Pros and Cons; Single line vs multiple line thermostats

[PsychD_Student]

I use multi's as they are convenient. One other thing to keep in mind is that typically 1 channel or multi channel still have the same total wattage. For example, mine the single and the dual are both only capable of the same 700 watts, meaning the dual will have to split that 700 watts.

Normally if powering just flewatt, this is not a big deal, but if trying to drive say a oil heater, forget multi channel as you will not even be able to use any additional channels.

Thats not actually entirely correct---with Herpstats at least. While using multiple channels does mean less wattage per channel, they don't actually split the same 700w (see link to Spyder Robotics below). The Herpstat 2 splits 900w (they say 500w each channel, but the math doesn't add up that way lol), and the Herpstat 4 splits 1600w, with each channel getting 400w. So while you use less wattage, you still don't have to split the lower 700w per channel.

Side note-- I plan on getting a couple oil heaters, one for the garage and one for the new snake room. I wonder how much wattage these will need. I plan on using my current herpstat 1 for the garage because nothing else will be there but the rats. However, I am thinking about using the multi-channel herpstat 4 to use in my snake room. I wonder if it will need more than the 400w each channel allows.

Also, if a fuse goes out in your herpstat, does that mean you only have to replace the single channel, or do multi-channel thermostats have multiple fuses?


Spyder Robotics Citation: http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html