# Anycontrol AC-211 Thermostat Review: Very Affordable!



## mikethemidget (Mar 27, 2016)

Hey again guys!

I just wanted to give a review of our latest purchase, a thermostat!

As you all probably agree, it's a very, very, valuable and practical thing to own for both your herps safety, and peace of mind, but unfortunately they can be extremely expensive and complex. 
We bought this because we were going on vacation for 3 weeks and the temperature before was controlled by a manual dial (rheostat); which obviously means you have to be there in order to care for your herp and adjust accordingly for a hot or cold day. So here goes a little review just to help anybody who might need one on a budget.

We bought an "anycontrol AC-210 thermostat" from eBay. I know people will freak out about the quality of a product since it most definitely is made in China and of course we bought it on-line. I have done some pretty reasonable watching and testing and can say I highly recommend it, and it feels extremely solid.

+It was one hell of a good deal at $30 +shipping
+The capabilities are fantastic: you can have a night and day mode and set the times and temps to whatever you please
+ALARM capability so if the temp drops too low or goes too high it will alert you
+LED screen makes everything very easy to adjust and use

The only annoying part I found about this is that the left plug is the only one controlled by the thermostat, and the right plug is only controlled by the timer. So if you have a heat lamp you only want on in the day, its perfect; for us however, we have two heat mats. One large mat at the left end, and one small mat in the middle. I turned down the middle one to about 30-40% less power than the left mat, so we now have a flawless gradient 24/7 that Bill can adjust and manoeuvre around happily to regulate himself.

The other part which is unfortunate is the length of the thermostat and probe is not very good, it has to be located somewhat close to the unit itself, probably 50-60cm.

*In Summary...
*
-Although the unit itself is not domestic made and the brand recognition is not high, it's a very solid and well built little machine
-The alarm is very useful just in case a plug comes loose or a mat or bulb fails
-It is an absolute perfect thermostat for the caring herp owner on a budget! 

We left for 3 weeks last month, fed Bill before we went, and had our good friend (who know's very little about snakes" over and asked him just to routinely change the water and spray the tank to give him some humidity, and check on the temps. Each day/night he checked the temps were flawless, no alarms, no problems, happy snakes, and happy owners!

Thanks for reading guys, I just wanted to write this to offer help and options to people looking to upgrade their set-up or who might want peace of mind!

If you have any questions please message me at any point!

Here's a picture to show you and a quick search for temp controller on ebay will reveal them.


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## Burgo89 (Mar 27, 2016)

I have the same stats, I like what You have done with the adapter in the timed socket, I will be doing this with mine from now on.

Though I have not been so lucky. I ordered two, one has worked great from day one, the other I sent back because the display wasn't working and now just recently the replacement stat won't set a a temp any lower than 30degrees and no higher than 32.

Alittle dissapointing but that's to be expected for the price, good enough for now but I will not be buying them again when the time comes.


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## Smittiferous (Mar 27, 2016)

I've bought a number of those over the years in many different forms (different housing, identical screen, controls and functionality), whilst useful the screen brightness all began to fail, some I cannot even see any more. Great in a pinch, cheap, but don't expect much in the way of functional longevity. I stopped buying them.


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## mikethemidget (Mar 27, 2016)

Cheers for the heads up, yeah the adapter works flawlessly. The best part is limiting the temp of the middle mat with the dial/rheostat so it's 37 in the hot end, 35 in the middle, and ambient/cold in the far right


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## Wallo (Mar 28, 2016)

I have only had Microclimate thermostats for my reptiles (B1 and Evo) and i cant fault them at all. I know they are more expensive but in the long run you get the value. The Evo is the best I have ever had being digital touch screen, alarms, timers and heating control all personal labelling and can even run a fogger at certain times in intervals of what you need for the species being cared for ie evry 30 mins etc - just my experience


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## Murph_BTK (Mar 29, 2016)

Anyone using or used this product? I am looking at getting it. To running heating and my day and night light cycles.. from everything i have read up on it, it seems like its the choice for me, but best i ask the forums experts


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## Murph_BTK (Apr 6, 2016)

BEST place to visit (pet store wise) in SEQ. willing to travel to gold coast brisbane areas ,i live on the Sunshine coast. Fed up with the chain petstores that only want your cash. I went to drop about $1000 on lighting, thermostats amongst other things. But i had no luck with answers to my questions. I have googled, youtube read forums, books etc. Just wanna make sure everything i buy is top grade and the correct items for my new animals. As well as my current critters


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## pythoninfinite (Apr 6, 2016)

Given the mixed reports on the model reviewed, and its failings in other areas, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole, regardless of price. If the other electronic components fail or are erratic in their performance, the prospect of the temperature control mechanism failing seems too high to take the risk. As with most things, you get what you pay for, and in many instances it won't matter too much if something fails - it's just a nuisance. But in this case, you need reliability to be as predictable as possible, especially if you're not around to attend to problems if they occur. I wouldn't have any peace of mind leaving my animal/s under control of something like this. Price shouldn't be the only consideration.

