RHP questions for cold room and T8

Ah yes, one of the many struggles of living in a northern state is the fact my room would be constantly dipping to ~65F at night or lower (sometimes in the day as well!) if it weren't for the fact I run a small heater all night and most the day. Rather than heat the room (two when I get more snakes and need to quarantine), I'm wondering if there might be a better option.

I've heard conflicting information on RHP raising ambient temperatures, so I want to double check and ask if it would be possible for a RHP of a proper size to keep a T8 warm even if the outside temperatures in the room are very low. If so, what size would you all recommend? I've been looking at Reptile Basics right now (feel free to suggest other/better brands), and their FAQ says an 80 watt would generally be used for a cool room OR a cage of this size. I'm unsure if an 80 watt would be good for the cool room AND this size, so I felt better asking here than later finding out I'm in need of a larger watt later on.

Also, if this is all possible, would the RHP be able to take over for the heat tape? Where exactly does the probe for a herpstat go? I've heard of some people attaching it to the panel itself while others say not to do that and it should be lower down, either attached for free floating. I fear if it were on the ground that Cinnamon Roll might lie on it, though, so that option makes me a little wary.

Thank you all in advance for your time and assistance!

Look up Pro Products radiant heat panels and give them a call. They will ask you all the relevant questions and recommend a panel wattage and size.

I personally use plastic cages that are very similar in size to the animal plastics T8 in conjunction with RHPs from Pro Products. They work well for me, however my ambient room temperature is a fair bit higher (~72 degrees F). I do not use heat tape with RHPs and I place the probe just below my heat panel. Radiant heat panels do indeed raise ambient temperatures, but the amount is highly variable. RHPs do not heat air, they heat objects within the cage. The objects then give off heat to the environment. The amount the RHP raises the temperature thus depends on the objects within the cage and the cage itself. For example, mine raise the ambient from around 72 degrees F to around 79-80 degrees F. My panels are the P3 model and are (I believe) 65 watts.

I do not know if an RHP can raise the temperature from 65 without heating the panel to an unsafe level, but Bob at Pro Products should be able to answer that question.

I spoke with Bob at Pro Products about this very thing as I live in Rochester, NY.

My room temps are in the 60's for both summer and winter and I'm going with the Animal Plastics T10 (with divider) He recommended a 40W panel for each side. When the snake grows and I remove the divider (something I still don't understand, snakes have the whole world to live in but in captivity they need a smaller space) he recommends getting a single 80W panel.

As for the thermometer probe placement I've read on a thread somewhere in our forum that's something you'll have to adjust what works for your enclosure. Bob recommended starting with it just above the substrate on the "cool" side.

If I'm not mistaken other members with PVC enclosures have a similar set up without a UTH.

Are you partitioning the T10 for 2 snakes? Or just 1 snake? If for 1 snake, don't waste the cash for a divider and 2 RHPs. Just use the whole cage and clutter it up. Put in 3 or 4 hides, some silk vines, a few paper towel tubes or a cereal box.

As for probe set up, I have one pvc cage running a Pro Products 65w RHP. It really depends on the room temp for set up. Since your room is so cold, I would go with the probe on the cool side and then set the cool side to 80F with the Herpstat. For me, my house is kept around 75-80F so I had to set the probe on the hot side and then dial the t-stat temp in with a IR gun. The problem for me is my house being so warm, the RHP would pretty much never come on if I set the cool side to 78-80F. For you, it should work great as it will come on a lot more to keep that cool side 80F so it will create a nice hot spot under it. That is why I tell people, if you have a warm room, go with heat tape. Cold room, go with a RHP. All my AP cages are run off flexwatt which gives me a permanent 90F hot spot while still providing a nice cool 77-79F cool side.

Generally you don't need to run heat tape and RHP unless your house is REALLY cold. Not sure if Bob told you but you should put a 1/2" sheet of plywood between the cage and the table to provide insulation as a cold table will sap heat from the floor of the cage.

And as for probe height, I set mine just above the snakes height so they cant sit on the probe. Also if they happen to brush against it, it will just fall back to the same spot.

Also if you are using the AP stand, again put a sheet of plywood between the stand and the cage. I took a 1/2" sheet of sanded plywood and spray painted it flat black to match the cages and stand. Here is what it looks like. You cant even see the plywood unless you are looking for it. Kind of missed the stand lol but you can still it in the right bottom corner there.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...a64d964a_b.jpg

The white 4x2 cage on the left side is the one with the RHP only in it. If I was planning on using it permanently, I would probably switch it to flexwatt as well. But it will end up either being sold or being used as a spare cage when I need to reseal an AP cage.

