FAQ

A thermostat works just like the thermostat in your home.
It keeps the heat in your tubs at a pre-set temperature. If you had no thermostat on your home heating system you would bake yourself and burn out the heating element much faster.

There are 2 different types of thermostats.

1. On/off thermostat. This type lets the heat tape get to just above the set temp then shuts off. When the temp of the heat tape falls below the set temp the thermostat will send power to the heat tape until it heats up again.
2. Proportional. This type sends small pulses to the heat tape to keep the temp a bit more steady( which is not as crucial for rack systems but you should definitely use a proportional thermostat for incubators)

All thermostats do the same thing, control the heat.
Some have more options we like to call “bells and whistles”. They are not required but some people like them. Examples are Hi/Lo alarms, night drop, etc.

A thermostat must be used to control the heat in our rack (or any rack system).
You can use one thermostat for multiple of the same rack system (up to the wattage capacity of the thermostat) but not for 2 different rack systems (unless the thermostat has 2 or more probes like the Vivarium VE 300 X2). For example, you run up to 6 of our sub-adult racks safely on one Vivarium VE 200 (700 watt capacity) since our sub-adult rack uses approximately 100 watts per rack. But you should not run a Vivarium Ve 200 for 2 of our sub adult racks and 2 V70 racks as the tub characteristics are different and they also use different wattage heat tape. But The Vivarium VE 300 X2 has 2 probes and therefore can run 2 different rack systems.