Frost King Self-Regulating Thermostat for Heat Cable Kits (Black) $9.99 + Free Shipping w/ Prime

sarcasmogratis

Jun 1, 2026 6:21 AM

16.1K Comments

Joined Feb 2007

sarcasmogratisJun 1, 2026 6:21 AM

16.1K Comments

Power shuts off at 50°f

2

rczrider

Jun 1, 2026 1:57 PM

3K Comments

Joined Jun 2014

rczriderJun 1, 2026 1:57 PM

3K Comments

I'm sure this works fine for most people's use, but it didn't work for me. I put our old fridge out in the garage and since your average fridge won't cool correctly when the ambient air is too cold - the thermostat is only designed to work down to a certain temp and it will think the fridge is cold enough simply because the ambient air is below what it's set for - I wanted this as a cheap way to trigger a space heater.

I don't know if the item is defective or what, but it literally never turned on. I could understand if it was a bad setup, but this unit was almost 10 feet away from the heater, so it shouldn't be an issue of the heater making the unit think it was warm enough already. Probably just need to buy a fridge heater kit or replace the default thermostat.

3

MattB6434

Jun 5, 2026 4:22 PM

473 Comments

Joined Dec 2016

MattB6434Jun 5, 2026 4:22 PM

473 Comments

Sooo....what do I need this for?

1

DelightfulSummer887

Jun 5, 2026 11:12 PM

3 Comments

Joined Aug 2025

DelightfulSummer887Jun 5, 2026 11:12 PM

3 Comments

Quote from MattB6434

:

Sooo....what do I need this for?

Heating lines for drains and roofs.

billy.the.3rd

Jun 7, 2026 2:08 PM

60 Comments

Joined Nov 2015

billy.the.3rdJun 7, 2026 2:08 PM

60 Comments

Quote from rczrider

:

I'm sure this works fine for most people's use, but it didn't work for me. I put our old fridge out in the garage and since your average fridge won't cool correctly when the ambient air is too cold - the thermostat is only designed to work down to a certain temp and it will think the fridge is cold enough simply because the ambient air is below what it's set for - I wanted this as a cheap way to trigger a space heater.I don't know if the item is defective or what, but it literally never turned on. I could understand if it was a bad setup, but this unit was almost 10 feet away from the heater, so it shouldn't be an issue of the heater making the unit think it was warm enough already. Probably just need to buy a fridge heater kit or replace the default thermostat.

Either I am misunderstanding your use or I think your use case is wrong. This plug is for heat cable for exposed pipes. The plug sends power out when the temperature is under 50 degrees, which activates the heat cable to prevent pipes from freezing in the winter.

If I understand your use, you want it to send out power over 50 degrees, which is the opposite of what this item was designed.

rczrider

Jun 8, 2026 5:40 PM

3K Comments

Joined Jun 2014

rczriderJun 8, 2026 5:40 PM

3K Comments

Quote from billy.the.3rd

:

Either I am misunderstanding your use or I think your use case is wrong. This plug is for heat cable for exposed pipes. The plug sends power out when the temperature is under 50 degrees, which activates the heat cable to prevent pipes from freezing in the winter.

If I understand your use, you want it to send out power over 50 degrees, which is the opposite of what this item was designed.

No, the opposite. The fridge is in the garage, which gets well below 50F in the winter. When ambient temp gets close to the fridge temperature (say, 34F), the thermostat on a "standard" fridge will no longer function; "garage-ready" fridges don't have this problem because their thermostats have wider operating range.

So I figured I'd use this thing to turn on a space heater pointed at thermostat when the temp drops below 50F; it's essentially what retrofitting and heat kits do (though they're more efficient because they're heating up the thermostat or pipe directly).

But it never worked. Like, at all. The light was on and the ambient temp was in the 40s, but it wouldn't turn on. I could have tested it with a nightlight or something to verify, but I didn't. The space heater was only 750W and works fine - and the breaker wasn't tripped - so I don't know if my Frost King unit was defective or not...I only know it didn't do what I wanted.

billy.the.3rd

Jun 8, 2026 5:57 PM

60 Comments

Joined Nov 2015

billy.the.3rdJun 8, 2026 5:57 PM

60 Comments

Quote from rczrider

:

No, the opposite. The fridge is in the garage, which gets well below 50F in the winter. When ambient temp gets close to the fridge temperature (say, 34F), the thermostat on a "standard" fridge will no longer function; "garage-ready" fridges don't have this problem because their thermostats have wider operating range.So I figured I'd use this thing to turn on a space heater pointed at thermostat when the temp drops below 50F; it's essentially what retrofitting and heat kits do (though they're more efficient because they're heating up the thermostat or pipe directly).But it never worked. Like, at all. The light was on and the ambient temp was in the 40s, but it wouldn't turn on. I could have tested it with a nightlight or something to verify, but I didn't. The space heater was only 750W and works fine - and the breaker wasn't tripped - so I don't know if my Frost King unit was defective or not...I only know it didn't do what I wanted.

Ahhhh I see. I thought you had it hooked up to the fridge. You had it on the heater. My mistake!

Frost King Self-Regulating Thermostat for Heat Cable Kits (Black) $9.99 + Free Shipping w/ Prime

$9.99

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