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Posted by jfmoore on May 04, 2003 at 23:02:31:
In Reply to: Thermostats??? posted by Mike_S on May 04, 2003 at 19:11:37:
If you have $100-$130 to spare, get a good proportional thermostat like Big Apple or Helix. Unfortunately, Helix has no product info on their website right now, just a price list. Both suppliers’ products hold temperatures within tight tolerances. Big Apple has a big edge in responsive customer service and prompt shipping.
If you want to go cheap, consider a wafer-style thermostat, used for years in inexpensive bird egg incubators. Make sure you get a pilot light with one of these or you’ll go nuts trying to adjust it. I’ve used one of these successfully for almost 20 years, but will switch to a Big Apple controller when I get around to changing it.
As far as I’m aware, house thermostats have too great a differential (say, 2 degrees or more) to make them effective in controlling the heat in an incubator. So, you have a set point of 89 degrees F, the heat comes on and reaches 89, the thermostat shuts off and the temperature falls to 87 before the thermostat allows the heat to come back on and rise to 89 degrees again. There must be other reasons that no one uses house thermostats to control incubators, but the lack of temperature stability is enough to discourage me from trying them.
Whatever option you choose, always get a high quality thermometer to double check your temperatures.
Good luck.
-Joan
:Can anyone recommend a good thermostat for an incubator?
:I finally got around to building an incubator today but I don't think a rheostat would be wise to use for eggs. Good quality and decent price would be nice.
:I was thinking about using a house thermostat. Any opinions on that one?
