Mine reads too high often enough; it did this on my last batch. It varies broadly when there is schmutz stuck to it, depends where the stuff is stuck and how much, etc.
Millions have tried it, hundreds of thousands have regretted it.
I like a little peat in my Scottish ales, but I won't use more than 1/2 ounce per 5 gallons, literally. The tiniest amount goes a looooong way.
Personally I would ditch the heating pad and just let it start in the mid-60s. The fermentation is active enough that it will hit around 70 F inside of the fermenter, I can almost guarantee it.
I like the idea of trying Lallemand Farmhouse instead, it won't dry out so much.
Otherwise you could always add lactose, even Belle cannot ferment lactose.
Interesting combo, since Voss is super fast and Belle is super slow. As long as you give it a month to ferment, it should turn out good. But it does seem an odd combo based on fermentation rates.
My Tilt is so wonky, doesn't hold calibration for nuthin', I really use it mainly to see when fermentation is finished and don't place any faith in the actual readings. My most recent batch was off by 7 points compared to a traditional hydrometer even after trying to calibrate it. And I'm...