I don't want to hijack Albino's thread:hijackd: so I'll PM you. LOL

I have two T8 cages both with an 88 W pro products RHP. My room is currently 65-67F. The RHP is the only heat source (no UTH). I use Herpstats with the probe on the cool side, about mid level. I've tried using the probe on the hot side as well as lower to the ground, but was not happy with the results.


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I'm confused. I always thought you had to have the probe under where the RHP is at. I have mine tacked down to the floor of my cage directly below the RHP. Seems like, if I had it on the cool side that the hot side would get way too hot. I just never even heard of putting the probe away from the actual heat source.

You put the probe above where the snake can screw with it, on the floor or just above the substrate is a bad idea. A spilled water bowl or even the snake laying on it could be the end.

I would try to keep it at least a couple inches away from the rhp so your not picking up the physical panels heat, just the radiant heat.

I have a custom PVC cage in a room that can get as low as 55 degrees, and I use an 80-watt RBI panel on the cool side, with a UTH to make a hot spot. The hot spot is on the side without the RHP, with my logic being that in addition to the higher surface temperature, it helps keep the corners from getting quite as cold. I designed a bunch of features of my cage around retaining heat as well as possible, and it is a non-standard size, but in general it is in the same ballpark size-wise as some of the others mentioned in this thread.

The big thing to remember about heating cages in a cold room though is INSULATION, even for PVC. If your RHP is mounted to the ceiling of the cage, a lot of heat is going to be lost through the roof. So especially insulate the top of the cage really well. Also place the entire cage on top of a piece of foam insulation, plywood, etc, especially if you have a UTH underneath. Again, if your cage is sitting on a stand that conducts heat well, such as a metal shelf, more of the heat from your UTH will be escaping into the stand and the room than going into the cage. And adding some amount of insulation to the back and sides doesn't hurt either. It doesn't have to be ugly; I made some insulating panels for mine that look sort of quilt-ish and match the decor in the rest of the room.
And when we're going to be away and the heat is going to be on the "vacation" setting, I put a blanket over the front to cover the sliding doors too. The RHP can still maintain good temps without that, but it helps keep it from having to run quite as high.

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Originally Posted by L.West

I'm confused. I always thought you had to have the probe under where the RHP is at. I have mine tacked down to the floor of my cage directly below the RHP. Seems like, if I had it on the cool side that the hot side would get way too hot. I just never even heard of putting the probe away from the actual heat source.

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I have the temperature set to around 80F. It takes some dinkering, but your thermostat target temp is whatever it needs to be so the hot side is at an appropriate temp.

But as the post after yours states, your probe should never be where your snake can mess with it.


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For what it's worth, I think that if you're in an especially cold room or especially if the room temp will vary substantially, you're better off with two separate heat sources controlled independently to get what you want for the hot side and the cold side.

In my case, I don't have A/C in the summer. So the same room that ranges from 55-65 degrees in the winter is more like 75-85 in the summer. There's no way I could set up a single heat source so that it would give me correct temperatures all year round, without constantly repositioning the heat source, the thermostat probe, etc. The requirements are too different between a case where the hot and cold sides are 35 and 25 degrees away from the room temperature respectively, and a case where when they are 10 and zero degrees away. With two independent heat sources, the thermostats take care of it even when the room temperature changes.

I have a T8, and our RHP keeps it nice and toasty. You must use a thermostat!


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Originally Posted by Coluber42

I have a custom PVC cage in a room that can get as low as 55 degrees, and I use an 80-watt RBI panel on the cool side, with a UTH to make a hot spot. The hot spot is on the side without the RHP, with my logic being that in addition to the higher surface temperature, it helps keep the corners from getting quite as cold. I designed a bunch of features of my cage around retaining heat as well as possible, and it is a non-standard size, but in general it is in the same ballpark size-wise as some of the others mentioned in this thread.

