Fire risk UTH?!?

I am getting a Corn snake very soon and already have the tank set up. But I was wondering how much of a fire risk leaving the UTH and heatlamp (50 watt heatlamp, I will get a dimmer ) plugged in while I am out of the house is? Is getting a thermostat less of a risk rather than a normal dimmer?
Thanks

Yes, a thermostat is less of a risk if it is calibrated and functioning properly than a dimmer is. I use heating equipment 24/7 but ALL of it is on thermostatic control.

A thermostat ensures that (regardless of outside temperature fluctuations) the heating equipment will only get to the temperature you've specified. It could be 45 degrees in the room, and if the heating equipment is up to it it'll get to the temperature specified on the 'stat - or it could be 90 degrees in the room and the thermostat will switch off the heating equipment.

A dimmer limits the amount of electricity available but it does NOT account for environmental temperature - it might be bang-on perfect when your room temperature is 78 degrees F ... but if you have a spike in temperature during the summer (or when your heating kicks in in winter) then your heating equipment is still set to receive THIS amount of electricity regardless of outside temps - and your heating equipment will make the cage that much warmer.

Thanks, that is probably the most sensible answer I could have wanted I will definitely get a thermostat.

As for a fire risk, I'd think a lamp would be more of a risk than a UTH. You don't need a lamp anyway.

A UTH gets to 120 degrees max and the ignition point of wood or paper is higher than that. Plus you should have it regulated to only get to maybe 86 max and there's no risk of a fire at that temperature.

I have to say that I know someone here in the UK who did an experiment with an unregulated heat mat and an empty glass tank with aspen substrate.

After a couple of hours, the aspen at the bottom, above the heat mat, was discolouring as though it was beginning to get hot enough to burn.

Heat mats can and will get hotter than 120F if they're not thermostatically regulated.

Also if you are worried about fire from a power strip in general, the newest powerstrip I bought has some sort of technology that detects problems with the circuits of all the devices plugged into it and shuts off the power to anything plugged in. It wasn't any more expensive than any nice powerstrip. I got it at Home Depot. I'd actually feel safer if I changed all my powerstrips to that type. I think the Gatorland fire was started by a malfunctioning UTH- not that it got too hot, but that something was wrong with it electrically. How would you ever know till it was too late.

Nanci

Ssthisto said:

I have to say that I know someone here in the UK who did an experiment with an unregulated heat mat and an empty glass tank with aspen substrate.

After a couple of hours, the aspen at the bottom, above the heat mat, was discolouring as though it was beginning to get hot enough to burn.

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That is pretty scary, but I have to wonder if the discoloration was just from heating the moisture out of the aspen over the pad? Well, I guess the difference would be if it looked burnt or dry.

I've known collections that have been lost due to fires caused by flexwatt...

in both cases, iirc, the flexwatt was several years old, brittle, and in need of replacement...

defiant14 said:

That is pretty scary, but I have to wonder if the discoloration was just from heating the moisture out of the aspen over the pad? Well, I guess the difference would be if it looked burnt or dry.

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It was going brown - not just drying out, but actually starting to heat up to a point where it was discolouring because of the heat.

As for as substrate goes I use the reptile carpet so I am not too worried about it getting to hot, I just get worried about electrical fires from leaving things on unsupervised. I temped my tank today and the thermometer only got to 90 degrees right on the glass over the UTH, is that too hot? I am using the rainforest kind (forgot the brand) that gets less hot than the desert kind. Do I still need a thermostat??

I personally would say yes, you still do. It's possible that, say, during summer, the temperature will spike - and you don't want the glass cracking or your snake getting burnt. I've seen too many horrible photos of what happens to snakes that are on unthermostatted heat mats to think that a 'stat is an option.

BTW, reptile carpet on an un-regulated heater (Zoo Med that gets to 120F) will discolor and change texture.

I was reluctant to switch my first snake to aspen (I realize this isn't what this thread is about- but it sort of goes with talking about your set up) because the carpet let me feed in the viv and I thought it was easier to clean- but when I switched, after reading that it was the most-used substrate- and seeing how much my snake enjoyed burrowing, and finding out that it is _way_ easier to spot clean than carpet- I'd never go back.

Nanci

Nanci said:

Also if you are worried about fire from a power strip in general, the newest powerstrip I bought has some sort of technology that detects problems with the circuits of all the devices plugged into it and shuts off the power to anything plugged in. It wasn't any more expensive than any nice powerstrip. I got it at Home Depot. I'd actually feel safer if I changed all my powerstrips to that type. I think the Gatorland fire was started by a malfunctioning UTH- not that it got too hot, but that something was wrong with it electrically. How would you ever know till it was too late.

Nanci

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GFI - Ground Fault Interupter

It's the same thing that's on your hair dryer plug. It shuts off the power if you drop it in the tub. Very useful.

I lost a whole house, 3800 square foot house, that I and my husband at the time _built_, ourselves, for a year, to fire of unknown origin. Luckily we weren't quite moved in yet. But we had a family of cats that died of smoke inhalation. There is no worse feeling than getting the call at work that your house is on fire. Mostly, though, we were ok- most of our stuff and pets was not there. Still, the prospect of starting over, after all that work. Now, about ten years later, if I'm driving home, and I smell smoke in the neighborhood, like from a bonfire or something- I go right back to that horrifying frightened feeling. I am in a panic until I see my house, safe and not on fire. I hate fire.

Nanci

And here's the really great thing- house gets rebuilt, and a few months after moving in, a tornado gets it. Nice.