Inkbird ITC-306T Pre-Wired Electronic Heating Thermostat Temperature Controller and 24 Hours Digital Day & Night Cycle Timer Controller for Seed Germination Reptiles Hatching

Ok, so I bought one of these fancy new 306T heat-temperature controller things. Now most folks that know me well would say somethin' like "Now what the dickens is that boy gonna do with that!?". Well, down here in the south it gets hot, real hot. Most of our energy-conservation is aimed at keeping our pretty little heads (and other parts) COOL. Yeah, the heat and humidity down here is rather tough. We claim we can cut a chunk off with a knife and send it to Alaska and it'll still be solid when it gets there. Yeah, hot and humid enough to make the big pole at the post office wilt. So, what's a guy from the enchanted land of humidity supposed to do with something that controls a heating device? Can't plug it into our nearest star to turn it's temp down when it gets too hot. Nope, that won't work, besides...I don't have an extension cord that long (got a bunch of'em, though!). I don't hatch chickens and I don't own an iguana, though I have an old highschool buddy that resembles one strongly (that's another story). So.... Down here in the deep south hardly anybody knows what a “frost line” is. What, bury a water line three feet deep? Shoot put it down six inches so you won't run over it with the lawn mower and forget it!!!! Bare pipes running everywhere, exposed to the heat...and the occasional hard freeze we get some winters. Man, when that little weatherman guy comes on and starts talking about sub-freezing temperatures you can meet the whole town down at Joe Maynard's hardware store buying up pipe insulation, heat lamps, propane torches (to thaw them frozen pipes out later, of course!...and later we hear about so-n-so (can't say his name here) burning his garage down where he had been making his whiskey while he was thawing pipes, but again, that's another story). Yeah, people start scampering around like my 3-year old granddaughter running back from the kitchen with a crazed look in her eyes and a Popsicle she just snuck from the freezer hanging out her mouth! Suddenly everybody is panicking trying to protect those delicate pipes that they swore last year they were going to “take care of”. I'm usually right there with'em. Sometimes it gets right dangerous with so many desperate people vying for that last heat tape. Watch out for them little old ladies with the blue hair...they can get mighty mean when the pipe insulation starts running low. Humanity can be so cold at times... So here's what I've done. I'm just as guilty as the next fella about procrastinating about getting my pipes permanently insulated. I usually run around with the herd of folks looking for those foam tubes for insulation and fiberglass wrapping stuff for the crooked places. You ever seen two old pharts playing tug-o-war with a piece of foam pipe insulation??? Oh, and my favorite....Infra Red heat lamps....they do work a treat in keeping those pipes from freezing. I've got one really bad area that I do my best to protect...it's the outside washer and hot water heater!!! Open ended garage...exposed pipes. Yeah, it's kind of open to the elements. Why, I do believe that was where my wife come face to face (the first time) with a fat ol' possum....them things are ugly and even uglier when they “hiss” at you...being from a large city she really didn't know how to take that possum but I think she took the cow drinking out of the bird bath a bit better, but I digress. Man, I *hate* plumbing work (but ain't got nothin' aginst possums) so I really couldn't make it without those heat lamps!! But, there's a problem with those heat lamps...they don't have a brain to turn on and off when they need to. And I'm at work a lot of times when they need to turn on...or off. Don't need'em running needlessly just to send my do-reh-me to the greedy power-company. And I don't need my pipes ah freezing 'cause I wasn't there to turn the lamps on. I just need those heat lamps a burning when it's freezing, that's all. But I can't be in two places at once and there's a not a friendly troll that comes along and unplugs them for me.... DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!! Enter in the 306T controller!!! You ever see them old science fiction movies where the aliens all looked like they had one of those beehive hairdos but instead it was their brain? These were mostly black and white movies...real grainy and we had to twist the outdoor antenna to get'em to come in good. Well anyhow, the 306T would look like that if it was an alien 'cause it'd have a really big brain!!! Really smart contraption. What can I say, eh? Ok, so here's what I did. I took the 306T and hooked those 250W heat lamps up to it. Set a differential of a couple of degrees off from 32F and let her rip. Works like