PVC, RHP, general setup advice

[WhompingWillow]

I have 80 watt VE RHPs from Reptile Basics in all 3 of my PVC cages, running on a Herpstat. We haven't had any issues. I like that they have a solid surface for cleaning purposes. They relatively recently went through a design change with a different style of plug. I like the new style better. If you were able to purchase ProProducts RHPs online I probably would order one from them to compare, but I don't have any complaints about the ones from VE.

I personally don't use belly heat in our PVC, just the RHP. Haven't had any issues maintaining ambient or a hot spot, but our reptile room's temps are anywhere from 75-80 degrees. If you have cooler ambient temps or get a taller PVC cage (ours are all 15"), then belly heat would probably be nice too.