heat lamps.

[amber_lynn]

can i use my heat lamp along with heat pad to get my ambient temp up? like turn it on for a little while every now and then? my room is freezing and i cant seem to get it warm, and to the point wheere ambient temp is above 75, and it is only getting colder outside...........

[Lankyrob]

Dont see why not, i would put a thermostat on the lamp tho

[amber_lynn]

Dont see why not, i would put a thermostat on the lamp tho

so plug it into my rheostat?

[Lankyrob]

Again just personal opinion but i would want something temperature controlled, if i am right rheostat isnt?

[amber_lynn]

Again just personal opinion but i would want something temperature controlled, if i am right rheostat isnt?

my rheostat runs my heat pad, has temp controls on it..

[Lankyrob]

Fair enough, my apologies, i understood a rheostat to be a manual current control rather than one managed by temeperature, that should be fine then.

[Ch^4]

Fair enough, my apologies, i understood a rheostat to be a manual current control rather than one managed by temeperature, that should be fine then.

Rob, unless I'm mistaken as well, or it's an extremely fancy rheostat, your assumption of a rheostat being a manual current controller is correct. To the best of my knowledge, a rheostat does not possess a temperature sensor and has no way of monitoring temperature (again, there may be a fancy rheostat out there, but then your rheostat is essentially a thermostat).

Thermostats have temperature probes that periodically sense the temperature at the sensor location. There are basic thermostats that essentially turn your heating element(s) on when it's too cold and off when it's too hot (typically user prescribed temperature limits). There are also proportional thermostats (more expensive) that vary the amount of current (or voltage, I don't remember) going to the heating element(s). Proportional thermostats keep the elements on at all times, whereas step thermostats cycle between on/off (if I'm mistaken, please correct me).

[Lankyrob]

I have pulse stats on all mine, they "pulse" the current so that the bulb never reaches full temp butalso never cools down, therefore saving energy. They are meant to keep the temperature within three degrees of what it is set on the stat.

[shaunyboy]

can i use my heat lamp along with heat pad to get my ambient temp up? like turn it on for a little while every now and then? my room is freezing and i cant seem to get it warm, and to the point wheere ambient temp is above 75, and it is only getting colder outside...........


if you can just get a ceramic heat bulb

they give off constant accurate ambient air temps

mats are no use for ambient air temperatures as they do not heat the air much

i use mats with tubs

ceramics with tanks

cheers shaun

[shaunyboy]

I have pulse stats on all mine, they "pulse" the current so that the bulb never reaches full temp butalso never cools down, therefore saving energy. They are meant to keep the temperature within three degrees of what it is set on the stat.

i use pulse and dimming stats and get bang on temps out them mate

constant with no ambient fluctuations

i'm sure the microclimate ones are accurate to part of a degree i cant remember how much though.something like point 5 of a degree ?

cheers shaun

[amber_lynn]

if you can just get a ceramic heat bulb

they give off constant accurate ambient air temps

mats are no use for ambient air temperatures as they do not heat the air much

i use mats with tubs

ceramics with tanks

cheers shaun

OK! thanks

[Reptile_Reptile]

imo do not use a thermostat for a heat lamp only a rheostat because the light constantly turning on and of from the thermostat is stressful

[Lankyrob]

If you use ceramics there is no "light" emitted - therefore the turning on and off doesnt affect the snake in any way.

[Nafun]

I would only use a rheostat for temperature management in a temperature controlled room.

What makes a rheostat useful is that you can dial in exactly as much heat as you need, so you don't waste electricity. Therefore if, for example, you have a reptile room maintained at 75 degrees, you can use a bunch of $5 rheostats instead of a bunch of $30 thermostats to maintain basking temps.

However, in a room with variable temperatures, a rheostat is far less useful. You have to constantly monitor temperatures and adjust the rheostat. If you set it to create an 85 degree basking area when it's 70 degrees in the room, it's not going to be 85 degrees if the temperature drops to 50, or rises to 80.

I'm not saying that a rheostat can't be useful, they absolutely can be, but when you can't guarantee an ambient temperature, a thermostat is far more useful. A thermostat will also give you peace of mind.

[shaunyboy]

imo do not use a thermostat for a heat lamp only a rheostat because the light constantly turning on and of from the thermostat is stressful

as rob said a ceramic will do the job but its non light emmiting

if you want a thermostat for a light emmiting source then its a dimmerstat you need

it dims and brightens acccording to the required temperature

i use one for my diamond python as she is the only carpet i use a light emmiting source with

the rest are on ceramics

cheers shaun

[Lankyrob]

Our snakes are in our living area and therefore the ambient temperature is kept constant, in this case ceramics and pulse thermostats work really well. When our central heating kicks in you can see the stats turn off and then when the heating oges off they will kick back in again, no manual adjustment needed.

[Reptile_Reptile]

as rob said a ceramic will do the job but its non light emmiting

if you want a thermostat for a light emmiting source then its a dimmerstat you need

it dims and brightens acccording to the required temperature

i use one for my diamond python as she is the only carpet i use a light emmiting source with

the rest are on ceramics

cheers shaun
any special reason for that? the one actual light thing

[presspirate]

Lights are typically cheaper than ceramics. Ceramics will last longer though. I buy mine from amazon and usually get a pretty good deal on them.