lost, see a demo on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mGT4av5n3o and directions for use translated into English on http://www.e-bookspdf.org/download/wh7016-manual.html free loading of documents.

You won't have any trouble using it.

[biscuitridge]

Yes you do have to do a little wiring,I'd be glad to post a photo but I'm on vacation and won't be able to for a few weeks, are really a slick unit

[biscuitridge]

I use this thermostat for my automatic cold frame and my greenhouse and food storage cottage and of course for all my heat mats. Most of these thermostats are in celcius but make sure that the one you get is in farenheit,it also has setable differential which is nice and for the money I don't think you can beat it.

[lavanta]

Search eBay for PID Controller, there are many of them around 15 bucks. I know a lot of people use them for their Sous Vide cooking setup. Needs a little wiring. For example:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10A-110V-Dig...item1c3ee3f497

It looks like this is already mentioned in the other thread.

[PA_Julia]

I purchased a new heat mat back in June for this upcoming season.
I have already ordered the Hydrofarm thermostat from Amazon.

My next door neighbor has this same setup and it has works extremely well for him.
The overwhelming majority of reviews on Amazon for this unit are quite favorable as well.

[luigiwu]

I tried the dimmer setup last year. It worked well for one day and then it stopped. Meaning the heat mat was cold. Initially I thought the mat was dead, but once I took it off the dimmer it was fine/hot again.

[luigiwu]

Originally Posted by loulac

I quite agree with greenthumbomaha's suggestion. T've been using the recommended thermostats for 2 years , they work perfectly. A drawback : the directions for use are either written in Chinese or the manufacturer's English is rather difficult to undertand, so I'll paste the last two lines of one of my threads :

They should have directions for use written in English. If it is not the case all is not lost, see a demo on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mGT4av5n3o and directions for use translated into English on http://www.e-bookspdf.org/download/wh7016-manual.html free loading of documents.

You won't have any trouble using it.

So in order to use the Docooler thermostat, you'll have to cut the plug off of the heat mat and then use pigtails to connect the wires to each other?

[loulac]

I never cut off the lead of the mat but I connect the lead out of the thermostat to what we call a female plug in French, and I connect the male plug of the mat to that female plug. I hope I have been clear enough, if not I think some helpful Tomatovilian will be kind enough to reword that post !