My adopted BP and a few questions

[Kaorte]

Thanks, Home depot in the morning for me.

Any thoughts on if the very smallest UTH could bring my cold side from 75 on the glass to 80, since my ambient temp seems to be staying consistently good?

A UTH on a thermostat or dimmer could.

[FL_LeoGek]

A UTH on a thermostat or dimmer could.

Right but would the small size be big enough to heat enough to bring the cold side up 5 degrees, or do I need another large UTH like the hot side just to dim it way down?

[Bloodsong]

The small would will do fine for what you are looking to do.

In regards to the rheostat (aka dimmer) vs. thermostat debate, I will tell you that a thermostat will make it a lot easier. With a rheostat you have to adjust it every time there is a temperature fluctuation in your home. With a thermostat you have set it and forget it control no matter what fluctuations happen. If you don't mind checking daily to weekly for any adjustments that need to be made the rheostat will be great, but if you are lazy like me, the thermostat is worth the extra few dollars from the tax return.

Bloodsong

[Kaorte]

Right but would the small size be big enough to heat enough to bring the cold side up 5 degrees, or do I need another large UTH like the hot side just to dim it way down?

The size doesn't have much to do with the heat output. A large UTH uncontrolled can get up to 120* and a small UTH can get just as high.

A small one should be fine, just adjust accordingly. As for the thermostat Vs. Dimmer. I only suggest the dimmer because it is a quick fix. You can almost never find a herp thermostat in stores, so you have to buy them online. Using a dimmer isn't the best, but it will prevent your snake from getting burned.

The thermostat is the most important (and the most expensive) item you can get for your snake, but it is also the most useful.

[snakedork]

as far as the uth thing goes its all about the wattage you use. for uth the wattage is a way of determining british thermal units. If you put a heat source on the cool side you may find that insulating the back and sides of the aquarium will do the same thing. Also when you cover the top of the cold side of the tank you will increase the temp on that side of the tank a few suggestions before you spend the money on another uth. On the note of thermostats the dimmer switch will work for now but i would definately check the pet store or maybe 2 to try and find one of those zoomed thermostats i know they carry them at several stores around us. Pet supplies plus usually has a couple of them. Dimmer switches are great if you have absolutely not change in your house temp. Most household thermostats have a 4 degree swing atleast in on and off. For the money though i actually would try a heating and cooling shop and get a johnson controls a 419 thermostat its digital and much easier to make adjustments on. Cost around 50 to 60 bucks. I have several of these and run my adjustable differential at .4 degrees. You can also pick up online a herpstat which is proportional heat control for about 100 bucks. They do help keep your uth in better shape because its constantly on instead of switching off and on. Just my 2 cents I don't pretend to know anyones finances but those are pretty much all your options when it comes to thermostats. Me personally use all of the above currently. I have one of those zoomed 30 dollar ones (pain in the but to adjust in but once its there its good). The above stated johnson control simple to adjust and dial in for optimal husbandry. But if you want the truth i wish i would have bought a herpstat a long time ago. I have a herpstat pro running 4 racks in my snake room. It is truly awsome. I do like the proportional controls the best because you don't have any on and off of the heat source its constantly maintaining a steady heat.

[FL_LeoGek]

So I am going to go get a dimmer, since there is a lowes very close. Later today I have to go across town to deliver a desk, so I will go to Carol's Critters (local real pet store) and get some food for the boy, so I will see if she has any thermostats. Thanks again for everyone's help and suggestions.

[FL_LeoGek]

Well, I just got home after a very long day of delivering a desk and yard saleing with the wife. New project is a small solid wood desk.

On to the good stuff, I got 2 Lutron dimmers model # TT-300NLH-WH and a ZooMed UTH 10-20 gallon size. Went with that versus the smallest just to make sure I had enough coverage to bring the cool side up to 82 easily. So it's re-wiring time. I am actually mounting a shelf over my tank where the 3 thermometers will hang, shelf will also hold the dimmer controls and other random reptile accessories.

Back to work... Pics to follow at some point.