house hold thermostat and flexwatt questions

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Originally Posted by Raverthug

well thats why I was askin on here. I dont know for sure if it can be done but the ability to program the thermostat would be nice. I wanted to do somethink Like this http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/incubator.shtml but I dont know.

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http://spyderrobotics.com/products/herpstat2.html

that thermostat is programable with ease

i'm by no means an electrician and someone correct me if i'm wrong. most of the themostats that you get like at walmart and places (like the honeywell) are a millivolt thermostat and will not work with 110v. the millivolt systems produce there own power off of a thermocupler from the piolet. you might have to go to like menards and get a themostat for a 110v baseboard heater they are only like 15 bucks or so. just my 2 cents, if there is an electician out there they might be able to shed some better light.


Eric

The household thermostat have relays (which is why you hear the click) when the heat comes on and off. Now I haven't looked in depth into it but most furnaces that I have seen have a transformer on them that step the voltage down which will run to the thermostat and back to the furnace. Although I believe the relay is powered by the batteries of the thermostat the relay will not handle the current for heating in most cases. You might get away with a small heat pad but it wouldn't be worth the time or risk in most cases. Then you are still stuck with the temp sensor inside the case so you would have to desolder it and wire it so it was in a appopriate spot to measure temp. Also household thermostats have a degree or better swing so you'd probably be better off just buying a inexpensive zoomed 500r. :) If you want better regulation you eventually have to move up to a proportional thermostat. ;)

Dion Brewington
Owner, Spyder Robotics

Ok Thank you. I have some know how when it comes to plumbing and Hvac
so I was just thinkin about that ya know. Looks like Im just gonna go with a helix or a herpastat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Raverthug

Ok Thank you. I have some know how when it comes to plumbing and Hvac
so I was just thinkin about that ya know. Looks like Im just gonna go with a helix or a herpastat.

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go with the herpstat youll be happier

I believe I would be happier too but its gonna come down to my cash flow at the time

household t-stats run on 24vac. i made a "reptile room temp controller" with a Honeywell stat, transformer, several relays, and wire.

I use a auto changeover stat that will kick on heat or ac(in the future) depending on the temperature of the room. yes temp swing is high around 3 degrees, I use a data logger to ensure room temps and make sure no faults are found. also has a fan switch as well as a hacked habba mist to run a 120v pump for misting.

for heating I use a oil room heater with fan blowing through it.
a/c nothing yet... since its winter

I recommend being careful on trying to do this yourself. since you will be working with line voltage. you also have to keep in mind the watt's being used by heaters and etc. if you undersized a relay it will burn out quickly or melt down.. plus most residential outlets are rated 15 amps. Which oil room heaters max out(1500 watt).. but luckly setable to medium(800 watt) and low(400 watt)..

As for incubator control I would recommend the herpstat.

yes you can wire up more then one piece of heat tape to one electric source. all you do is wire up the first one normal at one end and on the other end you wire it up to the next one and so on. It will kinda look like this. Sorry for my lame blue print lol.

+------(====)------(=====)------(=====)

+ = Male end of a power cord
--- = Power cord
(===) = Heat tape

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Raverthug

Ok Thank you. I have some know how when it comes to plumbing and Hvac
so I was just thinkin about that ya know. Looks like Im just gonna go with a helix or a herpastat.

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I keep the books for a commercial HVAC company and they have some nice digital commercial Thermostats (like used in the food industry) with accurate probes. My boss and friend offered to rig one up on my rack I am fabricating. (although what that really meant was "while I do this, you can fab duct on your day off") He has his master mechanical, Im sure it would work. But when I think of the snakes and the incubator...I for sure want something proven in the reptile industry, even though the money saving would have been nice. I personally went with Herpstat.

Really the best choice when you think about what is at stake. There are other ways to cut corners on a incubator. The thermostat is the one that you really want to play it safe with imo.