advice on Thermostats.

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Originally Posted by TomC

I taped my thermostat probe to the bottom of my heat pad. I am not sure if this is perfect but it has worked well for me. I have the Helix and to get my hot spot to 92 I had to set the thermostat to 106. It does fluctuatte a little bit when the room changes temperature but not more than about +/- 2 degrees.

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I have mine the same as TomC. I taped my temp probe to the bottom of my UTH using foil tape and set me thermostat about 3 degrees higher than my desired temp. Works like a charm with my Herpstat.

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

The OP is looking for thermostats that help regulate temps in a fluctuating environment...

Ranco and Johnsons both work well. They're not as high quality as a Helix, but they will do the job for you. :)


P.S. Make sure to secure the probe from the thermostat DIRECTLY to the UTH. If you don't, you risk it being moved from the desired heating site and over heating the UTH. Don't put it in the enclosure with the snake! All it takes is one pee or spilled water bowl to fry your snake.

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First off, congrats on the Ranco! Good choice. And I also noticed that she said fluctuations but she did not specify how much. With a rheostat of any kind, 1 degree of fluctuation= 1 degree of fluctuation of the heating element generally. It could have been 4-5 degrees and not greater than 6-10. Not knowing, I gave the best advice I could.

I have six (I think) of that Ranco that was originally posted and I love them. They go down to a differential of 1 degree, which is good enough for just about any application. I even use one of them for my incubators and haven't had a problem.

They're really not hard to wire yourself, so you can save yourself about $25-30 if you get an unwired one. Usually what I do is to get them unwired and then purchase a cheap power strip (although a $0.75 extension cord will work too, but it's only good for one or two things to plug into it). If you go this route, use this as a wiring guide (it's REALLY not that hard, even if you're not "electrically minded"): http://www.rcreptiles.com/blog/index...1000_thermosta

Also, I've found that buying through a reptile supply company is usually more expensive than through other outlets. For example, I get my Rancos from Climate Doctor for $50 http://www.climatedoctors.com/Items/...ture%20Control rather than the $80 you have in your link from Reptile Basics...there is no way the 10 minutes it takes to wire this thing is worth an extra $30. If you think it's worth it for you, get ahold of me and I'll save you some money by doing it for $25...lol.

The last Ranco that I bought was off of eBay. I got it for $40 and it works fine. It wasn't prewired, but after 10 minutes and about $3 worth of extension cord/power strip later it works great.

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Originally Posted by BroknBusted

Has anyone used or know any info on these type of thermostats? Any good?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

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I have one that I don't use since getting a herpstat. Worked pretty well for the price. Set it, gets somewhat warmer then what it's set for and turns off, then gets somewhat cooler then turns on.

Do You Tape The Thermostat Probe To The Sticky Side Of The UTH Or The Other Side.

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Originally Posted by pinkeye714

so shall i un-peel the uth from the tank and put the probe right under it?

i just bought the Ranco so i can get it somewhat soon and return the one from petco to get my money back.

thanks!

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Yup!

And you will love the Ranco, I have three...