tempermental heating equipment

Its hard to explain the difference between GOOD thermostats like Helix or Herpstat and other traditional on/off style thermostats.

You have to just take the plunge and buy one. You order one, receive it, set it up...and something amazing happens - the heat actually stays at the temperature you set it at! Once you go proportional, you can't go back...

The fact that you have to constantly tweak the pet store garbage like ZooMed and ESU is an indicator of their quality. I had a ZooMed thermostat a long time ago that just quit working. It didn't cut off the power though, it just allowed it to run at full blast. Good thing I caught it when it happened.

I'm in for buying whatever will work the best now, simply because I'm tired of fighting these other crappy controls. Does a Helix or Herpstat control BOTH the hot and cool side (I ask b/c I have a UTH on both sides to make sure the temps dont get too low). I have zero experience with these products, so you're input is always appreciated.

No, each thermostat controls one heating device. If you have 2 heat sources controlling each side of the cage, you'll need two thermostats (although herpstat sells a proportional thermostat with more than one temperature zone, but those are $$$).

What a proportional thermostat does is this: While typical on/off thermostats will allow a full current of electricity to reach the heating element until the desired temperature is reached and then turn "off", and on back again....Proportional thermostats gradually adjust the output of power to the heating element to maintain a much more stable temperature. Think of it like an automatic rheostat.

Yea I understand what you're saying about the proportional thermostat, so I guess what I'm asking is: how does everyone else heat their cool side (in a glass cage) between 80-84 (for people not using rack systems, etc) ?

Usually, if you can get a hotspot of 92 on one side, the rest of the cage follows suit, you can expect the cool side to be 8-10 degrees cooler.

If you are keeping the cage in a room that is very cold, a space heater is going to be the easiest way to maintain your cool side temps. Sometimes bumping up the room temperature a few degrees is all you need to get your cool side temps in the acceptable range.

I've got a boa downstairs in my living room in a display tank...over the winter (if you could call our winter so far a "winter") I've had to run a space heater next to the cage to keep the cool side from dropping too much. The room temp w/o the space heater is anywhere from 68-72. Running the space heater next to the cage keeps the cool side temp no lower than 80. Its worked great!

Alternatively, you could plug both the cool side heating element and the warm side heating element into the thermostat and use an appliance dimmer from home depot on the cool side heating element to adjust the "differential" between the cool side and the warm side ... you just gradually step the dimmer down to get them temp that you need and then fix it into position with some glue or tape ... that way, when the room temp fluctuates, both sides of the enclosure adjust accordingly ... the only caveat is that your heating elements are poweful enough to heat the cage to the proper temps given the ambient temperatures of the room.

-adam

The herpstatpro is pricey but it controls up to 4 different areas with 4 probes. The one device replaced 3 rancos I was using, does more and is accurate with night drop if you want. It could control both sides to what ever you want and 2 thermostats would cost you as much.

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

I've used the ESU unit in the past ... garbage ... but that's only my opinion of course.

-adam

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Adam,were you having certain problems with them or ? I have several in use now and no problems with them.Just wondering because you are the second person that had problems out of them.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

Adam,were you having certain problems with them or ? I have several in use now and no problems with them.Just wondering because you are the second person that had problems out of them.

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I had one die completely ... and I had another that just couldn't keep up with temp changes at all ... the room temp would drop a couple of degrees and the ESU unit would take hours to get the cages to the correct temps ... it was ridiculous ... I replaced them with Helix's and never looked back.

-adam

I had two ESU's a while back and one died immediately the other one wasn't very accurate. Not good odds so I don't use them anymore