Jamie


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## Murph_BTK (Apr 6, 2016)

Much appreciated the advice and your thoughts mate. I am a FIFO worker and i have my neighbors kids check in and chamge water for my animals while i am away. (7 on 7 off) so if i have a thermostat trying to keep the heat up and also having a day night cycle in lighting i am kinda relying on a decent product(s) for the well being of my animals and peace of mind while i am away... i have been told a couple of good reptile shops are on the south side of brisbane so i shall google them and make a day trip friday to see what they have to offer.


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## Smurf (Apr 6, 2016)

Murph_BTK said:


> Anyone using or used this product? I am looking at getting it. To running heating and my day and night light cycles.. from everything i have read up on it, it seems like its the choice for me, but best i ask the forums experts ??????



G'day Murph, we had one of these running our painted dragons for a while. And then the timer socket blew one day. It seemed like good unit in advance but felt like I needed a uni degree to program the thing. And I can't customise the remaining working plugs have one as the day night timer for uv. Now the little guys have had to move over to the Beardies to run off their timer, like a neighbour stealing your electricity....

- - - Updated - - -

Also we have a number of various eBay Thermostat timers running. Haven't had a problem yet, except a couple that get ahead of time by a couple minutes per month. No biggie though.
Even had the incubator run off one of these last year as our habistat was awol


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## Micksreps (Apr 6, 2016)

You can get the original Eco-Tech one for $65, same unit but with a brand name.
http://www.*********.au/itm/Eco-Tec...746710?hash=item281313a656:g:AEIAAOSwG-1W1U5p


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## Snapped (Apr 6, 2016)

I bought a Microclimate thermostat to use with a heat mat for a hatchy a few years back, after 15 months it started making an awful buzzing noise that wouldn't stop every time it reached the set temp, so I had to chuck it. (I bought it off Ebay and never kept the receipt or anything for warranty)

Now I just use heating in lower wattage, (heat cable, heat pipe) so that it can run without a thermostat if necessary and won't cook the snake. I still use a couple of basic thermostats from Ebay, just as a back up really, but won't pay hundreds of dollars for one after the Microclimate experience.


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## Wallo (Apr 6, 2016)

Snapped said:


> I bought a Microclimate thermostat to use with a heat mat for a hatchy a few years back, after 15 months it started making an awful buzzing noise that wouldn't stop every time it reached the set temp, so I had to chuck it. (I bought it off Ebay and never kept the receipt or anything for warranty)
> 
> Now I just use heating in lower wattage, (heat cable, heat pipe) so that it can run without a thermostat if necessary and won't cook the snake. I still use a couple of basic thermostats from Ebay, just as a back up really, but won't pay hundreds of dollars for one after the Microclimate experience.



A quick change of the fuse inside and it would have worked as normal - very common and easily fixed


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## Smittiferous (Apr 6, 2016)

Murph_BTK said:


> Anyone using or used this product? I am looking at getting it. To running heating and my day and night light cycles.. from everything i have read up on it, it seems like its the choice for me, but best i ask the forums experts [emoji106]



I have one of those, currently the only fancy bit of kit I have bought that hasn't failed, for what it's worth.
[MENTION=37220]Micksreps[/MENTION] I bought one of the Eco tech branded ones, the screen on that failed like the cheaper ones as well.


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## Murph_BTK (Apr 7, 2016)

Smittiferous said:


> I have one of those, currently the only fancy bit of kit I have bought that hasn't failed, for what it's worth.
> [MENTION=37220]Micksreps[/MENTION] I bought one of the Eco tech branded ones, the screen on that failed like the cheaper ones as well.


Smitti, this is the case i believe in i would rather buy 1 decent one for a larger price tag (not that i am saying high prices mean better quality) rather than buy 10 of them for a cheap price... im off to visit some reptile stores in SEQ today and on weekend... its been a interesting read peoples views and dealings with these products


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## Smittiferous (Apr 7, 2016)

There's a school of thought that goes along the lines of not requiring thermostats to regulate temps, simply as a fail safe for when it gets so warm you lose your gradients.... Doing things like picking a heat source of appropriate wattage that will only provide "enough" as opposed to require a thermostat switching on and off all the time to maintain appropriate heat. Most of mine are now set up so the ambient heat is solely generated by the basking spot lamps at the warm end. Thermostat just switches the whole lot off if it is such a hot day that the whole enclosure overheats. Does that make sense? Allows use of no-frills (read: no extra crap that can break or malfunction) thermostats and simple 24hr timers.


