Good thermostat

i know everyone says go for the herpstat but to expensive for me(im only 16). I am though looking for a way to conrtol my temps.. do you know if this thermostat is any good.

ESU 1000 Watt 3 Outlet Electronic Thermostat

http://www.reptiletubs.com/Esu.jpg

....no good....for many reasons.......one reason being that...it does not have a digital temp control...so you have to buy another thermometer and try to get it set at the right temps......

Check out the thermostats here: http://www.mgreptiles.com/thermomain.html

Good for a cockroach colony ... not reptiles. ;)

-adam

Not to play devil's advocate, but we use Alife thermostats (nearly identical to that ESU model) and have had great success with them as we regularly check belly temps with a temp gun in both the cool and warm hides as well as regular spots in the rest of the enclosure - the temps are always spot on.

We want to move up to Herpstat/Helix level therms when we eventually need to move the girls into larger cages, but the Alifes have been good to us so far.

I actually used that same tstat for my first clutch of eggs (dont ask why). Worked perfectly but in my opinion only because I was heating a large amount of water with an aquarium heater. It kept the temp at 88-90. That said, I wouldn't do it again...

well i have a digital thermometer on the snakes level.. woudl that matter

I think the biggest concern is not a slight temp swing but the fact that they are fairly cheaply made and could malfunction or stick in the on position causing burns to your snake. I would recommend a quality proportional tstat like a Herpstat or Helix or at the least, a quality on/off type like a Ranco or Johnson Controls. The difference is, a proportional adjusts the power to the UTH allowing for a more consistent temperature while the on/off type shuts the power to the UTH off when it gets to the correct temp. The proportionals are more expensive but better.

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

....no good....for many reasons.......one reason being that...it does not have a digital temp control...so you have to buy another thermometer and try to get it set at the right temps......

Check out the thermostats here: http://www.mgreptiles.com/thermomain.html

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Don't we usually have a separate digital thermometer in our cages anyhow? I know I do. Works for a single cage, anyhow. That being said, I have a Johnson's digital T-stat, and not the one pictured above.

For me, reliability is more important than price. I'm not thinking "Well, if this T-stat fails, I'm only out $30...." I'm thinking "If this T-stat fails, I could kill my priceless (to me!) snake!"

And on a totally different note, I am going to edit the original post and change that picture to a link because it is against our Forum Rules to post pics directly from other people's websites. (It leaches their bandwidth every time someone clicks on our threads.)

Will a herpstat regulate 5 UTH pad's ? 3 of them are the same size and the other 2 aren't . Would this be able to work till I get flex watt?

is ranco anygood

By different size do you mean different length or different width? Its dependent on their wattage. Yes it could easily handle 5 UTHs but there is going to be a temp difference if they are not the same wattage.

I have three medium Pad's , one large pad and one small pad.

You need a seperate thermostat for each heating element (unless you it has dual features like the Herpstat 2 which can control two heating elements)

i jsut wanna be able to control the lamp... so it doesnt get to hot

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

You need a seperate thermostat for each heating element (unless you it has dual features like the Herpstat 2 which can control two heating elements)

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From what I understand, it's not the number of elements but the wattage that matters. Many thermostats come with multi-plugs to plug in different heat sources. The Herpstat 2 is essentially two thermostats and you can plug in multiple heat sources in each one as long as you don't go over the rated wattage.

However, 5 UTHs is a lot and would probably go over the rated wattage for Helix and Herpstat, although a Ranco or Johnson could probably handle the load.

I think the problem here is that he has 2 DIFFERENT kinds of heating elements. You can't mix and match wattage otherwise you won't get a consistent temp. As long as you dont exceed the max of the unit you can put as many elements as you want. I have 10 on one unit without issue. 3" is 10 watts per foot, 4" is 8 watts per foot and 11" is 20 watts per foot I believe.

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Originally Posted by jglass38

I think the problem here is that he has 2 DIFFERENT kinds of heating elements. You can't mix and match wattage otherwise you won't get a consistent temp. As long as you dont exceed the max of the unit you can put as many elements as you want. I have 10 on one unit without issue. 3" is 10 watts per foot, 4" is 8 watts per foot and 11" is 20 watts per foot I believe.

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That is what I ment.....ha ha...i guess I need to be more descriptive next time.

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

You need a seperate thermostat for each heating element of different size and/or wattage (unless you it has dual features like the Herpstat 2 which can control two heating elements)

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hehe..Its ok with me..I understood but I just wanted to clarify...I'm lucky if I can ever get a full thought out and have it be coherent. :)

i just need a thermostat to keep my cermaic light down will that one do