Thermostat preferences.

• Rheostat
• Herpstat
• Ranco
• Johnsons
• Non-proportional
• Also curious to which one is most liked/used

I am curious as to what thermostat is most used and the reviews on them. As of right now I have a big apple herp thermastat. I use the NEW DIGITAL CHIP - BAH-1000DC Reptile Thermostat With DC Chip Technology

Ranco and Johnsons are non proportional units. In case there is confusion.

Did not know that sorry

Herpstat!

Also, you left off Vivarium Electronics. Very good product that should not be overlooked.

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Originally Posted by Herpking

Did not know that sorry

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No need to be sorry! :)

Not to de-value the information you may gain from your poll but the reality is not as simple as it may seem. Every set up and situation is different, no two are the same if you placed one of my set ups in your house it might work perfectly or it could go to He11 in a handbag.

Rheostats work best in very stable room temps. They are very few failures.

On/off type thermostats work best in semi stable room temps the often do not deal with large shifts well and very cool temps. Due to the nature of this type they tend to work well when there is indirect heat, or large thermal mass. Like found in a rack (tubs typically do not have the heat source attached to them but sit over the heat source. OR glass or similar material that is slow to heat and slow to cool.) The accuracy of the readout is often suspect, the three hydrofarm units I have tested all read more than 1.5ºF higher than correct. My Johnson is 1 degree low. IN many cases the probe position makes this a non issue anyway. They rarely fail.

Proportional units (VE, herpstat, ecozone, helix, habistat, and any others I may not have mentioned) all are the most versatile and handle most conditions the heat source is powerful enough for. They handle fairly quick drops and change to adjust to various conditions. The probes in my experience are the most accurate. The failure is infrequent.

My herpstat has never let me down!

We are switching over to Vivarium on all 30+ of our racks and cages. Work great and in my opinion far better then helix. Much less expensive the Herpstat.

hmm, i need a proportional for my incubator, was going with herpstat (again), but may have to try the Vivarium- 100 , decisions, decisions...............Has anyone used these yet ????

I will take a couple of rancos or johnsons over the proportional thermostats unless it is going on a incubator, or if I get to change over to ARS racks... they come with spider or helix in the price of the rack

I love my Vivarium 300 Propertional but ti wasnt on the list:D

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Originally Posted by Snakefreak64

hmm, i need a proportional for my incubator, was going with herpstat (again), but may have to try the Vivarium- 100 , decisions, decisions...............Has anyone used these yet ????

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The 100 is not a proportional unit it is on/off the 200 is however.

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Originally Posted by meeistom

We are switching over to Vivarium on all 30+ of our racks and cages. Work great and in my opinion far better then helix. Much less expensive the Herpstat.

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It is 5$ different if you need the grounded models and non grounded herpstat is 5$ less?? I am confused...

I love my Helix.

I have always used Johnsons and Rancos, the next thermostat I need will be VE. I've been doing business with Rich over at reptilebasics.com for over 7 years, I value his quality products over everyone else.

That being said, any of them can get the job done if you take the proper precautions and check temps at least on a daily basis.

i also use a vivarium 200 and i dont have any problems with it. It did give me a scare though it shut off randomly but thankfully you it has the fuse in the back to replace when power surges :)

Thank you all for replying sure did educate me fairly well. I only knew of some thanks for sharing them and your experiences with them. I have a small set up, I only own 3 ball pythons 1.0.0 Spider het ghost. 0.2.0 normals. Will be adding on soon hopefully was just curious. Thank you goes out to everyone. And sorry if I did not mention your thermostat on the poll I am still learning. :D

Herpstat has gained my trust

I'm broke so I went with JC, yes they suck around this time for me:(. I set it at 110-113 degrees to get a 88-92 degree in the winter months. The fail is amazing.

i use microclimate.they have great warranty and are uk based so if it fails i dont have to send it half way round the world to get a replacement.

Loved my Helix, but the VEs are top notch!!! Really love my VE-200s:gj:

I use a Herpstat, Johnsons, and Hydrofarms.

I currently use a hydrofarm and hate hate hate it. On offs suck in my situation. Switching to a ve-300x2 soon so I can run both a grow out rack and adult rack from RBI. :)*

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

I am seriously debating the VE-300 THANK YOU ALL for letting me know what all I left out and giving me feedback :D Sorry for the noob mistakes of leaving out some thermostats :)

I use Helix, Herpstat, and Ranco.

I use the Vivarium 100 and am very happy. :)

By the way I like the signature "The more I talk to humans the more I like snakes"

I use 2 rancos and have not had any problems with them. Had them for years.... looking into proportional thermostats now .... lots of research to do........

I'm a helix guy. I have five and no complaints.

its no surprise to see the over whelming number of people who prefer spyder co to any other company.

All I need is a thermostat for one length of flexwatt that can be used with about 2 feet of 11" wide and 20 watts per foot. What would you recommend??

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Originally Posted by Snakefreak64

hmm, i need a proportional for my incubator, was going with herpstat (again), but may have to try the Vivarium- 100 , decisions, decisions...............Has anyone used these yet ????

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just read that the 100 is non proportional

We prefer to use the VE-300 and a 100 as the backup. Our Helix tstats work great but the simplistic design is crap.

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Originally Posted by heyitssupergirl

just read that the 100 is non proportional

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have to step up to the 200 for the option.;)

I have been thinking of investing in a VE 300 any yes or no's here?

The cost of the VE is so close to the herpstat (shut down if it is too hot or suddenly gets too cold too via a mechanical relay) and the additional safety of the herpstats make it a simple decision to my mind. I would suggest that with out this feature I would really recommend a fail safe t-stat as well. The herpstat it is perhaps not needed. They are ultimately a more flexible unit (runs lamps, humidly controls, coolers.)