heating snake room with electric and or space heaters

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Hi Deborah,

Am I understanding this correctly - I purchase the Honeywell Oil Filled Heater with the "temperature set" feature so I could regulate how high it took my room temp - but are you saying I shouldn't trust this.

Am I supposed to hook this oil filled heater up to a Helix Thermostat too??

Please explain - thanks

I don't trust them I had two (different brands) going bad in the past 5 years which is why I am not taking the risk anymore if it was to overheat while gone it could be a disaster. Walking in a 120 degree snake room was scary enough.

Having them on an external thermostat is the best way to go however for this application you need a non proportional t-stat such ranco or johnson and preferably grounded.

[Severa]

Quick question Deborah, say I am away and we have a short power outage but the power comes back on moments later....does that Ranco power back up on the previously set temps? Or does it go back to some default temp like 85 degrees?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Quick question Deborah, say I am away and we have a short power outage but the power comes back on moments later....does that Ranco power back up on the previously set temps? Or does it go back to some default temp like 85 degrees?

Whatever temp you had set it on is what it will come back on after a power outage.

[Simplex]

So, just to clarify, you set the temp on the oil heater to its highest but have it plugged into a thermostat that is set to the temp you want your room. You mentioned that you just lay the probe on the floor - is it near the heater??

I ordered the Ranco but am nervous now worrying about my snake room because I have been relying on this little heater to keep my room temp up on these chillier days - I pray it doesn't malfunction before my Ranco gets here.

Yeh i have my probe just on the same shelf my herpstat sits on. My herpstat has the option to change it to on off mode.. From its standard mode where it actually adjusts the power out put.. Ive been meaning to play with the built in thermostat on my oil heater.. U may not have to set it to max. U might be able to use the built in as a fail safe back up thermostat. But those dials are hard. I constantly was adjustinf and re adjusting before i got my herpstat.

As another poster commented. The room should be well insulated.. I blocked off the air vents.. Installed a door sweep and got a window weather gaurd plastic to seal off drafts in the window.

[snake lab]

Dont trust the controls on an oil filled heater. Back it up with a helix or rbi sells a nice johnsons controls stat that works great. I have one that operates my walk in incubator and i have 2 for the snake lab. If you want to be in the breeding and housing game with multiple animals and want to do it right then NEVER cheap out on the important things like thermostats or heating. Proper ambient room temps are key to all things reptiles. The warmer your room, your rack heat doesnt have to cycle and work harder. Also if you keep your room around 80 to 82 when its time to night drop your breeders you dont have to worry.

[Vypyrz]

*IMPORTANT NOTE*

I use an oil filled heater and Ranco thermostat. The reason that I recommend Ranco or Johnson thermostats is this:
The Ranco and Johnson thermostats are designed for commercial heating and A/C applications so they have a 1500 Watt load handling capability. Most space heaters have 3 settings, and each setting draws different wattages. These are the approximate specs on my heater's settings. Low (300 Watts), Medium (600 Watts), High (750 Watts). Depending on the manufacturer and model number, these operating wattages will vary, so it is important that you find out these operating specifications for the heater that you want, and then select an appropriate external thermostat. I generally leave my heater set on Medium all year long, but I know that my thermostat can handle the additional wattage of the High setting, should I need it. Here is a photo of my heater and thermostat...

[gman8585]

Yes my ambient temps are dropping down I.to the 70's,my herpstat is running at 50% to keep a hot spot near 87 -90 degrees. I bought an electric heater and have been running it for a few hours to het the ambient temps up. But are winters in maine are unbelievable cold so Im afraid my room will get to cold. And my ambient temps are dropping with my house heat on allready.

[kitedemon]

Yes my ambient temps are dropping down I.to the 70's,my herpstat is running at 50% to keep a hot spot near 87 -90 degrees. I bought an electric heater and have been running it for a few hours to het the ambient temps up. But are winters in maine are unbelievable cold so Im afraid my room will get to cold. And my ambient temps are dropping with my house heat on allready.

I am in NS so I am with you. Oil heaters just as described are the simplest method. Especially if your house or whatever is reasonably well insulated. I don't use one anymore as my place is very poor that way... I second Vypyrz Ranco and Johnson T-stats are actually designed for very similar tasks and perform well like they were made for it...

There are alternatives to heating the room but they are complex and expensive to set up. I'd not recommend them unless your power bill goes through the roof then you might be interested at a later point.

[L.West]

In the summer months - my ambient temps stay at or around 80/81 degrees.

In the winter months with the furnace on and the oil filled heater in my snakeroom - I keep it steady at 77 degrees ambient temps - never had any problems with these temps.

My racks all maintain the proper temps of 89/90 hot side and 80/81 cool side with no problems all year long.

I sure hope I am doing this right but after almost 4 years - no illnesses (knock on wood).

[kitedemon]

In the summer months - my ambient temps stay at or around 80/81 degrees.

In the winter months with the furnace on and the oil filled heater in my snakeroom - I keep it steady at 77 degrees ambient temps - never had any problems with these temps.

My racks all maintain the proper temps of 89/90 hot side and 80/81 cool side with no problems all year long.

I sure hope I am doing this right but after almost 4 years - no illnesses (knock on wood).

Right and wrong ways don't really play into the situation it is more what works what does not work. Your way is working. The units have poor t-stats some have had them fail some have not. Some snake rooms (mine) when I used one I didn't need it anyway I ran it maxed out 24/7 to get 78ºF that is my situation.

A ranco or Johnson adds an extra bit of security. The question is not if you need it but what happens if your oil heater goes on and fails to turn off? How long before it is found and how hot does it get? No one can answer that for you. If you get a long time before it is noticed and really hot I'd suggest a better t-stat as you are placing the health and well being of your collection on a 30¢ part. If you say not long and not very hot it isn't so much a problem.