thermostat or rheostat? Help!

[NightLad]

Hi everybody,

I’ve learned about the rheostat one can use with their UTH, but what is this talk about a thermostat I read in posts every now and then? Do you use these separately or in conjunction with each other? Is one ‘better’ than the other? What exactly is the difference?

I have a glass tank and was going to get a rheostat to set the UTH at 90-95. The substrate will be semi-thick brown parcel-wrapping paper. I also have a 75W basking light for day use.

I want to make sure the temp is as even and secure as possible for my upcoming snake. Any advice is welcome!



I plan to cover the bottom of the tank with tinfoil ala Cueball's example of a good baby BP setup. I'll also be placing the UTH under the tank instead of sticking it directly to the bottom.

[Adam_Wysocki]

A rheostat is good as long as the temp around it stays constant ... if the room temp fluctuates, you'll have to adjust the rheostat to account for the temp changes. If your room temp changes throughout the day, this could be a pain in the ace.

A thermostat is automatic ... it adjusts your temp for you ... you just dial in the temp you want and walk away ... the thermostat does the work for you.

Hope this helps.

-adam

[Sparky1]

Just remember cool side and a warm side if you were to plug both devices into a thermostat and set it for say 92 that would keep both heating devices on until it reached that temp. That is were you may run into a problem, at that point you may no longer have a cool side at all! Before i moved my snakes to a rack i was using a setup just like the one that you plan to use, this is how i did it and it worked for me without many problems. I used a thermostat to control just my uth set at 92 so that got my warm side in the right range and would hold steady all day and night without me doing a thing. The problem was that my cool side was to cool, so instead of using a light bulb i used a ceramic heat emmiter, it creates the heat you need and no light so you can run it all day and night with no ill effects. I placed my CHE in a lamp housing that had a dimmer built in to the cord, at that point i just played with it until i got my temps were i needed them to be and then marked the dial in case it got moved i could easily reset it and not worry at all. Now having said this if the room temps change alot, your temps will change but mine did not drop enough at night to cause great concern for me since they always had a nice warm 92 deg. spot to head for. Maybe this will help, if not i am sure someone else will have much more to say. Just sharing.

[NightLad]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for these deeply informative replies. Adam and Sparky1, you guys rock! I’m going to be getting a thermostat for sure, as we have central air in the summer and temperatures can fluctuate a bit. Phew! I’m so glad I asked!

May I ask what brand and model might be best for a medium sized Zoo Med UTH? I notice that Helix seems to be a brand many people use, but I’m not sure which model would be right for my setup.

Thanks again very much!

[JLC]

Helix and Herpestat are two good proportional thermostats. This means that in order to control the temps, they regulate the amount of electricity flowing through the heating element so that it is constantly on and holding a steady temp. They tend to be more consistent and quieter than the other type...but also a little more expensive.

Johnson Controls and Ranco are on/off thermostats. They control the temps by shutting off the electricty completely, then turning it back on again as needed. This causes a clicking sound (totally harmless, but annoys some people) and by definition allows for some mild temperature fluctuations. They cost less than the proportional t-stats.

Both types and all four brands are very reliable and work just fine for the type of setup you are planning on.

[NightLad]

Thank you very much for the quick reply. God I love this place!

I think the Helix and Herpestat thermostats are the way I'll go. I don’t mind that they are a little more expensive, if it means my snake will enjoy a regular temperature suited to his comfort and needs.

Now a follow-up question regarding these models: how do their fair in a black-out? When the power comes back on do you have to reset them right away? Do they have a ‘default’ temperature they automatically switch to, or do they remain off?

I usually experience 1-10min ‘brown-outs’ in my area of the city a couple times a month, always in the early am.

[JLC]

I have both a Johnson and a Herpestat....and when I've unplugged them for whatever reason, I've never had to reset the settings. Same with the rare power outage...I've not yet seen one long enough to affect the settings.

They're both very much a "set it and forget it" appliance.

The only thing is to make sure the probe is secure so it can't get moved by the snake...and so that it's not located where a pocket of heat can build around it and cause the t-stat to think the matt is warmer than it actually is.

[NightLad]

Wicked! Thanks again. *bows*