Quote Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant View Post
But why not just get a thermostat and keep the UTH at a safe temperature? they really aren't that expensive... say the average BP lives 20 years... Say you get a good thermostat... the herpstat 1 (retails for $139.00) that means that over the life of the snake, does $139 really matter? that is $6.95 a year.

And a proportional thermostat will increase the lifespan of a UTH. UTH's are basically giant resistors. The number 1 cause of premature failure of resistors is overheating... just like almost every other electrical component.
Nothing lasts forever. A pad will eventually wear out. No guarantee that regulating voltage will make the pad last longer.

And many people in the industry would have a big problem paying $140 to regulate a $20-30 pad. Personally I like heat regulated rooms, decent sized cages and hot spots created from above whenever possible. I'm looking at a new heating system for my room that will heat or cool as necessary. I'm spending a mere $900 on the setup which will create my ambient cage temps. People need to invest or take risks as they deem fit.