Numerous lines of defense for temperature control.

[Oxylepy]

So, I've noticed a lot of people saying they have different ways to control their temperatures, all running at the same time. How? Normally I simply leave everything to my herpstat, but lets say I want more protection than that because I am working with tens of lives/thousands of dollars worth of snakes (I value both, the former more than the latter, but put both for the purpose of gravity) and don't want them to be at risk.

So, for those of use using multiple sources of heat control for the same setup, how are you managing it?

[JodanOrNoDan]

If you are serious about redundancy you need to run two thermostats inline for every application in order to make sure you avoid a fail on situation or a slipped probe.

[Oxylepy]

Okay, I'm okay with that. However, I will be honest, I have no idea how to do that. It's an experience I lack and am not sure how to relate with experiences and knowledge I have. Can you explain the wiring in that?

[JodanOrNoDan]

No big deal. You power one thermostat from the other then offset the temps.

[ElliotNess]

Okay, I'm okay with that. However, I will be honest, I have no idea how to do that. It's an experience I lack and am not sure how to relate with experiences and knowledge I have. Can you explain the wiring in that?

Heat source plugged into "Thermostat #1" set to "92 degrees"
"Thermostat #1" plugged into "Thermostat #2" with "Thermostat #2" set to "95 degrees"
Both sensors on the same heat source....

That's it.. If #1 fails then #2 will shut off when it temps out...


That's redundant...

[Oxylepy]

So the coverage is on the temps going too high but not too low?

[ElliotNess]

Herpstat does both... not sure about other thermostats.

[Oxylepy]

No, I know, I am referring to the redundancy. It's designed to protect from too high of a temperature, not too low.

Now I would be using Herpstats for this.

The reason I ask is because it helps me establish the logic of the system, you are assuming the issue is too high of a temperature, not too low of a temperature as a means of creating redundancy in the system (assuming one fails)

Now depending on the wattages I am looking at, I could run all of that through a battery backup, which should prptect the system in the case of a power outage

[JodanOrNoDan]

My snake room is rigged for too low also. My radiator is on dual external thermostats set for the too high possibility. These guys are set to operate in the 84-86 degree range. I have another unit that is your typical blower ceramic type unit that cuts on at 82 for when the radiator cannot keep up. This only happened once this year. On top of that I have the house itself which cuts heat on at 75 and air at 88. It is quite a balancing act and will be even more so when I add the snake room independent ac.

I don't run battery backups since my units all have flash RAM and will keep their settings even if powered down. I do have surge protectors on everything.

I have made no attempt to resolve long term power outages. The temperature where I am at is usually not so bad that I could not get through a week or two with no power. I would end up loosing a few hundred dollars worth of rats in the freezer though.

[Oxylepy]

On my end up here in the northern states it can get cold, so a half day long power outage would be uncomfortable for the reptiles and it would take a couple days to have serious problems. However, depending on where I find myself living there are... issues with design for our power grid. Notably only the wealthier parts of the Pittsburgh suburban area have underground power, meaning most areas keep their power on the sidewalk popsickle sticks. There are a lot of higher elevations locally, meaning the power gets cut out during wind storms often.

Usually the problem is resolved in ten minutes to a couple hours, those are what the battery backup is meant for.