charm!!! No more spinning that meter like it's a Chuck Berry 45rpm record that the electric-company's doing “The Twist” to!!! Stops them blood-suckers from tippy-toeing through my wallet!!!! Yessire!!!! When it's not cold enough to freeze the pipes the 306T turns off the heat lamps, when it gets close to freezing the 306T turns them back on. No frozen pipes!!!! No trips to the hardware store trying to match up pipes and fittin's and swearing that I'll get everything honky-dory by next winter...no WWE fights with little ol' blue-haired ladies. Nope, the 306T doesn't hardly lift it's pinky-finger and turns those heat lamps on-and-off, on-and-off, on-and-off...and me, well I'm sittin' inside drinking a warm cup of something that warms me up or a cold cup of something that warms me up. I can set my thoughts on more important things...like finding that alien movie with the big-brained space aliens in it. Now that's somethng positive to be doing rather than pluggin' in and unpluggin' heat lamps...let the brain do it for ya!!!! Now, what'd I do with the tv remote control....maybe the 306T could find it for me....it's the real brain around here!!!!!!!!! Dang fine piece of equipment, too!!! NASA could take some tips from this Inkbird company. Must be a bunch of them big-brained Aliens running it cause this this controller is smarter'n Doctor Spock was and he was always amazing Scotty and Scotty was pretty smart himself!!! Fine company of aliens, I guess. At least they're friendly and won't eat'ya. So, if your hatching ostriches or maybe raising salwater crocs to hand out to the kids at Halloween and you're having trouble keeping the inkubators at the right temperature then fret no more!!!! You can get that temperature honed in to a “T” with a nice and shiny Inkbird 306T!!! And then when you get them ostriches and crocodiles all hatched out and happy and winter starts to move in you can keep your pipes from freezing with it, too!!!!! Think of all your money that you can keep out of the electric-company's hands!!! Shazamm!!!! It brangs tears to my eyes I tell ya!!!! It's an amazing piece of technology!!!!...something that keeps me from having to do plumbing work! The president oughta give ol Inkbird a medal!!!!!!!!!!!!! Customer service is great!!! It's the answer to all your problems. You can contact them if you do have a problem. I was having trouble baking pound cakes, they was just coming out all wrong and not airy like Miss Linda's cakes come out. I'd sifted the flour just right. I didn't stomp around in the kitchen with my work boots on. And still it'd come out a big flop. I contacted customer service and and this nice person went through the steps and things with me. Ended up I wasn't lettin' the eggs and butter sit out over night and come to room temperature like I was supposed to be doing. Amazing customer service!!!!!! Inkbird is a class act, I tell ya!!! Now, you know you want an Inkbird 306T, you really want one bad! Jerry Pickler down the road from you, he lives in the green house with all the funny-looking antennas on it...over behind where the feedstore used to be 'fore it burned down back in '73...hmmm, might've been '74. I think they was using a propane torch to thaw some frozen pipes out...shame Inkbird wasn't around back then. Anyhow, I'll bet Jerry's got one of the 306T controllers for inkubating his emus!!! (Jerry has some fine emus, too!) Don't let Jerry outsmart you even if he has twelve toes and can climb a tree better'n anybody in the county (has held the county tree climbing championship for eleven years runnin'!!!). And last thing, I really haven't seen him at the hardware running around like a maniac the last few freezes that we've had. Jerry Pickler ain't smarter'n you are...is he? Nuff said. Ya know, I got to wondering just now. My feet tend to get cold in the winter when I'm sleepin'....yeah, you know what I'm thinking...see, you're getting the “Inkbird Insight”!!! Yeah, a little duck tape and tape that probe to my a big toe and plug my 'lectric heater up. YEAH BOY!!! TROPICAL PARADISE!!!! This 306T is an amazing contraption, like an electronic Swiss army knife!!!!...musta been one of them fizzicist scientist (or a really smart big-brained alien) that figured this thing out!!! Oh well, I gotta go. Got me something cool to drink and I think “Lost in Space” is coming on the television (I think one of them big-brained aliens is supposed to be in this epysode)...gotta adjust the antenna just a tad, too. It's amazing, I thought the show had ended years ago but it's still coming on...and Will Robinson hasn't aged a bit!!!! Weird!!!! Oh.....now where'd I put my meds?......they're here somewhere....oh, here they are....hmm, I don't remember that one, oh well... All set to relax since I ain't wrappin' pipes for the winter and I know this purdy Inkbird 306T is gonna take care of things!!!!!!! YEEEHAWWWW!!!

