Question about this space heater

[jason221]

Another stupid question from me!

Even with a 75-watt infared heat lamp (approx. 4 inches away from the tub's cool side, cannot get any closer), my cool side still drops to about 76 ºF at night. If the room temperature gets below 78 or so, the cool side dips below its normal range of 81-82. This will start to be a problem in the next few weeks as it's nearing winter and the room temperature drops to 68 or lower, thus making an RI almost guaranteed to happen unless I do something about it. I know a simple solution would be to just get another UTH, but I don't want to go that route as I would have to get another thermostat, etc., and I'd need a bigger one when he was an adult (I'll be needing a bigger warm side UTH when he's bigger anyway), so a space heater seems like a logical way to go.

Okay, now the questions. I'm thinking about this one.
1) Can space heaters like that be left on 24/7?
2) How much would that cost electricity-wise?
3) Does the thermostat keep the room at the set temperature all the time (unless of course it gets hotter than the selected temperature), or is it just an approximate setting that will fluctuate some?
4) Is 80 okay to set the thermostat to? What is acceptable? I haven't really experimented if the tub keeps the cool side any warmer than the ambient room temperature, as I've been using the spare 75-watt bulb. I'm using a 27 qt. tub with 50 airholes; 16 on each long side, 9 on each short side. The UTH covers a small amount less than half of the tub.

Thanks a bunch in advance. It's very helpful.

[hoo-t]

I just put a space heater in my snake room. It has a digital thermostat built in. What I have noticed is that the temp reading on the heater starts climbing as soon as the heater shuts off, and climbs to well above 90 degrees before it starts its slow descent to room temp, which has been dropping since the heater shut off. I've decided what I need is an external on/off thermostat to control the space heater. As to the setting of the heater, I have mine set at 80 degrees, which is slightly cooler than the room gets during the day. My goal is to have the heater take over when the lights go out in the evening. No idea on the elect cost.

Steve

[TekWarren]

Just want to reiterate what hoo-t said. DO NOT rely on just the built in stat on these cheap heaters. You NEED an actual t-stat to control it. I've had good luck with mine over the years as far as maintaining room temps.

[jason221]

Sorry I'm a little late here...

You say that 80 degrees is slightly cooler than room temperature? How does that work out? Wouldn't you only need the heater if the room got too cold?

I hear you about the thermostat.

Does anyone else have anything to say?

[hoo-t]

Sorry I'm a little late here...

You say that 80 degrees is slightly cooler than room temperature? How does that work out? Wouldn't you only need the heater if the room got too cold?
...

I try to keep my snake room at about 82 degrees. So... in my case below 80 degrees IS too cold!!!



Steve

[PipeDADDY]

I would be slightly concerned about most space heaters and proportional thermostats. don't these type of thermostats control the amount of electricity being sent to the heater? Some of these heaters have fans and oscilators, etc. Might this be unsafe to artifically reduce the amount of electricity being sent to these devices. Now if there was a standard ON/OFF or HI/OFF space heater, then perhaps a thermostat (especially the non proportional ones) may work great. Thoughts?

[hoo-t]

I would be slightly concerned about most space heaters and proportional thermostats. don't these type of thermostats control the amount of electricity being sent to the heater? Some of these heaters have fans and oscilators, etc. Might this be unsafe to artifically reduce the amount of electricity being sent to these devices. Now if there was a standard ON/OFF or HI/OFF space heater, then perhaps a thermostat (especially the non proportional ones) may work great. Thoughts?

I agree completely! That's why in my post I specified on/off thermostat. As far as the heater itself is concerned, if its being controlled by an external thermostat, you can just set it to its highest setting. With mine having an internal thermostat, I'd probably set it to say 85 - 90 degrees to insure that the room doesn't overheat if the external thermostat failed.

Steve

[kavmon]

it's hard to beat an oil-filled heater on a ranco stat!




vaughn

[TekWarren]

I've been using an on/off tstat with an electric space heater for a few years now with no issues at all.

[jason221]

Alright. I'll try to get it all setup as soon as I can.