Decision, Decisions - Thermostats

[frankykeno]

Wisdom needed here folks please.

Mike and I are building some new racks (basically redoing our entire BP room setup) this coming week and I need to put in an order for new thermostats.

We are building two racks like this....

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...=688939#688939

One will hold 6 large tubs sideways, the other will either hold 18 32 qts as shown in that picture or another 6 large tubs sideways (still deciding on that configuration at this point).

We are also have a 32 tub 6 qt hatchling rack and a 8 tub 15 qt rack that we want to switch over to a better quality tstat.

Now where the questions come in is in deciding whether to go with 4 seperate t-stats (either Helix 500 watt or Herpstat 500 watt capacity) or 2 Herpstat II (1400 watt total 2 x 700) or 1 Herpstat Pro (1600 watt total 4 x 400).

The Herpstat Pro is the most cost effective as one tstat will run all four racks, however, my questions are...

1) I don't have one single continuous wall big enough to place all 4 racks directly side by side so I figure that's an issue with cords running around corners perhaps.

2) If I go with the one tstat and it fails...four racks are in trouble at the same time (terribly scary thought in an Ohio winter).

3) We live in an old home. I'm am NOT at all good about electrical things so haven't a clue what kind of draw this big single tstat would put on one single outlet in that room and if it would cause fuses to blow (if you answer this one, remember I'm clueless about this stuff so talk slow and use the small words please LOL).

4) A lot of people I know go with Helix. Those of you that do use Herpstat and specifically the Herpstat Pro - how has it worked for you?

5) Do I need to go with the grounded models? (again please use the small words LOL).

You know when we got into snakes somehow I never thought I'd have to be part cabinet maker, part electrical engineer!

[frankykeno]

Information I should have included:

Rack #1 - large adult rack (belly heat) - 4" flex x 4 feet per shelf x 6 shelves x 8 watts/foot - 192 watts total

Rack #2 - large adult or juvenile rack (belly heat) - 4" flex x 4 feet per shelf x 6 shelves x 8 watts/foot - 192 watts total

Rack #3 - 15 qt rack (back heat) - 11" flex x 3 feet x 20 watts/foot - 60 watts total

Rack #4 - hatchling rack - 3" flex x 34 inches per shelf x 8 shelves x 10 watts/foot - 227 watts total

Total for all four racks - 671 watts

By this calculation the Herpstat Pro at a total of 1600 watts seems a bit of overkill but would allow for expansion and we are looking at doing at least one more of those big white racks in the coming months.

[snakelady]

I just got a helix for my one rack. (haven't got the rack yet)

I got helix because of all the people I know who have been in the business for years said it's the best.

[Gloryhound]

With the cost of the Herpstat pro you can buy some cheap low end on off T-stats like: http://www.bigappleherp.com/BAH-1000...=2&category=15 for back ups and still be cheaper or the same as any other High quality Proportional T-stat on the market. Also I love the features of our Herpstat pro. Night drop, Hi-Low alarms, heating element heater, It learns the enclosure to figure out the best settings as far as reaction to .1 degree temp changes. All around it is an Awesome piece of equipment for the price. The probes have 12' leads and will go around corners just fine. I think you can also buy a probe cord extender for around $20 and that gives you at least another 12'! Power Draw is minimal, each channel only handles 400 Watts. Total of 1600 Watts. Total power consumption would be around 14 Amps at 120 VAC and that would only be if all the outputs were at full power feeding actual 400 Watt loads. 1' of 4" flex Watt is like 8 Watts. That means one channel could power almost 50 Feet of 4" Flex Watt! Each of our 15 Qt tubs gets 1' of 4" flex watt. My rack has 18 tubs. Total 18 Feet of Flex Watt. 18 X 8 = 144 Watts total for that rack!