Let's talk thermostats - Page 2

shaunyboy · 01-03-12, 06:30 PM

please let me know if you track down a supplier of those fancy digital microclimate stats mate

i'd like to get one later in the year to run all my diamond tanks

cheers shaun

**millertime89** · 01-03-12, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strutter769

"Dimmer" is another name for a rheostat. I'd love to see your projest step-by-step if that's at all possible? I'll be needing to build racks soon. I've seen.some nice examples on YouTube but those don't seem to be very detailed when it comes to heat and temp regulation.

That's what I thought, I refuse to use them just on principle. I'm a bit of a snob at times and the thought of using something that controls voltage versus actual temp just doesn't sit well with me.

As far as my rack "build" its done.

I'm waiting for the new t-stats to come in then I'll get the flexwatt setup.

**millertime89** · 01-03-12, 07:28 PM

Shaun, in my searchings I'm not finding any place that sells those thermostats in the US or UK. Looks to be mostly Auzzy shops. For the price of them as well I would run a Herpstat Pro, almost half the price and does roughly the same. Even at the lowest price that was claimed in the link you sent me ($509) its still a 150 dollar difference.

pythons9991 · 01-03-12, 09:15 PM

i recently got a herpstat 4 which is the upgraded herpstat pro, it is amazing so many features built in night drop, able to control/dimm/time lighting, 4 individual probes 4 grounded outlets 400 watts each i dunno why you would need more wattage than this? i highly recomend this unit it will cost you about just under 400 cdn but well worth it, it has sunrise/sunset simulations, slowly ramps up power for initial warmups, you can also control temp cool downs and warm ups over ten hours to coincide with lighting check it out at spyder robotics,

red ink · 01-03-12, 09:30 PM

I use analouge thermostats in my enclosures, they measure ambient air temps and switch off the heat source once the air temps in the area the thermostat is located in reaches a set parameter.

For the species in tubs that use UTH as well as the incubator I use Habistat thermostats.

shaunyboy · 01-03-12, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by millertime89

Shaun, in my searchings I'm not finding any place that sells those thermostats in the US or UK. Looks to be mostly Auzzy shops. For the price of them as well I would run a Herpstat Pro, almost half the price and does roughly the same. Even at the lowest price that was claimed in the link you sent me ($509) its still a 150 dollar difference.

thanks for the info mate

i'll look those stats up,as thats the first i heard of them.i think i had tunnel vision on the microclimate one,as it looked like it had everything covered

cheers shaun

knox · 01-03-12, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by millertime89

That's what I thought, I refuse to use them just on principle. I'm a bit of a snob at times and the thought of using something that controls voltage versus actual temp just doesn't sit well with me.

Proportional thermostats do control voltage. They just do so based on temperature. A rheostat is simply a manual proportional thermostat. Keep a temperature guage on your hot spot and you are good to go.

pythons9991 · 01-03-12, 09:50 PM

millertime some of the info posted about herpstats is innacurate such as max temp and wattage output check out spyder robotics for specs

Lankyrob · 01-04-12, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knox

Proportional thermostats do control voltage. They just do so based on temperature. A rheostat is simply a manual proportional thermostat. Keep a temperature guage on your hot spot and you are good to go.

BUT - should ambient conditions change and you arent around to adjust the rheostat then the temps in the cage will be wrong, whereas the thermostat will adapt automatically whatever the external conditions

Shmoges · 01-04-12, 11:41 AM

I have two

And absolutely love them. I don't need another brand with 1500 watts and to be honest other brands need to take notice of this design and step it up. I think its ridiculous to have to pick up your thermo to see its read out or hang it from a string lol

**millertime89** · 01-04-12, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pythons9991

millertime some of the info posted about herpstats is innacurate such as max temp and wattage output check out spyder robotics for specs

Thanks, I was basing my info off of a few re-sellers, I'll update accordingly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

BUT - should ambient conditions change and you arent around to adjust the rheostat then the temps in the cage will be wrong, whereas the thermostat will adapt automatically whatever the external conditions

ding ding ding, if I could perfectly control every aspect, a rheostat would be ok, but I can't, so thermostat it is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shmoges

I have two, And absolutely love them. I don't need another brand with 1500 watts and to be honest other brands need to take notice of this design and step it up. I think its ridiculous to have to pick up your thermo to see its read out or hang it from a string lol

I concur, the VE series are, in my opinion, the best looking t-stats on the market right now.

red ink · 01-04-12, 04:03 PM

Forgive me for saying this guys but I think you guys are over doing it with the whole thermostat thing.

