Dimmers are not themostats...discuss

Hello,

To the best of my knowledge, a dimmer is not the same as a thermostat. I read all over the internet that a good way to control various UTH's is to use a dimmer. I know that a dimmer is cheaper than a thermostat, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

A dimmer will not turn on and off, or even proportionately regulate the amount of electricity based on the current temperature of the UTH. A dimmer will (for arguments sake) reduce the electricity from 100% to 20%. 20% of the electricity running for 24 hours or more will result in the UTH getting up to full temperature, just slower. So, although it does SLOW the time it takes for the UTH to get to max heat, it will not stop it over heating.

Am I wrong to assume that a UTH controlled by a dimmer will still overheat and burn your reptile??

I feel like, if I’m correct, we should STOP telling people to use dimmers.

Dimmers are for lights and fans and should stay that way.

When regulating a heat source with a dimmer, it will only stay roughly at the set temp if your room temperature is stable. If the room ambient temp gets warmer, the heat pad will still get warmer despite having a dimmer.
Overall, it's just really unsafe to use a dimmer as a primary source to regulate the heat source. It doesn't regulate the heat to maintain a set temp. It doesn't turn on or off when it reaches a set high or low point either. Everyone should just invest in a thermostat. It's the most important piece of equipment. It's one of the easiest things a keeper can do to keep their animals safe.

In essence a Light Dimmer is a Rheostat. Rheostats can be used to "manually" control heat sources in "stable environments" only.

In a pinch can you use a rheostat to "control" temps, sure. Should you? Thats a different story. IMO if you are purchasing an animal and can't provide proper husbandry and/or equipment you should not make the purchase to begin with.

And I know this is an "information only" post Ricky... I know you don't have your racks running off 68 dimmers you bought at home depot! ;)

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rheostat, adjustable resistor used in applications that require the adjustment of current or the varying of resistance in an electric circuit. The rheostat can adjust generator characteristics, dim lights, and start or control the speed of motors. Its resistance element can be a metal wire or ribbon, carbon, or a conducting liquid, depending on the application. For average currents, the metallic type is most common; for very small currents, the carbon type is used; and for large currents the electrolytic type, in which electrodes are placed in a conducting fluid, is most suitable. A special type of rheostat is the potentiometer, an instrument that measures an unknown voltage or potential difference by balancing it, wholly or in part, by a known potential difference. A more common potentiometer is simply a resistor with two fixed terminals and a third terminal connected to a variable contact arm; it is used for such purposes as a volume control in audio equipment.

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I used dimmers as backups for several years, and suggest the use of a dimmer at minimum to people that are just getting into the hobby. I would rather people put their heat mat on a dimmer than let it run wide open.

I'm not saying dimmers are the ideal heat source regulator, but they are better than nothing if people don't want to spend money on a thermostat. I would rather see people use a dimmer than one of those $20-$30 piles of garbage from ZooMed. You have to adjust those just as often as a dimmer.

Dimmers reduce the amount of electricity going to the flexwatt which in turn reduces the temp of the flexwatt, it will never reach top temps if you have it dimmed. If you have a stable room you could keep your flexwatt in an ideal range with just a dimmer. I've done it, that's how I knew where to set my dimmer when I used it as a back up, I had it set at 95-98. I use Rancos as back ups now which is much easier because you do have to adjust the dimmer in accordance with your room temps.



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I use a dimmer switch and have for years with no problem. You can control the temperature of the UTH with a dimmer switch and I've tested this for weeks. I shoot the UTH with my IR temp gun and it's always within a degree of each other. Some people may argue it's not as good as a thermostat but each have their own set of problems. What if the probe for the thermostat falls or in my case my snakes burrow and what if it gets knocked loose. I can put it on the outside of the tank and do it that way but I find that a dimmer switch works better. I've tried different thermostats over the years and I've always had better luck with a dimmer switch, yes they're meant for lights and fans but an UTH doesn't use a lot of wattage.

Everybody has their own opinion and some have better luck with others, I just like to give people more options versus thermostat's.

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Originally Posted by Neal

What if the probe for the thermostat falls or in my case my snakes burrow and what if it gets knocked loose. I can put it on the outside of the tank and do it that way but I find that a dimmer switch works better.

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You're not suppose to keep the Thermostat probe inside the enclosure. That's improper use and like you said, your snake can knock the probe loose. It can also get damaged from the moisture/water/urine.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

You're not suppose to keep the Thermostat probe inside the enclosure. That's improper use and like you said, your snake can knock the probe loose. It can also get damaged from the moisture/water/urine.

