Quote Originally Posted by KatStoverReptiles View Post
You can use a dimmer, but if you have big temperature swings in your room, you're going to have to adjust it. It puts out...say...50% power regardless if what the room temperature is (assuming you have it set to 50%...). I would still use a thermometer in conjunction with it. A thermostat really is the best way to go...but I've used them successfully in the past. Hydrofarm (http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR.../dp/B000NZZG3S) makes a relatively inexpensive one that works well. I've also used one from ZooMed (http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-HygroT.../dp/B0019IHK9Q) with success.
I'm not saying either/or. I've got a thermostat coming, but I don't see how I could run my UTHs and CHEs off of just one. Also, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me to put the UTHs on a thermostat since they're there to provide a hot spot that's pretty much direct heat and shouldn't be affected by changes in room temperature that much. The way I see it, if I use a thermostat to regulate my CHEs to keep the tank at a constant 90ish hot side then keeping the UTHs set with a dimmer at a decent 98 degrees everything should stay pretty regular. Am I missing something big here?