Thermostatic 120V switch needed

[swordfish]

My new lighting is due any day now, and as such , heat in the tank is probably going to be an issue. In fact it already is in my minibow seven (the aforementioned tank which is about to get the retro lighting) with just the stock lighting on during the day. My air conditioning can only maintain, at best, a 77 deg. temp in my apartment during the day. With the lights on the tank that can be a bit much. I usually try to have them on towards the latter part of the day when things are cooler outside.

 

So I have been experimenting with having (for now) a large 14 inch pedestal mounted fan aimed at the tank during the day when the lights are on and the indoor ambient temp is 77 deg. That seems to work okay. If the fan is on when evening comes and the indoor temp then drops to 72 deg (or however low I want to make it) the fan then cools the tank too much and even with the lights on the heater cannot maintain a 77 degree temp. Translation: Evening with the lights on and fan going......not good. Daytime with the fan going and lights on.....good.

 

I should note that the top of the tank is about as covered as any mostly stock mini 7 is and the fan is only partially aimed at the tank, and at thatjust the top, and is only put on speed #1. No need to create a wind storm after all. When the new ligting comes in I am going to try using a small desk-sized fan mounted so it'll blow across the top of the tank as well, but I am probably going to need it to go off when the ambient temp goes below 77 deg and then turn on when it goes above that. The trouble is I am not always home to do that when evening comes.

 

So where do I buy an automatic switch that will handle 120 volts and which is thermostatic like that? I don't think I have ever seen anything like that readily available. Has anyone made one like this before? And no, I do not want to mount a computer fan into the top of the hood since that will be noisy as hell, will still need to be thermo-controlled and will leave a hole in the hood if it doesn't work. A light sensitive switch will also not work since the room the tanik is in does not get decent sunlight during the day and I don't want it going off when it's cloudy but still scorching hot out. Plus, well, where would it fit after the lighting retrofit? I'm interested in trying the easiest, cheapest remedy first.

 

Thanks,

 

Jeff