Decent thermostat.

[Gio]

I see a lot of entry level keepers suddenly "under the gun" looking for a thermostat to control their UTH or other heating device in their cage.

I'm sold on Herpstats, but I recently had to move my Herpstat-II to control the RHP's in my 2 larger cages. My Herpstat-I went to the smaller glass cage, but that setup uses a lamp for ambient temps and a UTH for belly heat so I needed another way to control the UTH since the Herpstat-I was going to control the light.

I decided I'd try the Hydrofarm MTPRT heat mat thermostat. I paid $31.64 with shipping and I have my UTH set at 91 and it's dead on at 91.

I'm pretty impressed with this inexpensive little unit, and would recommend it for UTH purposes. I would not use it with a lamp, and have not used it in any other capacity, but I can say it works great for the application I'm using it in.

Check out Amazon if you need one in a pinch!!

[led-zep]

Yeah I have a couple of them on some smaller racks, they work very well.

[Eric Alan]

Forgive me for asking, but why are you using the lower quality thermostat (Hydrofarm) to regulate belly heat and the higher quality thermostat (Herpstat) to control ambient temperatures?

[AlexisFitzy]

I totally agree with this. I would just go out & buy a lamp with a built in dimmer switch and just dim the light to get the right temp.


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[brock lesser]

Forgive me for asking, but why are you using the lower quality thermostat (Hydrofarm) to regulate belly heat and the higher quality thermostat (Herpstat) to control ambient temperatures?

My question exactly

I totally agree with this. I would just go out & buy a lamp with a built in dimmer switch and just dim the light to get the right temp.


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^ Makes sense to me as well

[Gio]

All great questions, and I can appreciate the concerns.

Have you ever used an "On Off" thermostat with a light? It's pretty fricking annoying, and the "lesser" quality stat is keeping perfect temps, if it was not I'd change it immediately, however for $31. and spot on temps there is not a need, which is the point of the thread. It's sort of pointless to post a thread about something that does a crappy job keeping UTH temps.

The UTH has been as consistent with this as it was with the Herpstat which says a lot about the inexpensive, but not cheap unit. I'm sure it will wear out quicker, but it fails in the OFF position and without it, temps in the room and ambient temps in the cage are good enough where there would be no urgent situation.

Inexpensive does not mean it does not work by any means. The Hydrofarm was designed for heat mats. The particular setup I have is a glass tank, and I prefer a light, not on a dimmer to use for ambient temps.

At certain times the light is completely out because the Herpstat does such a great job controlling the light and during the "night drop" I don't need to go down and dim it when I travel or am working late. The hot spot can stay constant, but I drop ambient temps in all of my cages at night. Not part of the Hydrofarm's design.

Personally I don't see an advantage to a lamp with a dimmer switch when I have two functioning thermostats.

IF I wanted to spend more $$, I'd restructure the top of the cage, dump the light and buy a third Pro-Products RHP and control the whole tank with the Herpstat-I. My boa and carpet cages function excellent with RHP's, but to get usage out of the glass cage I went this route.

Why not use a $31 stat that works?? Makes sense to me.

[Eric Alan]

There's no reason to use the quotation marks around "lesser" in your reply - there's really no comparing the quality/safety differences between the two thermostats. I just asked a question as to why you chose one over the other for each specific application. It makes sense that you wouldn't want a light going on/off all of the time - it would drive me crazy too.

I do question, however, that a Hydrofarm will always fail in the OFF position. From what I know (without personal experience), it depends on which part of the thermostat fails as to which position it will fail in. Is this not true?

Thanks for your help!

[Gio]

There's no reason to use the quotation marks around "lesser" in your reply - there's really no comparing the quality/safety differences between the two thermostats. I just asked a question as to why you chose one over the other for each specific application. It makes sense that you wouldn't want a light going on/off all of the time - it would drive me crazy too.

I do question, however, that a Hydrofarm will always fail in the OFF position. From what I know (without personal experience), it depends on which part of the thermostat fails as to which position it will fail in. Is this not true?

Thanks for your help!

No worries, I quoted "lesser" because a lot of the time the general assumption is that inexpensive means cheap, or doesn't work well.

I don't think I compared the quality and safety between the two thermostats did I? I said the Hydrofarm was keeping temps spot on as well as the Herpstat did. I don't think there is that much more to say, it is what it is. I own two Herpstats for a reason, but this was a nice discovery.

I'll reread the manuel, but I believe IF it fails, the whole thing is done. There are a lot of scenarios, but for another $31 you can attach a backup I guess.

The whole point of my post was my surprise at how well the less expensive unit kept temps, and I think there is some value to that because not everybody can afford a Herpstat. How often do you see new owners with no temp regulation?

We all make assumptions now and then, and maybe some felt my situation was different than it is. My basement can have very dramatic temp changes. In the summer the AC can drop temps down there even though I have covered all of the vents. There is no dimmer switch that will combat the associated ambient temp drops in the tank during that time, hence the Herpstat-I must control the lamp. The same can happen in the winter, with the heat or lack there of. Even though I have a large space heater, room temps can vary and I prefer to regulate total cage temps with the Herpstat.

Dimmer switch adjusting is a crapshoot in a setting like this. I don't have the time nor do I have the availability to be constantly regulating temps through trial and error using a dimmer when my room temps change. Also as previously mentioned, I use a night drop and with the Herpstat it happens automatically, every night, same temps, same times.



This whole topic got off track, though maybe through genuine concern, and that's OK, BUT, it's not the point of the original post.

The point was, and still is: If you need an inexpensive, yet consistent thermostat for a UTH, the Hydrofarm does well.

[artgecko]

I've had good luck with a hydrofarm too. The only side note I'd add is make sure you use it with a good uth (like an ultratherm)... Some of the less expensive UTHs can continue to heat even after the thermostat cuts the power, which can lead to temp spikes... I had a zoomed mat that did this even when hooked up to the hydrofarm. I agree though that the hydrofarm is the best lower-cost option out there for controlling a UTH. I've bought some slightly more expensive units ($50 range) that were herp-sepcific that didn't work as well.

[Gio]

I've had good luck with a hydrofarm too. The only side note I'd add is make sure you use it with a good uth (like an ultratherm)... Some of the less expensive UTHs can continue to heat even after the thermostat cuts the power, which can lead to temp spikes... I had a zoomed mat that did this even when hooked up to the hydrofarm. I agree though that the hydrofarm is the best lower-cost option out there for controlling a UTH. I've bought some slightly more expensive units ($50 range) that were herp-sepcific that didn't work as well.

Thanks for contributing!

I agree, and do use the Ultratherms, they are an excellent UTH. I like the way they are made and I like the fact they are able to be switched to another cage if needed.

So far the Hydrofarm is doing everything it is supposed to do.

It's nice to hear from people have used the unit, I'll add that the guy that makes my cages and breeds high end carpet pythons uses them with success as well.

Once again for people that wind up in a bind and come to the hobby with no temp regulation, this inexpensive thermostat is a decent option.