Quote Originally Posted by CalmSeasQuest View Post
I was taught the opposite of this...

I set the controller to the desired temp range and set the heater thermostat just slightly higher. This saves cycles on the heater thermostat (the part most likely to fail) and allows the controller (which is generally far more accurate and reliable) managing the temp. I also stagger the the on temps by 0.5 degree so I can easily see the on/off cycles of each heater when viewing a temp chart through the Apex.
I forget about the higher end controllers that do everything and are far more accurate and I can see your point I was thinking more along the line of the cheaper plug in temp controller instead of like the acjr being used as a fail safe switch and hence the reason I think of it being the other way around