thermostats & rheostats (sp?)

what exactly are they? how are they used? i've read up on them, but i can't seem to find the specific answer.

do i need a reptile heating pad for use of these, or can i use the human heating pad that i'm using right now? also, can't you get thermostats (hope that's what they're called) that you can hook up to two heating elements?

thanks.

Thermostat - maintains a set temperature (that you choose) at the probe. There are proportional and on/off thermostats. Proportional are better because they pulse just the right amount of power to keep the temperature exact. On/off turns off the power completely when the temp goes above (usually one degree) the setting, and turns on again when it goes one degree below.

Rheostat - basically a lamp dimmer. You turn the knob to the right or left to manually cut the amount of power that reaches the heater and therefore alter the temperature. Not accurate and not nearly as good (or safe) as a thermostat.

Yes you need a heating pad. No, human heat pads are not good. They are not designed to run 24/7, and I have burn marks on my floor from them being set to the lowest possible setting.

The best heat stuff is flexwatt. Great and safe... and cheap too! Matt (justcage here on the forums) can set you up with whatever you need!

Matt sells his t-stats wired to a power strip with 6 outlets, so you can have 6 strips of flexwatt connected to one t-stat. The heat pads have to be the exact same kind/size though and they need to all be in the same temperature gradient to work properly because there is only one probe for the t-stat to work off of.

Hope that helps!

if you want to make one yourself... here's some great easy to follow instructions.

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/sho...=make+rheostat

http://www.mgreptiles.com/THERMOCOMPARE.html :)