Just picked up an inkbird and looking to set it up in conjunction with my APEX. I’m assuming people have the InkBird set up for the actual parameters you’re aiming for and the apex within half a degree on both ends for redundancy? Is that correct?
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Mine is very similar to above. Inkbird controls the heater, Apex shuts it off if it exceeds max setpoint, and alarms if temp varies outside of high/low setpoints.
Use the Apex to control the heater itself, and you'll eventually burn up the port. Apex power ports just can't handle that many cycles.
My inkbird, according to the peaks in my temp log, turns itself on and off about 15 times a day.
A few years ago, when I had the old EB8 style Apex power bar, I was using the Apex to run my heater, without owning an Inkbird. The Apex gives you much more granular control. I was holding two tenths of a degree F. I don't recall how many times a day the heater would cycle, but far more than my current setup does.
After 2 years of that, the Apex EB8 stuck on. Happily, the email alarm let me know that it had done so, and I was able to unplug the heater without damage.
If you do a quick search on here, you'll find many reports of EB832 port failures. Far more common than would be possible if Neptune's stats were accurate.
In any case, using the Inkbird as primary, and the Apex as backup, makes more sense. The inkbird is NOT designed to be turned on and off every few minutes. It has to re-initialize itself each time. By using the Inkbird as primary, it's always on... unless it fails, and the heater exceeds max setpoint, which should be caught by the Apex, port turned off, and an alarm set, so that the Inkbird and/or Heater can be replaced.