Realistically a snake will move to thermoregulate to an ideal spot. So the only thing that you really need to do is provide a heat source that will allow them to reach their prefered body temps while not exceed safe parameters i.e. not cook the snake.

It pretty easy to achieve that as people would know what the prefered basking temp of the species in their custody is and they will provide that. If that prefered temps fluctuates by 5C the snake will just simply move. The main danger is under heating the enclosure rather than over heating as any thermostat will shut the heat source off when it senses the set tempetaure parameters what it cant do is heat the enclosure up beyond what the heat source can provide.

Provide a sufficient cool side for the specimen to escape to, provide a sufficient and safe hot side that will not cook/burn where they can get body heat and the snake will do the rest.

**millertime89** · 01-04-12, 04:13 PM

the problem is in areas like where I live that the temps, even in my appartment, can fluctuate wildly, by using a programmable thermostat and monitoring I can ensure the best environment for my snakes. For example, when I get up in the morning my room is a balmy (to me) 68 degrees, that's dangerous, possibly RI inducing temps for my snakes. However in the evening when everyone is home and people are moving around the appartment hits mid-upper 70s (yay for being on the top floor of the building, heat rises). My snakes thermoregulate as it is with a hot spot in the mid 80s, but the thermostat allows me to keep the ambient temps in their vivs perfect despite the temp changes in the room around them.

red ink · 01-04-12, 04:35 PM

I totally understand what your saying miller, what I'm trying to say is a $40 thermostat or a $400 thermostat in terms of what they do and the effect on the setup is the same thing. I live in an area that does the same except as I stated my cheap thermostats are analouge and measure air temps my air temps never drop below 25C. More than plenty for the species that I keep.

I have that air temp measurement in co-relation to my basking spot heat i.e. if my air temps are 25C then my heat source is heating the basking spot from anywhere between 29-36C quite a fluctuation but it does not exceed safe parameters. If the ambient air temps in summer stay above the set parameters the heat sources do not go on. I think we need to remember that pythons are predominantly nocturnal, sure they bask on things that have residual heat from the day i.e. branches or rocks but that residual heat may only last for a couple of hours after the sun goes down the rest of the time they're sustained by ambient air temps (particularly equatorial species), during the day they hide or may partially bask in direct sun.

I'm sure they enjoy and thrive with a hot basking spot but it's not the be all and end all of their physiology.

If they don't have a hot basking spot for a few days but rely on air temps instead they'll be just fine.

I do use some pretty accurate thermostats on some of my set ups like my racks/incubators but simply because I'm providing UTH rather than heating an enclosure.

I'm not saying be complacent either just a friendly nudge that sometimes reptile products are over doing it just cause they can and they know they have the "market" for it and charge some ridiculous prices.

**millertime89** · 01-04-12, 04:55 PM

You can call me Kyle, if I didn't want people using it I wouldn't have put it in my signature.

I see what you're getting at now. The majority of those higher-end t-stats are used for racks and on breeding setups. The purpose for this thread is to see what everyone is using for their various setups and to have a good resource for people new to this hobby to reference what people have used and liked so they can make an informed decision. Quality and features vs price is also a nice thing which is why I tried to include basic starting prices on the ones that I described.

Part of the appeal (to me at least) of the higher end t-stats is some of the features that they have. Some have a grounding plug on them (third prong below the two main ones, I know various countries use different style plugs so this could be a US-only thing) a safety kill switch, a night time drop feature (I'm pretty sure my home-made ones are the cheapest that offer that option

), warning buzzers, etc. While the cheaper units often function properly, the higher end units often come with a better warranty or at the very least, a better reputation for not breaking or wearing out.