Quote Originally Posted by nevohraalnavnoj View Post
Rheostats are more reliable than thermostats...at least in terms of safety. They are almost fail-proof, meaning they won't get stuck in the "on" position. The Barker's seem to prefer them in their book. Your ambient temps will affect the temp more though.

JonV
the reason the Barkers may prefer them is because they use ambient temps for the majority of their heating and that is controled by t stats. Most snake owners dont have climate controled snake rooms so rheostats could vary all over the place. I have use 5 t-stats (2 herpstat pros and 3 Rancos) and have never had a problem whatsoever. Now the cheaper pet store t-stats are horrific.

I would never use a rheostat myself and a Ranco is much cheaper than treating a sick BP.