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I know that, but I'm saying that some people put them inside the tank. They can also fall and many other things can contribute to something going wrong. I properly provide the necessary husbandry for my snakes and I've never had any issues with a dimmer switch. I use the Luctron from Lowe's. I also checked everything for two weeks, several times a day before even putting my snakes in there.

Dimmers do better when the room temp are stable however I would not recommend those for long term use. To me a dimmer is something used in case of emergency and in a temporary manner.

Depending on the ambient temps temperatures may continue to rise as the room temp do which can be an issue. If a thermostat is used properly and the probe is placed properly (secured on the heating element itself and not in the enclosure), the temp provided will be constant with little no not variation.

A thermostat is the single most important piece of equipment when it comes to husbandry, yes it might be the most costly one as well but it is relative when you compare the life-span and/or price of the animal it will be used for, not to mention the piece of mind.

Dimmer switches work, but they are far from ideal. It may be working for you now, but what happens if your heat or a/c in your house fails and your ambient temps drop or rise, guess what, said dimmer switch is not going to adjust to that. Thermostats are always a better way to go, and I agree that they should probably be the only way to go. Dimmers are a crutch.

I used nothing but rheostats (dimmer switches) for many years before ever buying my first thermostat. Frankly thermostats weren't even an option because they didn't make them in a small plug-in variety with a remote temperature probe. The thermostats that you can now easily buy on amazon or at reptile basics simply didn't exist. And you know what? Rheostats worked just fine as long as you monitored the temperatures in other ways (IE: with a thermometer) . Rheostats don't adjust the temperature they just keep the power at a steady level.

A thermostat will keep your heating element at a specific temperature (say 90 degrees) so if the ambient temps in your room rise to 85 degrees or drop to 60 degrees your heating element should always stay at 90 degrees. A rheostat on the other hand will just limit the amount of power to the heating element and pays no attention to temperature. If you have the rheostat set so that your heat tape is at 90 degrees in a 70 degree room and your room temps drop to 60 degrees your heat tape temperature will be 80 degrees, if the room temp rises to 85 degrees your heat tape temperatures will be at 105 degrees.

So, as long as your room temperatures are stable dimmer switches work just fine, if your room is prone to wide temperature swings you should consider a thermostat instead.

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Originally Posted by eatgoodfood

Dimmer switches work, but they are far from ideal. It may be working for you now, but what happens if your heat or a/c in your house fails and your ambient temps drop or rise, guess what, said dimmer switch is not going to adjust to that. Thermostats are always a better way to go, and I agree that they should probably be the only way to go. Dimmers are a crutch.

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The same thing that would happen if my a/c in my house fails and just out of sheer luck the thermostat fails also. The temperatures will rise. The thing is I use 2x UTH & and a dual light system. from 6am-6pm the day bulb is on and from 6pm-6am the night bulb is on. With the night bulb full power it's 86 degrees, and with the day bulb 75% it's 88, will sometimes go to 90 on the Acurite but it's a Acurite issue, because the substrate stay's 88-89 from the day bulb. Now sure, if I just had one UTH then I could run a thermostat but for 4 different things it just wouldn't be feasible because then issues would occur. Also if the a/c went out at night it wouldn't make a difference because my house temps stay the same, now if it went out during the day it could be an issue, but luckily I work overnight so I'm home during the day so I honestly don't worry. Plus I monitor my temps via a wireless webcam that I can check from a browser or any phone so I can see the thermometer and I know if that thermometer ever read 90 then it's 92 under the day bulb. Sure it's not perfect but anything can go wrong at any point.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I used nothing but rheostats (dimmer switches) for many years before ever buying my first thermostat. Frankly thermostats weren't even an option because they didn't make them in a small plug-in variety with a remote temperature probe. The thermostats that you can now easily buy on amazon or at reptile basics simply didn't exist. And you know what? Rheostats worked just fine as long as you monitored the temperatures in other ways (IE: with a thermometer) . Rheostats don't adjust the temperature they just keep the power at a steady level.

A thermostat will keep your heating element at a specific temperature (say 90 degrees) so if the ambient temps in your room rise to 85 degrees or drop to 60 degrees your heating element should always stay at 90 degrees. A rheostat on the other hand will just limit the amount of power to the heating element and pays no attention to temperature. If you have the rheostat set so that your heat tape is at 90 degrees in a 70 degree room and your room temps drop to 60 degrees your heat tape temperature will be 80 degrees, if the room temp rises to 85 degrees your heat tape temperatures will be at 105 degrees.

So, as long as your room temperatures are stable dimmer switches work just fine, if your room is prone to wide temperature swings you should consider a thermostat instead.

