bayite Temperature Controller 1650W 15A BTC211 Dual Digital Outlet Thermostat Plug, Pre-Wired, 2 Stage Heating and Cooling Mode, 110V - 240V, Fermentation BBQ Reptile Aquarium

This is a nicely designed unit that can handle both a heater and air conditioner, each with up to a full 15 amp draw simultaneously, since it will only supply power to one or the other, but never both. It can also be used to handle just one of either type of course. It will control over a wide range of temperatures from more than fifty below to over two hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and can be set to use Celsius.It has an external temperature probe that on a quick test with ice water proved to be rapidly responsive and dead accurate to within 0.1 °F. It controls by setting a single set point, and specifying a heating differential and cooling differential which control how far below or above the set point the temperature may drift before supplying power to the appropriate unit until the set point is reached again.It is very useful when the temperature knobs on portable electric heaters or air conditioners are not accurate enough to keep a constant temperature. On most units, you get a 1-10 dial with no way to know what the temperatures are without a lot of trial and error, and bad performance even then. Having the thermostat external solves that problem.The unit can be set to protect air conditioning compressors by setting a minimum down time in minutes so that the AC can't be cycled off and on rapidly. and can be set to audibly alarm at specified high and low temperatures.I was concerned that since it had touch controls it might not recover from a power failure, but this is not a problem. It behaves as expected: if it was turned on when the power fails, it will turn back on when it's restored, and if it was originally off, it will beep once but stay off.

I started to wait a while longer before reviewing this product but, I'll update if I have a problem. I bought this Nov 27, 2016 with reservations but, for what's available out there at a decent price, I figured I'd give it a try. So far, I LOVE IT!!! With a rating of 1650 watts I was worried about using it with a 1500 watt heater. I know, I know. That's lower than it's rating but, seemed a bit close to me and I almost expected trouble. You (I) never want to push the limits of an electrical item. (The heater would be 12.5 amps @ 120V while the controller is rated at 15 amps @ 110V)When I first got it, I wasn't sure how I was going to use it. I had planned to only use it for the heater but, in this world of ours, it seems that the weather is constantly changing, even in the middle of winter (it's Jan 12th and it's 70* outside) and I needed to maintain a certain temperature in my "area" which is the low 70's if possible. I thought I'd go ahead and put it to the test using both heat and A/C. I have a window A/C unit plugged in as well as a 1500W heater in a fairly small area. One day the air is on and one day the heat is on. At night it may be colder and use heat while during the day it might be warmer and use the A/C. I don't always "maintain" that "margin" that I've set but, it does what I want it to do. Maintaining a close temp can be managed by the unit controls which takes some "fiddling" but, it can be done. It's very easy to change your settings. You just have to adjust the settings until you get what you want. Unless you want to stay there watching it, it may take days or a week or so to get it just right but, it can be done. The temperature displayed is different from the temp displayed on my other devices I have all around. Of course, they don't agree with each other either so.... But, there is a way to adjust for that too. Check out the specs. It's very "customizable". Like I said, I love it. I just hope it holds up to daily use. The only thing better would be one that has a higher rating. I might add that the price has gone up $7 since I bought it.UPDATE: It's April of 2019 and I own 2 of these now. It wasn't long after buying the above unit, I decided to buy another. I thought there was a problem but so far it hasn't shown up again. Also, since I have 2 now I can "micro manage" my temps. I have 1 hooked to the A/C and 1 to the heater. I know, I know. You're asking why? Hey, it's working fine for me. Both of them. If for some reason I burn up a relay on the heater side, I can use it for A/C. Another thing is that both units register almost exactly the same temps. They seem to be calibrated well. I love the long probes too. I have one of my control units totally outside the room which I'm monitoring.These units are GREAT!!! I'm in my 3rd year using them and expect to use them for years more. I highly recommend!!!!!!!

I've been using this for a week, and the temperature maintains very well. The probe is accurate to within 1 degree when comparing to my digital and mercury thermometers, which is great! Although figuring out how to adjust the settings is confusing at first, the unit comes with an instruction booklet that very clearly describes how to get the unit to do what you want. Many of the negative reviewers saying they unit can't do certain things are incorrect, they just don't have the right settings adjusted right. Maybe the instructions I got are an updated version from theirs, but it makes it pretty clear.My one regret is not getting the BN-LINK version, which seems to be the EXACT same unit, except a better 1875W rating vs 1650W for this product, the company website seems more legit and American based, AND it's $10 cheaper (since when is a China product more expensive!?).If you made it this far, there's a few extra settings that I didn't expect that are really nice: 1) you can set a time threshold before your heating or cooling device turns on, meaning it won't cycle on and off too frequently if your settings too close. This is helpful for me, because I'm maintaining exactly 68 degrees for my homebrew fermentation, so I have the heat turning on at 67.8 and turning off at 68.0, with a 2 minute time delay. With temperature settings so close, a 2 minute time delay keeps my heater from kicking on and off every 15 seconds. 2) There is a temperature adjustment setting, so if your device usually reads hot by 4 degrees, you can adjust it so the unit always shows you 4 degrees lower than the probe reads, therefore making it more "accurate"