Thermostat question

[mshadows]

Ok my friend had this custom setup which I purchased. He had the probe secured on the back wall 1" off the bedding. It's not directly under the RHP. But he has tons of snakes & said that's the best way. So my temp gun reads 90-94 right under the RHP but he says it's fine. Can you confirm this?


Kevin

i have the same heat panel and hide ... i placed mine through the back wall half way up the height of the hide set tstat at 92 ( thnxs serp merch ) i had an another probe thermometer to test temp inside the hide and the temps were identicle ...whats the distance from panel to floor ???

[NormalBallPythons]

The temp in the hide is ok. It's the temp around the outside of the hide. The bedding is warmer. So you have your thermostat on the back wall too? The RHP is about 1" of the back wall. The tank is 2' high.


Kevin

[NormalBallPythons]

So turn down my thermostat then correct? Like its at 85 now. Temp. Gun says 90-94. So make the thermostat 80 & check?


Kevin

[The Serpent Merchant]

I would try 83

[mshadows]

The temp in the hide is ok. It's the temp around the outside of the hide. The bedding is warmer. So you have your thermostat on the back wall too? The RHP is about 1" of the back wall. The tank is 2' high.


Kevin

yeah mine is on the back was through a drilled hole ....im surprised you're getting temps that high , mine is 18" high and i shimmed my panel down 2" to get better overall temps ...

[mshadows]

yeah mine is on the back was through a drilled hole ....im surprised you're getting temps that high , mine is 18" high and i shimmed my panel down 2" to get better overall temps ...

oh and I spent a couple of weeks monitoring temps and humidity from all areas of the enclosure before moving in shadows in .....

[NormalBallPythons]

Ok I picked up new digital thermometers tonight. Comes to find out my temp gun isn't correct. It's saying 94. The new digital thermometer says 87.8. That's with my thermostat set at 85. I put it at 88 which should put temp at 90.8


Kevin

[Robyn@SYR]

Digital thermoneters and temp guns usually have the same amount of error (+/- 2 degrees) a digital thermometer has the advantage of always being there which makes it easier to moniter, but a temp gun will tell you the same thing.

Tangent alert- It is actually not the same thing. A temp gun measures SURFACE temperatures. A digital thermo with probe measures AIR temperatures. They can be drastically different, depending on the setup/application.

This is especially critical and important when you are seeking a measurement at a spot directly affected by a device providing heat or cooling- outside an AC vent, directly above a heat pad, directly under a light.

A surface may be 120F, measured with a temp gun. A probe just 1/8" away from the surface, not quite touching, may read that "same spot" as 92F. And both are accurate- the surface is significantly hotter than the air.

Folks try and get the probe as close to the surface or spot as possible, but that is not going to give you as accurate a reading as actually taking the surface temperature.

Digital thermos with probes are great for reading ambient temps, air temps, but a temp gun is def the proper tool for measuring surface temps- hot spots, cold spots, substrate temps, etc.

This is a subtle but important distinction.

[NormalBallPythons]

Or so the readings the thermometers are:
Hot side under RHP: 87.7
Cool side: 77.0

Thermostat set at 86.

Temp gun: 96.4





Kevin

[NormalBallPythons]

The picture above shows my setup. Temp gun says 96.4 on the hot spot. Thermometer says 87.
So I lowered my tstat to 83. It was set at 87 when the temp gun read 96.