thermostat

heat tape would be the way to go, its waaaay cheaper

if you're using heat tape i wouldn't recommend a reptitemp500r at all. Heat tape needs to be controlled absolutely. Perhaps if you have an already temperature controlled reptile room.. but if you're paying to insulate a room, buy a rack with all its components and the snakes to fill that rack, i'd suggest you do yourself the favor and just spend the extra 40-70 bucks and get a more reliable thermostat. I've seen it get over 121F unregulated and if you're not doing something properly it can get that high. Reptile heating pads "say" that they don't get over a certain temp (Which is a complete lie from the experiments i've done. 114F is not an acceptable range for any ball python but thats a different story).

i have an AP economy plastics rack, i use a helix on it and have absolutely no issues since setting it up.

i dont think im responding to the OP in this, i might be crossing my responses. its late hehe.

Uhh wont break the bank? Let's see...cheap thermostat now expensive vet bills later, or a measly 110 right now for a Herpstat and the comfort of being able to leave your snakes alone and knowing things will be ok...

I am in no way saying that a Herpstat won't fail, but I am saying that I trust it not to.

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

Uhh wont break the bank? Let's see...cheap thermostat now expensive vet bills later, or a measly 110 right now for a Herpstat and the comfort of being able to leave your snakes alone and knowing things will be ok...

I am in no way saying that a Herpstat won't fail, but I am saying that I trust it not to.

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Any tstat is made so much safer from a backup as simple as a lamp dimmer. While a tstat fails in the on position, a lamp dimmer will stop current to the heating when it fails.

That is the only way I would recommend using the 500r - or any tstat for that matter. It's what I do currently. But I'm also using it for just one tank and not multiple enclosures.

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

Uhh wont break the bank? Let's see...cheap thermostat now expensive vet bills later, or a measly 110 right now for a Herpstat and the comfort of being able to leave your snakes alone and knowing things will be ok...

I am in no way saying that a Herpstat won't fail, but I am saying that I trust it not to.

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The OP is just looking for an inexpensive option to control temps. I agree that the Herpstat is nice, but to say that anything else will lead to expensive vet bills is going a bit overboard. I personally use Helix stats, but do use a couple of the 500R's. I've been using two of them for over 2yrs without issue. My temps don't fluctuate more than a degree or so. Maybe the OP will get a more inexpensive option now, and spring for the better one later.

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Originally Posted by waltah!

The OP is just looking for an inexpensive option to control temps. I agree that the Herpstat is nice, but to say that anything else will lead to expensive vet bills is going a bit overboard. I personally use Helix stats, but do use a couple of the 500R's. I've been using two of them for over 2yrs without issue. My temps don't fluctuate more than a degree or so. Maybe the OP will get a more inexpensive option now, and spring for the better one later.

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that is sorta the boat i'm in ATM. i have a dimmer hooked up as a temporary solution (but i check the temps throughout the day) until i can get a thermostat.

are the Helix on/off style?

i saw that the ranco is and that seems like a bad design to me as that would mean that the heat pad is constantly being turned on and off, putting more wear and tear on it as well as having to wait for the thing to heat up or cool down. Seems like it'd be better to have one that is going to regulate the voltage like a dimmer does, which would give a faster response time.

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Originally Posted by waltah!

The OP is just looking for an inexpensive option to control temps. I agree that the Herpstat is nice, but to say that anything else will lead to expensive vet bills is going a bit overboard. I personally use Helix stats, but do use a couple of the 500R's. I've been using two of them for over 2yrs without issue. My temps don't fluctuate more than a degree or so. Maybe the OP will get a more inexpensive option now, and spring for the better one later.

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Fair enough, that is just my personal opinion and I do have a right to it. I was looking for a cheaper alternative as well and I was told the same thing, that paying a tad more now is cheaper in the long run. Im glad that the 500R works for you. I personally have no experience with it. The Tstats I use are a Herpstat and a BAH HerpPower. Just feels better to have a widely accepted quality product.

And the vet bill thing was a blatant exaggeration, it was just the best thing I had as an example. I shouldve said "chance failure and overheating of your pad" instead of making it seem like a 500R will instantly cause devastating burns.

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Originally Posted by kitsunex

that is sorta the boat i'm in ATM. i have a dimmer hooked up as a temporary solution (but i check the temps throughout the day) until i can get a thermostat.

are the Helix on/off style?

i saw that the ranco is and that seems like a bad design to me as that would mean that the heat pad is constantly being turned on and off, putting more wear and tear on it as well as having to wait for the thing to heat up or cool down. Seems like it'd be better to have one that is going to regulate the voltage like a dimmer does, which would give a faster response time.

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Helix are proportional.
On/offs aren't bad though. Even the 500r keeps the temps within 1-2 degrees. Extreme precision is not really necessary unless you're doing stuff with breeding. 1-2 degs is not bad, but you don't want to go over that.