I'm just waiting for a Habistat Mat Thermostat to be delivered. Have currently got heat mat on a light dimmer plug as last stat broke but although this works I wouldn't reccommend using a dimmer as it means you have to manually adjust it if room temp fluctuates to stop the mat heating up or cooling down ... Also, the Mat Stat is a much safer way of doing it. Once you get the Mat Stat you will still need to monitor the temps to get the setting right tpo get teh right temp gradient. The mat won't provide ambient heat - it will just provide a belly heat basking spot for your snake so you may still need to use the CHE too - do you have that on a stat at the moment?