Seed starting woes

OK so I'm feelin like a real noobie but sick of wasting my seeds. I have done a few grows but I have only started from seed 1 time and I had a hell of a time getting seeds to sprout. Well I'm back in the same situation again and figured I would ask WTF could I be doing wrong or am I just being impatient lol.
K let me describe my setup and what I've been doing, first I havent completely failed but my success rate seems really low atm. I started 3 seeds each of 4 different strains ( Chemdog ibl, Herijuana ibl, Ghost OG s1 and ECSD s1 ) I soaked them in a cup of distilled water in a humidity dome on a heat mat for around 36 hours and 3/4 had cracked open, I have a hydrofarm jumpstart kit with peat type pelletes that I planted the seeds in pointed end down, I planted them very shallow and just barely covered them. For the first 24hrs I had the flat on a heat mat with the humidity dome on....then I read this could be bad so I removed the dome but the flat is still on the heat mat, I have felt the pelletes and they dont feel hot or anything. About 24hrs after removing the dome 1 chemdog has sprouted with a 2nd one just starting to break the surface, also 1 herijuana has started to break the surface...forward 24 more hours and everything looks almost the same, nothing else breaking the surface and no real movement from the other ones.

In the past when I was having bad luck after waiting about a week I would dig up my seeds to find a shriveled root and usually mush inside the seed, when I have had good luck my seeds would generally break the surface within 48hrs, so since I'm now at 72hrs after planting I'm getting a bit worried mainly because some of the seeds I am using I have seen others do grow logs on and they usually have sprouted in 2 days.

So here are my questions

Am I just being impatient and need to burn one and wait longer lol?

My house is usually between 75 - 80 degrees F but wet soil at room temp "feels" cold to my hand, should I ditch the heat mat?

How long after planting do "most" peoples seeds take to break the surface / see some sign of life?

Any general suggestion?

Any more info I can provide to help out?

Sorry if the post seems a bit scattered I'm just frustrated and want to get some new plants going but dont want to end up with to many because I jumped the gun and started more when I didnt need to.
Feel like such a boob cause once I got the plants I seem to be able to grow / clone / and keep mothers alive just fine but I'm sure failing hard getting some damn seeds to sprout.

Just a quick note, yes I have read most of the germination guides and there is alot of conflicting info and its confusing ( use a dome...no no no dont use a dome ect ) but one thing many of them dont talk about is average times as far as seeing a plant after planting, they just give a very large range ( 2 - 14days for a range instead of saying on average it takes 24 - 48hrs as an example )

Thanks for any help

Ditch the heat mat for now. Save it for winter, you'll need it unless your grow area is warm in the winter. I also do not recommend your germination method unless the seeds are known to be a couple of years old or more. Here is what I do.....

I use 9 oz Solo party cups, red or blue, but not clear. I dip the cup in and scoop up a cupful of organic seed starter mix, available at Home Depot or Lowe's in the garden center. I gently tap the cup on a hard surface to gently settle the soil. I use my fiskar shears to poke a few small holes in the bottom for drainage. I place all of the cups into a plastic tray/tote and I water heavily and allow the runoff to drain out. I then poke a hole in the top of the surface, about 1/4" deep in all the cups and I come back and drop a seed in each hole. It doesn't matter which way the seed is facing, it will right itself. I then add a little bit of water to each to settle the top of the medium and I place a Glad ovenware casserole dish over the top of the cups to retain moisture and keep out light. After about 36 hours, I begin checking on the cups every 12 hours or so. I mist the tops of the cups each time I check and place the ovenware dish back on top.

When they begin to sprout, remove the cups one at a time as they sprout up and place under your fluorescents. I have near a 100% success rate with this method. I no longer use peat pellets. The 9oz Solo cup gives the plant a 4.5" depth for it's tap root to develop and you won't have to pot up for about 2 weeks.

Just put them in your cubs and set them near a window where they can get some indirect sunlight. no dome. in 2-4 days you should have a sprout, you may be burning them with your light and darkness is great for seedlings. you don't need real light until there is green showing on your plant.

The best way to germanate seeds is by putting them on some kitchen towl and mist the towl so it is just damp not wet through.Then place some more towel on top of the seed and mist these toilet roll works just has well,once the seeds are inbetween the k roll then place in a plastic bag this will keep the towl from drying out too fast,but still check to see if it is moist once a day.I always leave the seeds for 48 hrs before pulling the roll apart.By this time the seed has normaly split but if it has not then put it back and leave it be.Even if the seeds splits and a small white tail show's i leave untill the rootlet is around 3/5mm long.Make sure that you place the seeds some where the temp is constant the temp that you say your house is at is fine put the bag with the seed in into a dark warm place.Once the rootlet is at the size that i have said place just below the surface of the soil or grow medium and cover with a few mm of soil or scarpe the side of the rock wool cube and cover with what falls off if thats what you are useing.Make sure the seeds root is face down and within two days the seed will start to show......................tyke...............................................................................

Thanks for the suggestions all, I guess I need to ditch the heat mat...somehow I thought this would help since I've read so much about cool temps keeping seeds from sprouting. I guess I'll just get some cups ready and plant directly into them and keep them in a warm room without a heating mat and see what happens, anyone see a problem with that? do I really need to crack them first in a paper towel or just let nature do its thing?

Thanks again for the advice

From what I read your seeds and seedlings are either too wet or too cold or both.
What I do :
I use the paper towel method to start my seeds. Place the seeds on a damp (not soaking wet) paper towel, and cover with another damp paper towel. Then I cover the seeds and paper towel with an inverted plate. I place these on top of my refrigerator for warmth. after 2 or 3 days the seeds that are going to sprout will sprout. (some take longer than others ) I have a 80% success rate on germinating this way.
I then place the sprouted seedlings into styrofoam cups filled with seed starter mix ( Holes poked into bottom to facilitate drainage). (those seed starter kits at home depot or wallmart work real well, but I prefer the styrofoam cups) I then cover the seedlings with a clear cover ( with air holes) to retain the moist air and place them under cfl lighting. I find the 400 watt mh light to be too strong for the little ones. (Placing clear freezer bags over each cup works as well as a humidity dome).

When I first started growing from seed I found that most of my failed sprouts was do to two things: 1- temperature must be moderate, low and high temps would play havock with the little buggers. 2- moisture in the growing medium. I lost a whole batch of seeds due to over watering once. Damp NOT wet!!!
And also: Gentle light. The lights that I use for my grow room are 400 watt MH and unless the seedlings are situated further from the lamps than my young plants the light would 'burn' the babies.

Another seed hint: Sometimes the seeds have an extra heavy shell and will not sprout because they can't 'get out' of the shell. I have scuffed the seeds with sandpaper to weaken the shell. This will make it easier for the seedling to break through the shell. I have seen where people put a small piece of sandpaper in a matchbox and place the seeds into the box, they shake the seeds around which scuffs the surface, and gets the same result.

Good luck with your babies. I hope this helps