2 UTHs?

[shotty]

Hi again!
I live in the UK, and at the moment temps are fairly warm so the cool side of my tank remains at around 80F. The warm side is heated by a UTH that runs on a reliable thermostat and keeps temps around 92F. The weather here is worsening however and the cool side is now in the high 70'sF, and will probably continue to drop as winter approaches. I'm considering buying another smaller UTH for the cool side and running it through another thermostat to keep temps at around 80F. Is this a good idea to use 2 UTHs? I dont want the temps to ever drop below 75F (as i here this is considered unhealthy) so with two thermostats I could control both sides of the tank seperatly. Anybody else use heaters on the warm and on the cool side?
Any help or alternative suggestions are appreciated.
Cheers!

[sweety314]

You can run whatever U need to do, as long as your temps stay w/in the right ranges. I've had two UTHs, a UTH and a CHE, a small UTH & heatlamp on one side and the CHE on the other, or a VERY warm bedroom and only UTHs on the tubs and tanks.....all sorts of different combinations to try and get the two temp ranges correct.


Just remember (and I learned this one the hard way of personal experience) no matter what HEAT source, you're going to need either a dimmer (that need frequent monitoring and adjusting as temps fluctuate) or a thermostat to help prevent overheating / burns.

*!!!! You shouldn't have temps dropping below 80*(F)... You're pushing your luck as to preventing an RI.

[Naf Eeknay]

Hi again!
I live in the UK, and at the moment temps are fairly warm so the cool side of my tank remains at around 80F. The warm side is heated by a UTH that runs on a reliable thermostat and keeps temps around 92F. The weather here is worsening however and the cool side is now in the high 70'sF, and will probably continue to drop as winter approaches. I'm considering buying another smaller UTH for the cool side and running it through another thermostat to keep temps at around 80F. Is this a good idea to use 2 UTHs? I dont want the temps to ever drop below 75F (as i here this is considered unhealthy) so with two thermostats I could control both sides of the tank seperatly. Anybody else use heaters on the warm and on the cool side?
Any help or alternative suggestions are appreciated.
Cheers!

I live in Wisonsin where it gets RRRREEEAAALLLYYY cold. I have 2 UTHs on my tanks with a temp control on one (hot side) and a dimmer on the cool (just to keep it warm enough). I also have a heat lamp over the top of each tank but those probably won't kick on until sometime in January!!

Peace

[sweety314]

Ahhhhhhhh, Wisconsin....Where the barns are designed to be homes for the cows all winter long....otherwise you'd be trying to milk ICE CREAM! from a cowcicle.....IF you could find the cow in the snowdrifts! *snort*



Beautiful animals and country, but Eastern Oregon was cold enough for me at -10* (or so), thank you very much!

[frankykeno]

You could also look at raising the ambient temps in the room the snake is in either with your own home's heating system or with a supplimentary heating source like a good safe space heater. We have some in the states that are oil filled with the oil being heated electrically. If you choose this option make sure you do buy one with the tip over shutoff function for safety reasons and a good on/off thermostat on it so it doesn't continue run once it reaches the temps you want. We have one in our snake room and it works very well in the cooler months to keep the room at a steady temp (an old Acu-Rite is on the wall so we can watch the room temps and humidity and adjust accordingly).

Here's a link to Lakewood who supplies these types of space heaters. Also a picture of a similar one that is retailed by Home Depot (just to give you some idea of what I'm going on about LOL). Locally I can find these for around $40-$50

http://www.lakewoodeng.com/html/list_oilfilled.html

[sidhe]

I had to resort to two UTH's also. One on a t-stat and the other on a dimmer (that I monitor constantly) It was pretty hard to keep the humidity down low enough though. Mine kept reaching 65%. I eventually switched to a smaller water dish and will use my bigger one for shedding times. Now my humidity is at 54-56%. ( I did have tons of air-holes in the tub too ) Just play with the set-up and find out what works for you. I had to tweek mine 20 times or so. I'm from Michigan so, I know what you mean about cold. (Naf Eeknay)

[Naf Eeknay]

Ahhhhhhhh, Wisconsin....Where the barns are designed to be homes for the cows all winter long....otherwise you'd be trying to milk ICE CREAM! from a cowcicle.....IF you could find the cow in the snowdrifts! *snort*



Beautiful animals and country, but Eastern Oregon was cold enough for me at -10* (or so), thank you very much!

HEHE>>> you ever try to dig cows out of snow? Actually.. I live in Milwaukee... I have no ideas about cows in the snow!!



Peace!!

[shotty]

Cheers for all the help guys! I've gone ahead and bought another thermostat and smaller heat mat. I'll run the warm side through the pulse proportional thermostat and the cold side through the simple on/off switching thermostat, I'm sure this should keep temps pretty constant! I considered a dimmer but not being home all the time to constantly adjust it encouraged me to spend a bit more and invest in another thermostat (not much more thanks to ebay!!). Perfect temps in a few days hopefully!!
Thanks again!