choosing a thermostat --- HELP

looking to put my heat lamp on a thermostat. Does anyone know of any good thermostats???? i was looking at the reptitemp rt-500r and read some good reviews but noticed it doesn't have a display of the temp. I've read that the hydrofarm thermostats are good for heat mats but can they be used for heat lamps??? i use a black light 24hrs and have my uth on a rheostat. my basking spot stays pretty consistant around 90 and the cold side of the tank just at 80. i have my uth in the middle and stays pretty consistant at 92-95. Sometimes temperature changes in the house throw off my setup so that's why i'd like to go for a thermostat on my heat lamp. any suggestions??????

The hydrofarm will work with your UTH or your heat lamp, I use herpstats, but they have a bigger price tag (I can explain why I think they are worth it if you want)

now for some advice... I would get a thermostat for your UTH and use the rheostat for your heat lamp.

I also would replace the backlight with an infrared heat bulb... they seem to work better.

I defiantly would avoid the zoo-med thermostat

yes please explain the benefits on the better thermostat... i don't mind spending the extra money if it's worth it...what's the price difference on the 2 anyways????


my only reason for choosing to put my heat bulb on a thermostat and uth on rheostat is... i figured if i can keep the ambient air temp at the location of the uth stable (using the thermostat for the bulb) then the rheostat will keep my uth temp consistant. I do see how putting the uth on a thermostat is effective but when the temperature of the house drops and rises that means the ambient air temp will also fluctuate because the rheostat will keep the same wattage applied to the heat bulb... can you please explain why it would be better to have my uth on a thermostat and heat lamp on rheostat?????

does the hydrofarm thermostat completely turn off the power when the high temp. is achieved then turned back on when needed or does it constantly adjust wattage to maintain the proper temp?

Sorry I double posted.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 6spdrt

does the hydrofarm thermostat completely turn off the power when the high temp. is achieved then turned back on when needed or does it constantly adjust wattage to maintain the proper temp?

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It is on/off type. When the heat gets to the set temp it shuts it off until it gets about 3 degrees below the set temp and then turns it back on.



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ok, the difference between a hydrofarm, and a herpstat (on/off style thermostats vs. proportional thermostats)

The hydrofarm and other on/off thermostats (such as the ranco and VE-100) work the way the thermostat on your houses air conditioner works, you set the desired temperature and the thermostat turns the heat source on full power until the desired temperature is reached. The thermostat the n turns the heat source completely off until the temperature has dropped below the swing (usually 2 degrees) this means that your temperatures will fluctuate but will stay in the general range that you want them at. Because these on/off thermostats run the heat source at either 100% full power or 0% completely off this can cause issues... especially with UTH's as they can get extremely hot when powered at full blast. It may not be at a high temperature very long (just long enough to get the probe to the desired temperature but it can still cause issues in rare cases. A hydrofarm will cost you $30

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR..._bxgy_ol_img_b

Herpstats and other proportional thermostats (helix, VE-200/300) actually vary the amount of power going to the heat source this means that the desired temperature is maintained very well, and is safer since the heat source is almost never run at full power. the basic herpstat model will cost you $99, but there are other models as well that are better. I suggest the Herpstat 1 or Herpstat 2 (which has 2 independent thermostats in 1 box that could control both your UTH and heat lamp at the same time)

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/IMG_0342.jpg

http://spyderrobotics.com/

another option would be to get a herpstat for your UTH and a hydrofarm for the heat lamp.


I suggested using the rheostat for the heat lamp and the thermostat for the UTH simply because that set up is safer. Either way will work, but you are right the thermostat on the heat lamp might hold temperatures a little better. (you might even be able to ditch the UTH all together if humidity isn't a big issue for you.

thank you guys very much! i'm gonna put my heat lamp on a hydrofarm for now and monitor it to see how it does with my uth on the rheostat. I will definetly look into the investment of a herpstat for the future i wanna read up on them and find out how i can get more bang for the buck and see if i can use 1 herpstat to control multiple tanks. I very much like the idea of a proportional thermostat over an on/off type. Seems to me like the heat bulbs and uth would probably last longer as well... now you said you had better luck with Red bulbs over the black??? i just thought maybe the snake would see the red more than the black?

Helix helix helix helix