Ordered this Inkbird thermostat to control the heatpad used for our ball python enclosure. (This unit can control two things plugged into it at the same time, but I’m not using it for that purpose currently. I’m sure glad I sis buy this. Before I set it up I used the probe to detect the current temperature the heat mat was emitting. I found out it was 117 degrees which is 3 degrees from what would be the danger zone of scalding. I hooked up the thermostat and set the new temp to be 100 degrees as there is substrate in the tank which lowers the temperature since there is no direct contact with the heat pad. Thank goodness I ordered this as it will definitely make the environment in the snakes tank better. The instructions are easy to read and understand. I’m not using any of the cycle time settings as I want a constant temperature for the warm side of his tank. The controller works well and shuts the heat pad off at the 105 degree mark and then turns it back on at the 100 degree mark with the 5 degree differential I set in the unit. Overall I would give this 5 stars and would highly recommend this for anyone using a heat pad for their ball python. Without a thermostat (heat controller) you run the risk of burning your snake and this unit will keep you from running into this issue.

This is now the THIRD Inkbird product I own and operate. This controller is specifically used for my outdoor tortoise enclosure. During the winter, I would have to be constantly aware of fluctuating cold temperatures, and manually turn on my heating lamps. This controller allowed peace of mind knowing that not only would it work, but it would work efficiently. The last thing I wanted was a 500w heater running unnecessarily during the day. This is now the THIRD Inkbird product I own and operate. This controller is specifically used for my outdoor tortoise enclosure. During the winter, I would have to be constantly aware of fluctuating cold temperatures, and manually turn on my heating lamps. This controller allowed peace of mind knowing that not only would it work, but it would work efficiently. The last thing I wanted was a 500w heater running unnecessarily during the day if I only needed it during the night. I also depended on this device to work during the critical low night time temperatures I was experiencing and Inkbird cemented my trust in their product. Price was also a major factor in choosing Inkbird. Their prices are so much more reasonable than many of the other brands out there. While their instructions can be difficult to understand at first, their support via Facebook messenger was surprisingly immediate and helpful. Don't be afraid to reach out and talk to them! There are endless possible uses for this temperature controller, and I plan on using this device around the house for the plants I grow and the saltwater fish I keep, in addition for the tortoises during the winter. Consider their other controllers as well for humidity control or controller heaters AND cooling devices. Again, they offer the best price for a high quality product that you can continue to depend on.

Just bought it to ferment yogurt in an old fashioned (not digital) crock pot. Easy as pie! OK it's actually quite a pain to make a pie crust but once you figured out how to use this thing it's quite simple. The control is not intuitive so you need to read the manual for the first time. What I don't like about this device is that the display when showing alphabet often does not represent the alphabet (unless my particular device is defective? but all else is working well). For example the letter T is displayed as an upside down F. When I enter the values I have compare the menu code carefully with the manual listing, because I cannot easily figure out what they are by looking at the display. If you delay a bit when inputting the values the thing resets back to previous values and you have to start the whole setting process all over again. This is why I am taking off one star. I haven't even used the timing feature yet, because to do so will require me to enter more values and it's quite painful due to the above reason. Luckily I haven't had the need to use the timing feature yet. I have no trouble understanding the manual instructions though. Overall it's a very useful device and works well in terms of controlling temperature within range. My yogurt turns out rich and creamy and just right. I set my temp at 115 degrees F. Plug my crock pot in and set it to "warm", and 8 hours later it's done! The pot will be turned on when the temp dips to 113 and will stop when reaching 115. The pot may continue to heat up to a degree or 2 above because the heating element cannot cool down immediately, but as long as the temp is lower than 120 the bacteria will thrive. I am going to buy the long probe selling at Amazon here instead of using the short probe that comes with the device. For my yogurt purpose the short probe is not ideal. You have to be careful not to get the rubber part immersed in the liquid but still ensure most of the metal part is well in the milk/yogurt. A quick note about the milk-pasteurization portion of the yogurt making process: I also did it in my crock pot, but I used a digital thermometer with an alarm feature. I set the pot to "high" and it will heat the milk up in an hour or two (didn't time it). The gentle heat of the slow cook ensures that milk will not overflow, burn or form a hard deposit on the pot so when it comes to cleaning it will be very easy. My slow cooker is a cheap Hamilton Beech 3 qt one. It's good for half gallon capacity but if you need to make a gallon at a time you will need a 5-6 qt pot.

