ThermaCord 120v Heat Cable Controller, UL-Certified, Outdoor-Rated Thermostat, Saves Energy, Automatically Turns Cable On and Off, Industrial Thermostat, Works in Outdoor Outlets, 16” Long

Kept the water unfrozen even in below zero temperatures.

Im giving this 4 stars because it does pretty much what it says it does, but it is not a 5 star product because it is not really a good fit for the advertised application (control of roof heat cables). I tested this product outdoors, so the temperature changes were slow and gradual, allowing the sensor on this cable to track the outdoor temperature. The cable turned on when the temperature dropped to 37 degrees, as it says it does. The cable remained on while the temperature was 52 degrees for hours, but turned off when the temperature rose to 54 degrees. So its performance is pretty close to what is advertised. But this cable is advertised for control of roof heat cables, and there are two major flaws if used for that application. First, turning on below 38 degrees and staying on until the temperature rises above 53 degrees means that in many parts of the country, the roof heat cable will remain on from December to March, so you may as well skip this cable and just plug in your heat cable for 4 months. The second issue is simply an omission of an important feature for control of roof heat cables. The point of roof heat cables is to prevent ice dams, which only occur when ice or snow on the roof is melting and then the temperature drops to the point that it will re-freeze. If the temperature is below 32 degrees, you will not get ice dams because nothing is melting, so there is no point having the roof heat cable turned on (they are not designed to melt ice, they are designed to prevent freezing in the gutters). And if the roof is dry, as in no liquid water, it doesnt matter what temperature it is outside, the roof heat tape doesnt need to be turned on because there is no moisture to freeze and cause an ice dam. This control cord does not detect whether there is any moisture on the roof or in the gutter. Because it doesnt turn off when there is no melting, it will waste a lot of electricity by turning on the roof heat cable when there is no danger of ice dams forming. So in summary, this product does what it says it does, which may be appropriate for controlling pipe heating tapes in a crawlspace or running a small heater to keep your garage from getting really cold. But if it is used to control a roof heat cable, this product will waste a lot of electricity. If roof heat cable control is your intended application, you will be much happier with one of the other products that sense moisture and only activate the heat cable when there is a danger of ice dams forming.

Quality construction throughout--14 gauge wire instead of the typical 16 or even 18. light in the wall plug lets you know there is power to it and the light in the output plug lets you know the thermostat is on. Perfect! Only minor wish is that the wall plug side cord could be a little longer to allow the thermostat to clear the in-use weatherproof cover a little more--maybe 3 longer. Already bought 2 and im buying another.

This is a nice product. It’s packaged nicely and works as I would expect. I plugged it into our roof electric cables. We use these in winter to keep the snow melted and eliminate ice dams from causing leaks. This cord is working great so far. It snowed last night. The wires were on and melted the snow. You can tell when it is on or off because it lights up. (See images). Since it was cold all day today, I did unplug them in the afternoon. It was not quite warned enough to turn it off. I did unplug it and brought it in the house for it to warm up and it did power itself off. It seems to work as expected. I purchased it so if I forget to unplug the roof cables our electric bill will not be nuts. I would imagine it would work similarly if you needed something to turn pipe heaters on and off as well. Temp range is 37 degrees F power On Temp range 50 degrees F power Off. I will report back in the spring after its been in use for a while longer.

This thing works as it should

This cable idea has good intentions. It does work as advertised and seems very durable. I agree with other reviews in that the turn OFF temp is a little high and the lack of a moisture sensor wastes energy. While its primary design is for roof heat cables, which I don’t have, I used it for a crawl space heater. Not a good solution for this application. The 14 AWG cord is not useable for above 1000 watt usage. My heater was 1500 Watts and the cord got very warm during operation. My clamp type amp meter showed a 12-13 amp draw. So I removed it and will use it with my stock tank water heater.

Works great

Turns on and off at the advertised temperatures. LED lighted plugs allow you to tell at a glance that power is getting to your heat cables or they ar shut off on warm days. A cost effective money saver.

“Everything I’ve bought from these guys works. The company is in Minnesota. Feels good to ‘buy local’ but more important, the product worked as described. It turned my heat cable on and off automatically. Pretty basic. Seems well built.

Works as advertised. Led lights in both ends of cord so you see that the cord is on. Great for block heaters.