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Thanks for chiming in Mark. I do keep my room a set temp, it may vary one degree either way but other then that it's stable. I'm hoping to find something that will act as a fail safe and cut off the power if it see's a certain temperature which would cut off my UTH and bulbs. I'm sure they have something I just haven't found it yet.

Dimmers can be useful if you are using heat lamps.
Price out reptile heat lamps and then check any farm supply store for their price on a 250W heat lamp.
Use the dimmer to dial down the output until your T-Stat stays in the on position and then bump it back up a hair and lock it down.
The filament in a 250W bulb is generally sturdier than in lower watt bulbs and, when run at a lower power output should have a significantly longer life.

So, dimmers can have a place in the hobby but, are by no means required.
While T-Stats are pretty much a basic requirement.

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I'm hoping to find something that will act as a fail safe and cut off the power if it see's a certain temperature which would cut off my UTH and bulbs. I'm sure they have something I just haven't found it yet

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You just perfectly described a thermostat.

What other way than a dimmer would work to control a heat lamp if the heat lamp was used to heat only the ambient temp, but a UTH was used to heat the substrate??

If you use a cheap tstat you can have many issues. Using a good one like the Herpstat line really minimizes the risk involved.

The problem with a dimmer is they do not respond to the environment they are in. Like a few weeks back when my a/c had its free-on go out. The temp in my home went up but my tstats knew that and adjusted accordingly. A dimmer will not adjust and would run to hot. If I was away for a few days when this happened my tstat would handle the situation when a dimmer could do alot of damage to my collection.

Sure they can be used in a pinch but in no way are better than a good tstat.

I've learned a lot, thanks for everyone who has participated in this thread!

This was a super informative thread. Thanks everyone!

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Originally Posted by Mephibosheth1

What other way than a dimmer would work to control a heat lamp if the heat lamp was used to heat only the ambient temp, but a UTH was used to heat the substrate??

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Personally I don't even use a dimmer on my lamps. I simply chose the right wattage's for my needs. I check temps daily with an IR gun, and although lamps don't stay the most stable temps, they're never too hot.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I used nothing but rheostats (dimmer switches) for many years before ever buying my first thermostat. Frankly thermostats weren't even an option because they didn't make them in a small plug-in variety with a remote temperature probe. The thermostats that you can now easily buy on amazon or at reptile basics simply didn't exist. And you know what? Rheostats worked just fine as long as you monitored the temperatures in other ways (IE: with a thermometer) . Rheostats don't adjust the temperature they just keep the power at a steady level.

A thermostat will keep your heating element at a specific temperature (say 90 degrees) so if the ambient temps in your room rise to 85 degrees or drop to 60 degrees your heating element should always stay at 90 degrees. A rheostat on the other hand will just limit the amount of power to the heating element and pays no attention to temperature. If you have the rheostat set so that your heat tape is at 90 degrees in a 70 degree room and your room temps drop to 60 degrees your heat tape temperature will be 80 degrees, if the room temp rises to 85 degrees your heat tape temperatures will be at 105 degrees.

So, as long as your room temperatures are stable dimmer switches work just fine, if your room is prone to wide temperature swings you should consider a thermostat instead.

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Add me to the list of idiots who used rheostats for years.

To this day, I still use them on cages which are heated with RHPs. Go figure.

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Originally Posted by Raven01

Dimmers can be useful if you are using heat lamps.
Price out reptile heat lamps and then check any farm supply store for their price on a 250W heat lamp.
Use the dimmer to dial down the output until your T-Stat stays in the on position and then bump it back up a hair and lock it down.
The filament in a 250W bulb is generally sturdier than in lower watt bulbs and, when run at a lower power output should have a significantly longer life.

So, dimmers can have a place in the hobby but, are by no means required.
While T-Stats are pretty much a basic requirement.


You just perfectly described a thermostat.

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Actually I haven't and if you've read my previous post you'd understand that I would need two thermostats for even one tank which will not work in my book. I'm not against Thermostats and I've used them in the past. I need some kind of power switch that reads the ambient air temp so it can cut off all power supply that is running to it, this a thermostat will not do. Well not me say will not do as I could always have the probe on the wall and set the thermostat to say 78 so that way if the ambient air temp went up to that it'd shut it off. Though now I'm curious which thermostat have multiple plugins. Any ideas for anybody are welcome as I'm going to do this.

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

Add me to the list of idiots who used rheostats for years.

To this day, I still use them on cages which are heated with RHPs. Go figure.

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Skip, we're not idiots :D we're just brilliant scientists my friend.