Is there anything I can temporarily put under substrate to prevent burning?

I use dimmers exclusively with no temp adjustments being made. I still check the temps twice a day, but thats because I'm obsessive-compulsive about it, lol, and its not hard to take 2 seconds and walk by to check. But that is also because I use them properly. I have a house thermostat that will cut the heat and air on without having to switch from heat to a/c. Also, I keep the snakes away from any outside doors or possible places that could draw a draft when opened. Keep them away from any air ducts, windows, or really high traffic areas that could cause too much air movement. It sounds like alot but it's really not. Or go the easy route and invest into a thermostat. I initially went with a dimmer just to fix the issue with the intentions of getting a thermostat at a later date. But I have had no issues and I love it.

One more VERY important thing. If you do go with a dimmer, mount it in a box with a lid or find another way of making it so it cant get bumped or turned up/down by someone who doesnt know what its for. I have a 3 and 4 year old that will push or turn anything if its in reach, and even if its not, they still find a way of touching it. I have a nice case I made for mine with a locking glass front so no one but me can get in there and mess with it.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

I am referring to the as an absolute ;)

Recommending a reliable thermostat rather then "you should never use a thermostat" is just common sense :rolleyes:

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did you not notice that you quoted a typo in your original post? I'm fairly certain they meant to say you should never use a heating element WITHOUT a thermostat or rheostat.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

did you not notice that you quoted a typo in your original post? I'm fairly certain they meant to say you should never use a heating element WITHOUT a thermostat or rheostat.

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I would hope hence why I said "really?" but the following post was not a oops I meant without either :confused:

I'm getting myself confused now!!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

I am referring to the as an absolute ;)

Recommending a reliable thermostat rather then "you should never use a thermostat" is just common sense :rolleyes:

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oh crap! I see what you mean, my deepest apologies! I meant to say 'never use an undertank heating element WITHOUT a thermostat or rheostat! my bad, I did not even catch that I left out a VERY important word, that JUST HAPPENED TO CHANGE THE WHOLE MEANING OF MY SENTANCE....sorry Deborah, my apologies....I did not even catch that, lol. everybody...listen to Deborah, NOT rick....lol. sorry

a thermostat will keep the temperature of the hot spot stable while the room temperature changes.

a dimmer cannot do this. if room temperature changes, everything heated using dimmers will change with it. if the room gets cold, so will the hot spots. if the room gets hot, so will the hot spots. a properly dimmed heater will only maintain a temperature difference.

In my experience ZooMeds run hot, way hotter than my exo terras, do not run wide open. I recently got a BP (my 1 yr old normal) that never had a UTH, and she was fine if not a little small and lazy. My advice it to unplug until you get a device to control it, and use a lamp or CHE or something else to keep ambient temps at about 80-85F. A dimmer works just fine if the room or house doesn't have much fluctuation and is thermostatically regulated. If not you will be in there multiple times a day adjusting for room temp changes. Right now we don't have the heat or A/C on (so we are quite cool at night and warm in the day) and I have my new BP in an enclosure with a UTH on a dimmer (my 1 yr old has a hydrofarm), and I can tell you that I am in there many times a day adjusting. Luckily I'm a stay-at-home-mom, so it's not a big deal, but if you are gone during the day, just spend the extra $20 or so and get a cheaper (on/off) thermostat like a hydrofarm (check amazon). Or if you can afford it, go for a herpstat (around $100 and up), or equivalent pulse proportional thermostat. For the record, I do intend to get another thermostat soon, just waiting for them to go on sale (at amazon.ca) again, but until then I have to be extremely vigilant.

As for using layers to insulate, I wouldn't bother, it will still fluctuate unless the room is super stable, and it's way easier to adjust a dimmer than it is to go in an remove layers of insulation multiple times a day. Your BP will be fine until you get a dimmer (or better a thermostat), just get on it and don't let him get too cold.

if you use a dimmer type unit, just because the air in the room may very a little bit...does not mean the heat element will get colder, because it will not. the ambient temperatures in the cages may fluctuate...but the heat element temps will not. so if you have your hot spot on 95 degrees, and the room temps drop six degrees, your hot spot will still stay 95 degrees...I don't get where some of you say that it will change...? a dimmer type unit, only regulates the amount of wattage that the heat element(or what ever you have plugged into it) gets....this does not change. a thermostat on the other hand, will gradually raise or lower the wattage on the heat unit to keep it at the set temp(for proportional thermostat). an on/off type will switch on a heat element once the probe temps drop to a set degree, and shut off once the probe reaches a set high temp. so a thermostat will change the temp of the heat element, not a dimmer/ramp type rheostat....that will leave the units temps set at what they are set at.