Question about thermostats and heating

AwesomeGuy376 · 02-22-16, 01:45 PM

So it's been brought to my attention that I need to buy a thermostat for my snake. I just wanted to know if I had to buy one for each lamp, or just one that I can put an extension cord into and have 3 ports. Also quick thing, should all my lamps be on the same side of the tank? And should I only be measuring the hot spots or ambient?
This is the thermostat I'm looking at- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000N...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Thanks in advanced

sam · 02-23-16, 12:01 AM

This is something I'd like to have some light shed on too, as I'm still fairly new to herps and only use a heatpad on a 15min on/off cycle. :/

dannybgoode · 02-23-16, 12:14 AM

You can't really plug more than one heating device into a thermostat, particularly if they are at different points in the tank as the stat will keep the temperature even as a bulb further away from the probe may be causing a hot spot far hotter than intended but the probe be measuring a cooler temperature.

You could just about group say 3 bulbs together but make sure the total wattage of the bills does not exceed the watt rating of the stat.

See my post I linked to in your other boa thread for a good way to set a stat and bulbs up.

And when you have some money ditch the bulbs and get a good 150W ceramic heat emitter, it will make your life so much easier than fiddling around with underrated bulbs. A Che is considerably cheaper than a radiant heat panel and nearly as good.

AwesomeGuy376 · 02-23-16, 08:52 AM

Well I'm happy to say that I've ordered a 150w CHE. Hopefully it will fit right into the lamp my normal bulb was in and should be more efficient, but are you sure one is enough? I also ordered a thermostat to go with it

**EL Ziggy** · 02-23-16, 09:17 AM

A 150w CHE will be more than adequate and you'll definitely want a t-stat to control that CHE.

hphgamer09 · 02-23-16, 09:37 AM

You might want to check your lamp, A lot of the cheaper domes are only rated up to 75 or 100 watts. Another route to consider is using a lamp dimmer instead of a thermostat.

AwesomeGuy376 · 02-23-16, 10:10 AM

I just ordered a new lamp cause the exo terra one said its not good with CHEs. It also has a dimmer as well, but I'm still gonna use the thermostat. Got lots of stuff coming on Monday

new CHE, 2 more thermometers (cheap ones just to get an idea what Tampa are like around the tank), a thermostat, vines, and 2 more plants. So yeah, hopefully he should be fine with all this stuff :P thanks again guys for getting me all set up! Especially you guys that were on the other thread, glad to know my snake will live a healthy life

dannybgoode · 02-23-16, 11:20 AM

A stat and a 150w Che is perfect. Do check out my post on set up - it'll point you in the right direction.

Keep the questions coming...

AwesomeGuy376 · 02-23-16, 11:43 AM

I read your post (incredibly well written btw

) and I think I understand it. What temp should I set the stat to though? And are you sure one will be enough, cause it's been reaching 40 degrees here lately, and the normal bulb is only at about 82 and right now I'm using three. Also, does the cold side matter much? How far can that drop? Also, would you recommend getting something like a humidifier? Cause my humidity keeps dropping and it's at 52 whenever the spraying settles after about 3 hours (I spray 2 times a day)

bigsnakegirl785 · 02-23-16, 12:22 PM

Ok. So, the thermostat you linked only has one plug in. That means it can only control one heat source. I would not risk grouping heat sources together, because one could malfunction and the thermostat not read it.

A thermostat that can control multiple heat sources will tell you outright, trust me, you will know if it can heat more than one source.

For example, here's my VE-100. See how it only has one plug in? On the website it will also say it can only control one source in the description.

This is my Herpstat 2. It has two plug ins. It can independently control two heat sources, it has two probes as well. These sources are controlled completely independently, and you can use two different heat sources, they don't have to be the same. The key is properly placing the probes.

Again. The description will tell you if it can control multiple sources, there's no guess work.

pitontheprowl · 02-23-16, 07:29 PM

You can run multiple heat sources off of a power strip that is plugged into the thermostat as long as they are IDENTICAL and your combination does not exceed the max amperage of the thermostat. I personally only push 75% of the max just to have a window for error.