The big thing to remember about heating cages in a cold room though is INSULATION, even for PVC. If your RHP is mounted to the ceiling of the cage, a lot of heat is going to be lost through the roof. So especially insulate the top of the cage really well. Also place the entire cage on top of a piece of foam insulation, plywood, etc, especially if you have a UTH underneath. Again, if your cage is sitting on a stand that conducts heat well, such as a metal shelf, more of the heat from your UTH will be escaping into the stand and the room than going into the cage. And adding some amount of insulation to the back and sides doesn't hurt either. It doesn't have to be ugly; I made some insulating panels for mine that look sort of quilt-ish and match the decor in the rest of the room.
And when we're going to be away and the heat is going to be on the "vacation" setting, I put a blanket over the front to cover the sliding doors too. The RHP can still maintain good temps without that, but it helps keep it from having to run quite as high.

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Coulber this is a very interesting idea. Could you post some picture of the insulation? Or make a thread on it. I would find something like this extremely helpful for insulating in MN winters.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2014.11.11.jpg


In this case, the whol cage is sitting on top of a piece of closed-cell foam (you can't see it, but if you look closely you'll see that it isn't sitting directly on top of the two tables). The side panels are canvas with a couple of layers of fleece sandwiched in between like batting and sewn together at the edges. There are sewn - on pieces of Velcro on the panels, and stick-on Velcro on the sides of the cage. The back, which you can't see, has a similar panel Velcro'd to it, with the addition of another piece of foam sandwiched between the cage and the panel and held in place because the panel is Velcro'd all around. The top piece is the thickest, with more foam encased between the layers of fleece batting. The front overhang helps limit heat loss through the gap between the sliding doors by trapping the warm air at the top.
Since the sides are separate pieces, I can easily open them partway or remove them completely if I need more airflow to control humidity in the warmer months; you can see the ventilation holes on the right side of the photo. There are also sliding PVC panels under the "quilt" ("quilt" in quotes because they aren't actually quilted, but I dunno what else to call them) panels that open and close the vent holes as needed.

The foam I used is really nothing special; it was just stuff I had lying around, same as the other materials. If I were going to buy materials I might use different foam, but I don't think it makes that huge of a difference. Actually the canvas was leftover from making a bunch of seat cushions, so at least it coordinates. :)

The whole thing has a false bottom, which is made from an under-bed storage bin cut down to around 4" in height (that's what determined the dimensions of the footprint), so I can use a UTH that is actually inside the main enclosure so there's less heat loss through the bottom, but the snake can't get at it and it can't be peed on. The RHP is mounted on the underside of an upper platform, which gets it closer to the ground, results in less heat loss through the ceiling, and also makes an additional hot spot above it (and there's an air gap plus some other insulation so the upper platform doesn't get too hot). Actually, the "upstairs" hot spot is only really a hot spot in the winter; in the summer, the RHP doesn't run enough for it to be much warmer than downstairs.
Lastly, the doors are acrylic, not glass, because acrylic retains heat just a bit better.

Sorry for the delayed response everyone, you know how holidays can get! Anyhow, thank you all so much for your replies, this is giving me a much better idea of what to expect and what I should do. I was on the fence about RHPs because of the contradictions I saw, but I think I might go for it when pay period rolls around. I can't thank you all enough for your help!

To the insulation on the top of the cage comments, I have a few blankets up on top that I kept there in hopes of keeping her warmer, I can add cardboard to that as well if you all think that might help hold in heat a little better. That custom cage is incredibly well done, it looks so nice! That front overhang is a good idea, I might have to snag that.

Right now, I have an empty T8 in another room that I can use to test and see how it might do with making a hot spot all on its own and see roughly what to set the thermostat to in order to have it reliably doing what I need without bugging Cinnamon Roll as much. I've been testing things on that one for awhile trying to get it to a good temperature without the portable heater, and hopefully this will be the one to do it.

Thank you all again so very much, this forum is always incredibly helpful! Now I can sleep a little easier tonight with this information.

If you run a 40w you won't raise the ambient temp enough, not without making that hot side get well over 100 for a basking spot.

What I would do is put heat tape on the cool side, set it to 82ish on the probe, so that way by the time it gets through the PVC bottom and substrate it'll be in the high 70's. Then you can do a 40w on the warm side to give that basking spot. Your other option is going with an 80w, which will take up nearly half the cage, however this would be your best bet in raising the ambient temp.

