Really dumb thermostat question... =s

Okay, so I'm, not exactly sure how a thermostat works... sorry lol. :D

How exactly does it control the temp. of the snakes tub/aquarium?:confused:

Does it somehow connect to flexwatt tape or a heating pad? then from there, I'm able to control the heat?:confused::confused:

I basically need a super dumbed down explaination of how it is :weirdface. Feel free to be exaggeratingly sarcastic, as long as its basic and explains

THANKIES :bow:

a thermostat has a probe that measures the temperature and you place that probe on a UTH, for example. the UTH gets plugged into the thermostat and then plug the thermostat into the wall outlet.

the probe measures the temperature of the UTH and the thermostat regulates the power to the UTH based on the temperature you set into it.

hope this makes sense.

Not a dumb question at all. How are you going to know something if you don't ask? :)

Here's a great link to explain a bit about tstats and the different kinds. Basically there are two kinds I'm aware of proportional and non-proportional. This link will help you understand the differences in the two types. You can also explore this site to see tstats, their prices and so forth.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/Thermostat-FAQ-sp-10.html

A tstat controlls the heating source (uth, flexwatt, whatever) so that it emits heat a certain temperature range. This stop the heat source from spiking too hot or dropping too cold and makes your reptile much happier, healthier and safer in it's enclosure. No heating source should be running without some sort of tstat or rheostat.

The probe on the tstat is reading the temperature directly coming off the heat source, not what is inside the enclosure so for instance in my biggest racks the tstat is set slightly higher than the temperature I want to achieve. That allows for the heat to come through the tubs and the substrate where there will be some loss of heat. I measure inside the tubs with another digital device or better yet a temp gun.

It seems a bit complicated but once you get it dialled in properly and assuming the room the snake's enclosure is in doesn't have huge temp changes, it really is pretty stable and easy.

wow thanks guys. great link =p