Dimmer, has anyone?

[PitOnTheProwl]

I was bored yesterday and roaming around one of my locale HomeDepots. Well I stumbled over a box of these........
http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical-...atalogId=10053
Have any of ya'll seen these and/or tried one?
I am thinking about getting one to try out because we are setting up another tank (just to have up and running) that wont have anything in it for a month or two.

[thedarkwolf25]

Hmm I think they would do the job, all they would do is raise/lower the voltage going to the device so the should work. Good idea!

[ballpythonluvr]

I have used a similar one at one time when I had a spare tub set up and you have to constantly adjust it, that is the only down side.

[jason_ladouceur]

I use a similar dimmer at home that I got from IKEA. I works fine but if the room the cage is in doesn’t have a ambient temperature the dimmer won't adjust the temps like a thermostat will.

[El_Dorado]

I have both my tank and tub set up to a dimmer similar to that one pictured. The room they are in stays pretty constant temperature wise, so I do not have to do too much adjusting. Usually, I check in the morning and evening and adjust then. When I first bought them and wanted to make sure the mats would never spike about 95 degrees, I waited until the warmest part of the day, checked the temp and adjusted from there. So now I know that I am in the ball park, so there is not too much to worry about.

A very affordable solution to not having a thermostat.

[drifter0069]

i just bought the same dimmer 2 days ago. i am using them on my heat lights. works great for regulating the temp. but i am switching heat sources to oth. will let you know how it works with that.

[robeyeshua]

i have been using a similar one from lowes in 3 different tanks for months monitored by good digital thermometers and proven - shot daily with a high end infrared laser temp gun - they work excellent - i can not tell you when i have adusted any of the three - for sure i can tell you that i have not touched them in over a month and the temp at the pad stays within 1 degree 24/7 - on the other side of my room i have 4 20 watt heat mats plugged into big apples bah 1000 and i see temp swings 5 degrees as the mats cut off and on - i know proportional is the best way to go but not everyone can afford them - looking back - except for the convenience of being able to run multiple pads off one controller and except for the cords everywhere - i would use dimmers on every tank

[MitsuMike]

I used them, they suck. If you want to check the enclosure 2-3 times a day and get pissed off on a daily basis then give it a try. On top of all that your husbandry will most likely suffer. I sucked it up and got a 500R for misc use and am using the dimmer on my Beardie's basking lamp.

Suggestion: Use on a lighting source only

[snakesRkewl]

Suggestion: Use on a lighting source only

I tried using one on a fan for my incubator, same unit, it SUCKS
Move it a tiny bit and it goes full speed, move it back down a tiny bit it goes off.
Garbage...

[MikeV]

yeah I used a dimmer for my corn snake and it had to be CONSTANTLY adjusted (this was before I started putting my room at 80F, before that I was using a heat lamp above his tub). If the room temp fluctuated like 2 degrees you would have to adjust it

other than that they are good if you are using one until a thermostat comes in or something