80w = 80 watt panel measures approximately 12.5"x22.5"x1.75"

or

100w = 120 watt panel measures approximately 12.5"x32.5"x1.75"

I was considering an 80 watt or 120 watt to start with, but my main issue was I'm unsure if 80 would be enough and was contemplating going for a 120 to be safe...I'm unsure if that would be overkill, however. I don't mind how much of the cage it takes up, since it's on the roof and super thin, but understandably I'd rather not pay for a 120 if an 80 would be enough. I'll gladly buy it if it's the best option for my situation, though. c:

*Now that I had some sleep I realize what you meant by nearly taking up half the cage importance wise...would there be a proper gradient with an RHP taking up that much space? The 120 would take up much more, so in that regard I wonder if 80 watt is the better choice to keep a gradient and raise temps. o:

(Sorry for double post, I'd edit but it says it timed out.)

Chiming in not hijacking..I also live in upstate NY and my upstares rooms are very cool at night. Just got off the phone with Bob at Pro. Has anyone tried or heard of anyone using the pro panel or another Radiant Heat sources underneath a set up like the UTH's? Bob said it could work & his only argument is his own opinion about using it like their natural envirment and heated from above like the sun does.
Im thinking of trying it without the snakes in there and checking temps for a couple days to see how that setup would work. I understand the whole point is to use them above but I find it a pain because my snakes soend hours crawling limbs and would be able to touch the heat panel on the "roof"....
My enclosures are 48"x13"x13" and Bob recommends the P-3 or P-12 running a T-stat. Shipped with tax is quoted under $150 for the P12 and $130 for p-3. Seems like a no brainer with all the positive things I've heard about the quality of his products.
Any opinions of info?

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Originally Posted by AlbinoBull

*Now that I had some sleep I realize what you meant by nearly taking up half the cage importance wise...would there be a proper gradient with an RHP taking up that much space? The 120 would take up much more, so in that regard I wonder if 80 watt is the better choice to keep a gradient and raise temps. o:

(Sorry for double post, I'd edit but it says it timed out.)

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If you're using a RHP plus a UTH or heat tape, you could theoretically arrange things any of the following ways:
1. RHP on cool side for overall ambient temperature, UTH makes hot spot on the side that doesn't have the RHP. This is probably the best route if the RHP is larger compared to the size of the cage, because it lets the RHP run at a lower temperature/power to just maintain even overall temps; the UTH makes the hot spot and in doing so ensures that the corners farthest from the RHP don't get too cold, which could otherwise result in condensation.
2. RHP on the warm side, UTH just supplements the temperature on the cool side. This one is probably the hardest to get right because the cool side would have a warmer surface temperature than its air temperature (and would probably be warmer inside hides than outside, too). But it could help if whatever the cage is sitting on is a major heat sink. Although if that's the case, you should insulate the bottom instead. This way is probably better for a large UTH and a smaller RHP.
3. Both RHP and UTH on the warm side, cool side ambient just comes from spill-over heat. This one will probably give you a way bigger differential between the warm side and the cool side than you want, unless the room temperature is relatively high - in which case, you probably don't need both heat sources.
4. Large RHP dead center, UTH makes hot spot somewhere. This is basically a lot like case number 1. Keeping the RHP centered is probably the most efficient with regard to losing as little heat as possible to the room outside the cage.

If you're only expecting the RHP to give you the ambient temperature you want, not the gradient, you can't "overwhelm" the cage with a large one, assuming it's on a thermostat. If it's bigger, that just means it will run at a lower temperature but spread out over a larger area for the same total heat output. That sounds like a win-win to me, especially if the snake has branches/perches that it uses.


I can think of several reasons not to use an RHP under the whole setup. One: it's not as flat/ thin as a UTH, so you'd have to set it up on something. Two: You'd lose more heat to the room with it on the outside of the cage than on the inside. Three: It can run safely at higher temperatures on the ceiling than on the floor because snakes can't sit on the ceiling. You couldn't run a RHP under the tank at any higher power than a UTH of the same size, for the same reason you have to limit UTH's with thermostats/rheostats: floor can get too hot otherwise and snake gets burned. So it would basically be a really big bulky expensive UTH.

For what it's worth, I built my cage so that the RHP sits under a shelf/platform inside the cage instead of on the actual ceiling. This setup loses less heat through the top than just sitting it on the ceiling, and it makes an additional hot spot/warm zone on the shelf above the RHP. BUT: there is also a fair amount of insulation between the RHP and the surface of that shelf. At the power level required to heat the cage in the winter, the surface of that shelf would get way too hot without it. With the insulation though, the shelf is generally in the mid-80's. There is a plant and a couple of hides up there, and my snake actually spends more time up there than he does on his slightly warmer floor-level hot spot.