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## Snapped (Apr 7, 2016)

Wallo said:


> A quick change of the fuse inside and it would have worked as normal - very common and easily fixed



Thanks Wallo, we had googled the problem and come up with that solution, changed the fuse....., but it made no difference, something in it just seemed to get stuck, and made a very loud and annoying buzzing/clicking noise, like forcing a timer backwards and it just kept going until it was switched off at the power point. 
I should add this probably happened maybe 3-4 times a week, randomly to start with, to maybe twice a day, then it just did it every time it reached the set temp, so that's when I chucked it. 

For those that have multiple herps/enclosures and recommend Microclimate/Habistat etc (well known brands) wouldn't it get expensive? That's in the $120 - $350 range, each. :shock:


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## Murph_BTK (Apr 7, 2016)

@smitti 100% agree i plan on have a sole source for heating one part of the enclosure and the heat source warm the general body of air.. reason i am asking a million questions is i pick up my GTP this weekend . And am wanting nothing short of the best for her... and being a FIFO worker i wanna make sure all my equipment works and works well.. i will have friends feed and spray my other animals and also check in on the GTP... guess i am getting worried and nervous now hahahaha.


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## Smittiferous (Apr 7, 2016)

Being former fifo myself I completely understand. Luckily my partner at the time was savvy with care requirements so she did all the looking-after in my absence.


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## Murph_BTK (Apr 22, 2016)

Just picked up my package and i think its gonna take 3 mensa qualified people to work this atmostat... that or 10 beers and a hammer


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## ClaudFoldszin (Jun 6, 2016)

*re anythermostat,*

:|


mikethemidget said:


> Hey again guys!
> 
> I just wanted to give a review of our latest purchase, a thermostat!
> 
> ...


when i have my uv light in the timer it turns off the heat lamp too, the instructions that come with it are a bit vague, mine will only go to 32 temp now but when i got it went much higher is there any way to reset it? or am i doing something wrong


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## mikethemidget (Jun 6, 2016)

ClaudFoldszin said:


> :|
> when i have my uv light in the timer it turns off the heat lamp too, the instructions that come with it are a bit vague, mine will only go to 32 temp now but when i got it went much higher is there any way to reset it? or am i doing something wrong



Only the right side plug is controlled by the timer. The left is used for heating or cooling depending on what setting you have it on. (it will say the word cool or heat in the top right). If the temp isn't reaching its normal, I would recommend going through every single setting to confirm it's set appropriately. And then confirm the sensor is in the right place and working properly. The settings are probably where your problems lay unless it's finally given up. I should also say it's winter. And extremely cold now. If you don't have a high enough wattage, the mat/lamp will not be able to sustain the settings. If you need me to post the manual for it I can.


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## floweringqueen (Jul 5, 2016)

How the hell does one program it? I have just acquired one with no manual. Could you help?


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## notechistiger (Jul 5, 2016)

Like Smittiferous and a few others, I simply use an appropriately sized wattage of heat source and a high enough basking spot so that the tank is never in any risk of overheating. I'll go a step further and say I don't run them at all even when it's a hot day (but I'm home often and I just turn off the heating all together if it's an issue).

The only thermostat I have running is in my dragon tank but that's honestly pure laziness. The supermarket I went to didn't have the wattage I wanted so I went with a higher one and put it on a thermostat. Lucky it's in my house and very easy to monitor. I haven't bothered to change it since I got the lizard haha.

Although I haven't used thermostats in a long time, I appreciated ones that worked consistently. I'd much prefer having the peace of mind with a more expensive model, however if this is the only thing you can get your hands on at some point, I'm sure it would suffice for a while!


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## ronhalling (Jul 7, 2016)

This might help those who are having problems working out how to program the 2 plug thermostat/timer, just keep in mind most of the cheap 1s from ebay that come from china are in reverse i.e. plug for timer is actually on the left and not on the right as stated in instructions. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) -ronhalling


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## mikethemidget (Jul 7, 2016)

Hey guys so sorry I haven't been receiving notifications for this thread! 
I've scanned and included the instructions for the Anycontrol 211 here. If theres any other questions just ask!

page 1



page 2


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## floweringqueen (Jul 7, 2016)

Many thanks!! I have no idea where this one comes from...will have to do some testing to see which plug is which. Is there any indicator on the unit at all of it's origin?


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