Last year I bought Farm Innovators Model TC-3 Cold Weather Thermo Cube Thermostatically Controlled Outlet - On at 35-Degrees/Off at 45-Degrees and though it kind of worked I wasn't happy. (See review there.) I have only had the 2 nights below freezing since I got the Inkbird, but on those 2 nights it worked perfectly---after I figured out how to set it up. The instructions I found to be confusing. It comes set for degrees C. If you prefer degrees F, like I do, you need to set this first, even though it is Step 4 on the Setup Flow Chart on page 4. The reason for this, as you will find out on page 7, is that when you change it everything else reverts back to the factory settings. I didn't use the Time Settings. I just wanted it to turn on some light bulbs (the old fashioned ones that get hot) in my well pump house any time the temperature dropped to 34° and turn them off at 36°. So I set Step 1 "Temperature Set Value1" to 34° and Step 2 "Heating Differential Value1" to 2°. I went out in the cold to watch it work and it didn't come on. Also the read out did not agree with the remote thermometer I can read in the house, so I changed Step 3 Temperature Calibration to -2.5°. I don't know which one, if either, is correct. I just wanted it to come on when the temperature in the pump house I could read from the warm house read 34°. I finally figured out Step 1 needs to be the "Turn Off" °F. So I set this to 36° and Step 2 to -2°. Now the lights come on at 34° and go off at 36°. Perfect!

This controller has worked reliably for the past three months. It runs two aqueon pro 250 watt heaters in my 125 gallon aquarium. This unit is ideal for my purposes because it has two power outlets running for heating. It is ready to go out of the box. The only thing I had to do was zip tie the temp probe to a filter inlet tube in the water. I initially used a hydor hydroset controller. However, it was too difficult to get an accurate temperature setting on the analog model. The digital version is twice as much as the Inkbird controller and doesn't have the fully lit digital display. This is important because the controller is fastened inside my cabinet stand, which is quite dark. All i have to do is open the cabinet and glance in for a fast temp check up. The itc-306 also has a simple push button setting interface, which makes it easy to set up. It has maintained a consistent temperature of 81.8 degrees with a setting of 82 Fahrenheit. Room temperature is 70 degrees. One final point. If the power goes out or you turn off the power strip for a water change, the 306 will start up with the same temperature setting. This makes the device much safer and more convenient to use with frequent water changes or if I'm away for a few days and can't be there to reset.

Before we installed the device we installed a Govee Temperature Humidity Monitor and collected a few days of data, we were shocked to find that the terrarium was not as warm as the simple thermometer showed. We purchased this device and hooked up a heat lamp to it for the controlled heat source. After setting the target temp and affixing the thermostat sensor inside the take we were shocked at the degree of accuracy this device provided! it was amazing!!! (Figure 1) I was amazed to see it doing so well during the rolling power blackouts in Texas in Feb, the device worked great to bring the temp back up when the power returned, we did end up adding some additional thermal material over the enclosure to help retain heat during the blackouts, but it did amazing bring the temp back up !!! (Figure 2) Overall, VERY HAPPY with the purchase... only negative I see is that the outlets by default work together unless you work hard to program a second thermal trigger temp, but I never figured that out, but the one heat lamp is perfect for us so its no issue.

I have had two of these now. They are rather easy to set up, and work flawlessly... For about a year. Then they emit a high pitched sound and say Err and stop working forever. My first one I thought might have been the victim of a power surge, and only lasted 11 months. Customer service wanted me to splice a new probe onto it, which I was not comfortable doing as this is an electrical device controlling items that are potential fire hazards. They did give me a discount off a new unit. The second one just died at just over 13 months old, no power surges and was even in a grounded surge protector this time just in case. I really wanted to like these but I can't be buying and setting up a new thermostat ever year.

Malísimopepducto. No apagó el calentador de agua al llegar a los 28 grados celsius, cómo lo programé, elevó la temperatura demasiado y mató a mis peces!!!!! Hasta me dan ganas de demandarlos!!!! 😡😡😡 No funcionó correctamente ni un mes! Le baje la temperatura de encendido a 23 grados Celsius, solo para corroborar qué fue lo que falló, y ni siquiera prende. Malísimo producto, no arriesguen a sus mascotas con este termostato. Envío foto de la pantalla del termostato a los 23 celsius, dónde se ve no trabaja el termostato.