Thank you for your response! That helps a lot in planning this out. What if I were to try and have the RHP create the hotspot instead of using both? Because the RHP needs a separate thermostat, I would need to buy more thermostats AND the RHPs...that's a whole lot of money at once, I really can't spend too much. In that case, would the 80 watt be better as to not be one massive hot spot or are RHPs like heat tape and some spots are warmer than others (namely the center)? Or would the 120 provide the hot spot but not be overwhelming by heating most the cage too much? Thank you again for your help, as you can see I'm totally new to RHPs and I want to make sure I don't overheat my snake or take away her gradient (even if she usually lazes in the cool side anyway). ;o;

You can always install it temporarily and try it in various places to see what will work. I suspect you'll find that with only a single heat source, you can figure out a setup that will work when the house is at one temperature, but not when the house temperature changes. So you might have to revisit things when spring comes, depending on what your room and your cage are like. Any setup you come up with will be more likely to work for a wider range of room temperatures if the cage is well insulated.

Think of it this way: a styrofoam box with walls 3" thick would take very little energy to heat, and it wouldn't make that much diffference whether it was in a 50 degree room or a 75 degree room. A small heat source on one side would heat the whole thing very nicely with probably a pretty small temperature difference from one side to the other. Now picture a rabbit cage made of chicken wire. In a 75 degree room, you might get the far side up to 80 degrees by heating the near side to 95 degrees or whatever; but in a 50 degree room, you would have to heat the near side to way more than 95 degrees in order to get the far side to 80.

So experiment and see what you get; but you'll have an easier time of it if you insulate the bejeezus out of your cage. Lots of things work as insulation. Blankets, for example, make great insulation. That's why we cover ourselves with them at night. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Coluber42

If you're using a RHP plus a UTH or heat tape, you could theoretically arrange things any of the following ways:
1. RHP on cool side for overall ambient temperature, UTH makes hot spot on the side that doesn't have the RHP. This is probably the best route if the RHP is larger compared to the size of the cage, because it lets the RHP run at a lower temperature/power to just maintain even overall temps; the UTH makes the hot spot and in doing so ensures that the corners farthest from the RHP don't get too cold, which could otherwise result in condensation.
2. RHP on the warm side, UTH just supplements the temperature on the cool side. This one is probably the hardest to get right because the cool side would have a warmer surface temperature than its air temperature (and would probably be warmer inside hides than outside, too). But it could help if whatever the cage is sitting on is a major heat sink. Although if that's the case, you should insulate the bottom instead. This way is probably better for a large UTH and a smaller RHP.
3. Both RHP and UTH on the warm side, cool side ambient just comes from spill-over heat. This one will probably give you a way bigger differential between the warm side and the cool side than you want, unless the room temperature is relatively high - in which case, you probably don't need both heat sources.
4. Large RHP dead center, UTH makes hot spot somewhere. This is basically a lot like case number 1. Keeping the RHP centered is probably the most efficient with regard to losing as little heat as possible to the room outside the cage.

If you're only expecting the RHP to give you the ambient temperature you want, not the gradient, you can't "overwhelm" the cage with a large one, assuming it's on a thermostat. If it's bigger, that just means it will run at a lower temperature but spread out over a larger area for the same total heat output. That sounds like a win-win to me, especially if the snake has branches/perches that it uses.


I can think of several reasons not to use an RHP under the whole setup. One: it's not as flat/ thin as a UTH, so you'd have to set it up on something. Two: You'd lose more heat to the room with it on the outside of the cage than on the inside. Three: It can run safely at higher temperatures on the ceiling than on the floor because snakes can't sit on the ceiling. You couldn't run a RHP under the tank at any higher power than a UTH of the same size, for the same reason you have to limit UTH's with thermostats/rheostats: floor can get too hot otherwise and snake gets burned. So it would basically be a really big bulky expensive UTH.

For what it's worth, I built my cage so that the RHP sits under a shelf/platform inside the cage instead of on the actual ceiling. This setup loses less heat through the top than just sitting it on the ceiling, and it makes an additional hot spot/warm zone on the shelf above the RHP. BUT: there is also a fair amount of insulation between the RHP and the surface of that shelf. At the power level required to heat the cage in the winter, the surface of that shelf would get way too hot without it. With the insulation though, the shelf is generally in the mid-80's. There is a plant and a couple of hides up there, and my snake actually spends more time up there than he does on his slightly warmer floor-level hot spot.

