Temperature of UTH vs. the actual temperature on the hot side

I'm going to skip what I have and how it is set up and just get to the point... I have the UTH under one side of the tub plugged into the thermostat. On the inside of the tub I have the thermostat probe on top of the hot spot. I also have an Acurite probe down right next to that. The thermostat is set at 92. When I use the temp gun to check out the temps the gun reads the hot spot inside the tank at about 89. When I put the paper towel down over the hot spot where the BP actually lays the temp gun reads about 86. There is a barrier between the UTH and the actual hot spot on top of the paper towel.
My question is should I set the thermostat to 96 or 98 to account for that barrier? If this is hard to follow let me know and I will try and explain it better. Thanks for trying to help out...

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Originally Posted by Spyderco1116

My question is should I set the thermostat to 96 or 98 to account for that barrier? If this is hard to follow let me know and I will try and explain it better. Thanks for trying to help out...

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Yes. You should set your thermostat higher to achieve the ideal cage temp.
My termostat on my belly heat rack is set to 96 to reach a 88-91 hot spot.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Yes. You should set your thermostat higher to achieve the ideal cage temp.
My termostat on my belly heat rack is set to 96 to reach a 88-91 hot spot.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

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OK, I will do that. Thx for the feedback!!

I have to mine set for 98 to get my hotspot at 90-91.

Make sure that the paper towel is flat against the tub bottom when you use the temp gun on it. If it's puffed up it will give false readings as it scans the surface of whatever it's pointed at. A half inch of air space could give several degrees of difference in the surface temp of the paper towel compared to when the snake is lying on it.

In a 78-80 deg room I have my VE 200 set to 93 for a hot spot of 90ish and a hot side ambient of 84-86. Tub UTHs have to be set a couple of degrees higher in my room.

If your thermostat probe is I side the tub the thermostat should be set to 92. If the thermostat probe is attached to the UTH the thermostat needs to be set higher.

Remember that the acurtie thermometers and temp guns have an error of +/- 2 degrees so if you compare the temp gun to the Acurite they can be up to 4 degrees apart.

I have a glass tank and a half inch of coconut husk on the warm side; have to set the thermostat to 102 to get a 88-92 hot spot.