What kind of thermostats do you guys use?

[Samuel]

Helix. Love it.

[PythonWallace]

Herpstats all the way.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Herpstat ND the adult BP

Herpstat for the hatchlings

Ranco for the colubrid rack and to control the oil filled heater.

[Somed00d]

Herpstat PRO, Ranco, Herpstat..

[dacalio]

I have used Rancos, helixes, and herpstats on a variety of racks (boaphile, vision, and ARS). One thermostat can control as many heating devices without going over the max watts rated for each thermostat. For example, one thermostat can control three vision racks heated with three fifty foot heat cables. Or one thermostat can control 10 flexwatt heat panels for one thirty tub ARS rack. I think each heating device must be of equivalent wattage in order for the heating to be consistent. Make sure the probe is somewhere in the middle of the racks.

Herpstat is by far my favorite due to the built in night drop feature.

David

[JD Constriction]

I have and have used herpstat, ranco, helix, big apple herp thermostat, dimmer/rheostat and BAH-1000 on/off.

I definitely like the herpstats the best as far as proportional thermostats go.

I like the ranco but have heard good things about johnsons as well.

I'd personally advise staying away from BAH-1000, 500R, or any other entry level on/off thermostat. For me they have not held up very well over time (2-3 year lifespan) and sometimes fail in the ON position (as most any thermostat can do).

On a budget I would suggest using a dimmer/rheostat set to a couple degrees hotter than your desired temp and then adding a ranco or johnson on/off at your desired temp using low wattage flexwatt (3 inch 6watt is great stuff). It gives you redundancy for failures and also is a great value.

In a perfect world I'd suggest picking up a herpstat ND or pro and a ranco or johnson as a backup.

As for heattape you can use the same size for all racks and tubsizes assuming you don't go over the max wattage for thermostat/rheostat. I would just suggest using multiple rows of the flexwatt for the larger tubs.

Hope that helps

[Shadera]

I use Helix here, no problems at all with any of them.

[Samuel]

Helix. Love it.

I spoke too soon. Fuse blew tonight.

Here is the sucky part. It blew at 9:03 ... Radio Shack and ACE Hardware both close at 9:00. Wal-Mart doesn't have it.

Can God hate me more? I am using a fuse in it that it was not built to use .. but it will have to do until morning.

[starmom]

I use Helix's and Herpstat 2's.
I like the Herpstat better because of the alarms that it has that alert me to too low or too high temps I also like the H2 because it allows me to control two different heat sources.

[glkherp]

On the topic of fuses, all the Herpstat models except the original come with resetable fuses. If you do blow one all you have to do is unplug the device for a few minutes let it cool down and plug it back in. I also think you can special request a resetable fuse to be put in the original Herpstat but it lowers the output rating from 500 Watts to 400 Watts.

George