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Thats a great reply. Thank you for taking the time to write that all up 👍🏼.
Im going to see if you have any pics in a profile album because your set up sounds awesome.
I ordered a Herpstat 2 today, I already use the Accurite thermometer, I also ordered the P12 Pro Panel and Im on a 4-6 week wait for Animal Plastics T8 or T10 (I have a few weeks to decide before they can even get to my order.
With all thats said once I change to the AP enclosure I'll mount the RHP on the cool side, keep my UTH on the Basking side with both ends providing a Cave and the Water in the middle.
The thing that concerns me is the time they spend climbing at the top of the branches. They climb all night from 7:45pm till about 5am. With that said maybe the T10 would allow me to have the Panel a couple inches higher so they arent right up at it? I worry about them getting burned as my Burmese would knock the house lamp over and lay on it without a second thought!

Thank you! I'll toy with it in the empty cage and see how it goes, and I can try some cardboard (cutting out around the vents, that's why only the top has blankets on it right now) along the sides and such to see if that might help. I'll put some on the bottom, too, since I won't have to worry about the UTH. Switching between RHP for winter and UTH for spring wouldn't bother me, it was heating a whole room that was starting to get pretty costly. ;o; As long as a 120 watt won't mess up the gradient by making it produce the hotspot, I'll go with that to ensure Cinnamon Roll's cage is nice and warm.

I talked with Bob at Pro Heat and I understood what his logic was with the probe being on the cool side. The snake will regulate itself from the hot side to the cool side as needed. But what shocked me more was when he asked what thermostat I was using, told him a Herpstat 2. He said that he does not recommend those because they are not UL listed, and that the best on market is the Hydrofarm thermostat. Seems strange.......

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stearns84

I talked with Bob at Pro Heat and I understood what his logic was with the probe being on the cool side. The snake will regulate itself from the hot side to the cool side as needed. But what shocked me more was when he asked what thermostat I was using, told him a Herpstat 2. He said that he does not recommend those because they are not UL listed, and that the best on market is the Hydrofarm thermostat. Seems strange.......

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Yeah - he said something similar to me about not spending a lot of money on Herpstat and just go with the $35 stats on Amazon. I still ordered the Herpstat after reading about them and members input here.

I've found Bob is BIG on UL, ULC, & CE listed products. He has a valid point in that every electric appliance, tool, etc. in your house should have that listing but the idea of a $35 stat without the safeguards that defaults to full on vs the Herpstat that shuts down just doesn't make sense to me.

But to each his own.

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Originally Posted by AlbinoBull

Thank you! I'll toy with it in the empty cage and see how it goes, and I can try some cardboard (cutting out around the vents, that's why only the top has blankets on it right now) along the sides and such to see if that might help. I'll put some on the bottom, too, since I won't have to worry about the UTH. Switching between RHP for winter and UTH for spring wouldn't bother me, it was heating a whole room that was starting to get pretty costly. ;o; As long as a 120 watt won't mess up the gradient by making it produce the hotspot, I'll go with that to ensure Cinnamon Roll's cage is nice and warm.

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Got my Pro Panel 88 watt P-12 on friday. It Raised my 48" long Aquirum (we all know how hard they are to keep warm) to 92 after 2 hours... I was seeing what it was good for so then raises it to 100 and it kept climbing more every few min. I have Plexy over 1/2 the screen. I decided the Test went on for long enough and IM ecstatic waiting for my T8 to come now. Make a long story short, you cant go wrong with these Pro Panels. Im also running the Herstat 2 and a Acurite... Its the bomb. I love the Alarms I can set for H/L Alerts.
If your debating and you go for the Gold you'll be like a kid in the candy store when you set it up!!!
Hope to hear back and see everything when you got things set up.

I have T8s with RHPs from Reptile Basics. Animal Plastics and Reptile Basics are both awesome companies to do business with, as an aside :)

My house sits about 67 degrees year round and the setup does a fantastic job at keeping enclosures with proper temps. I have them on Herpstats. Very happy with all.

My room is 60-65, divided T8 with rhp each side in the middle for hot spot, probe on cool side set to 80 and temps are perfect