Use a Rheostat & a Thermostat!

[JobForARetic]

Hello guys,
Just wanted to share that I have recently hooked up all my heat sources to a Rheostat as well.



What this does is it safeguards your animals against catastrophic failure in the on position, for example, the heating element you are using may be very powerful, such as a UTH. The UTH could likely still provide your snake with enough heat at somewhere around 40% of it's power while hooked up to a Rheostat, that way if the thermostat fails in the "on" position, then UTH will only use 40% of it's power, and it likely won't kill your snake.


Thank You!

[KMG]

What Tstats are you using?

Have you seen them have to work harder because of the added dimmer?

[JobForARetic]

What Tstats are you using?

Have you seen them have to work harder because of the added dimmer?

InkBird WiFi. My thermostat is an on/off thermostat. I honestly believe that it is making my thermostat work less hard because it doesn't have to turn on and off as often.

[KMG]

I see. I have Herpstats and most are running in a proportional mode for RHP and UTH. In my situation I do not believe a dimmer would be a good thing to add and think it important you say more about what you are actually doing before someone blindly follows it.

I have had my Herstats for years. I haven't looked into the Inkbird or even seen a tstat with wifi. Everything has wifi now. A humidifier I got for my snake room does. Crazy times.

I do use two dimmers but they are on a bulb using a timer and more for looks than heat.

[Hugsplox]

I see. I have Herpstats and most are running in a proportional mode for RHP and UTH. In my situation I do not believe a dimmer would be a good thing to add and think it important you say more about what you are actually doing before someone blindly follows it.

I have had my Herstats for years. I haven't looked into the Inkbird or even seen a tstat with wifi. Everything has wifi now. A humidifier I got for my snake room does. Crazy times.

I do use two dimmers but they are on a bulb using a timer and more for looks than heat.

Yea you wouldn't need a dimmer for a herpstat because a herpstat fails in the off position vs a cheaper thermostat like a inkbird which would fail in the on position. This seems like OP is using extra equipment to prevent a problem that better equipment would prevent.

[KMG]

Yea you wouldn't need a dimmer for a herpstat because a herpstat fails in the off position vs a cheaper thermostat like a inkbird which would fail in the on position. This seems like OP is using extra equipment to prevent a problem that better equipment would prevent.

That is what I suspected but wanted to be sure, and make it more clear for others.

I certainly think the better equipment is worth the price. I have I think four and have never had an issue with them. Some I bought used and are over 10 years old.

The only time I bought one of the el cheapo when I was in a pinch for time it failed....ON! I will neve do that again.

[Luvyna]

I think it's helpful to have ideas for how to make cheaper thermostats without safety features safer since some people aren't in a position where they can immediately buy an expensive Herpstat or VE. I've also heard of people hooking up two thermostats to each other so that if one fails ON the other one will still cut off power.

However I agree that a better thermostat that has alarms and safety against failing ON is the best investment in the long term. I would recommend to anyone to buy a good Herpstat or VE with safety relays as soon as possible. They last decades and will never let you down.

It only takes one thermostat failure to lose or seriously injure your snake and it's just not worth it to put your pet or yourself through that kind of suffering. Plus the vet and medication bills from one burn could probably pay for several good thermostats!

[JobForARetic]

Funny how everyone jumps to conclusions and makes me out to be a dirtbag trying to save a couple bucks who has no regard for the safety of my animals.

I personally switched over from herpstats to inkbird-wifi stats.
I can monitor and adjust my temps from anywhere, an alarm on my phone goes off if my internet or power go out for greater than 30 minutes, I also get an alarm if the temperatures go too high or too low.

While it doesn't happen often, Herpstats have the ability to fail in the on position as well, one of mine did and I'm certainly not the only one.

[JobForARetic]

Yea you wouldn't need a dimmer for a herpstat because a herpstat fails in the off position vs a cheaper thermostat like a inkbird which would fail in the on position. This seems like OP is using extra equipment to prevent a problem that better equipment would prevent.

What exactly is your experience with the inkbird wifi stat? how many have you owned?


No thermostat should be ran without a redundancy in place.

[JobForARetic]

I think it's helpful to have ideas for how to make cheaper thermostats without safety features safer since some people aren't in a position where they can immediately buy an expensive Herpstat or VE. I've also heard of people hooking up two thermostats to each other so that if one fails ON the other one will still cut off power.

However I agree that a better thermostat that has alarms and safety against failing ON is the best investment in the long term. I would recommend to anyone to buy a good Herpstat or VE with safety relays as soon as possible. They last decades and will never let you down.

It only takes one thermostat failure to lose or seriously injure your snake and it's just not worth it to put your pet or yourself through that kind of suffering. Plus the vet and medication bills from one burn could probably pay for several good thermostats!

The inkbird wifi has more safety features than standard herpstats. I have owned multiples of both.
What good is the herpstats alarm if it doesn't even send the alarm to my phone? What if I am not home when the herpstats alarm goes off?

It's extremely misleading how you claim that herpstats and VE's will "never let you down" they let multiple people down every year, especially the VE's.

How many inkbird wifi thermostats have you owned?

Hooking the heating element up to a rheostat & thermostat will cause the heating element to only reach a fraction of its un-regulated output if the thermostat fails in the on position.

I do however agree with your point about using two thermostats.