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Best kind of stat to use?

decadence

decadence

New member
I am currently using this thing i found at petsmart from zoomed.

rheostat.jpg


I have it hooked up to UTH but plan on switching to cable when i start building my stack. Is this a decent stat or are there better ones out there? Would be nice to have one where you can set it to an exact degree rather then adjusting one until you get the temp you want. ha
 
I's just a fancy dimmer switch. It will work fine in a room that has a constant temperature day and night. It the room has big temperature swings, so will the UTH or whatever is plugged into it. Many people us them but be aware of possible problems.
 
dickdeuel said:
I's just a fancy dimmer switch. It will work fine in a room that has a constant temperature day and night. It the room has big temperature swings, so will the UTH or whatever is plugged into it. Many people us them but be aware of possible problems.
Click to expand...

So i can use any basic dimmer switch as a stat?
 
Yes you can, but get one that has the widest range of movement, dial or slide. One nice thing about them is that if the room cools at night, you get an automatic temperature drop. They are very hard to adjust for an accurate temp so keep a remote thermometer attached to your heating device so you can monitor it at all times. I have a couple small hatchling racks I don't use very often and they have dimmers on them. All my other snake racks have proportional thermostats controlling Flexwatt.
 
It completely depends on what kind of temp issues one has to deal with, like Dick mentioned.

I tried the HD Dimmer switch and it didn't work for me, nor did the ZooMed Rheostat. Why? Because I have extreme temp changes throughout the day and had to be adjusting the HD dimmer multiple times daily. I didn't like the ZooMed because it would only hold the temp at a constant low of 89F.

Currently I'm using the ALife/Newtek Thermostat from The Bean Farm. You can plug 3 UTH's into it. It keeps my UTH an average of 84F (It fluctuates from 79.5-88.5).
 
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My buddy that build racks, Jasons-Jungle.com...he sells the Alife thermostats with his racks, and we have talked about them. He has sold thousands of racks with those, and never had anyone have a problem.
 
lamp dimmer from lowes - bah 1000from big apple - they don't get much publicity but i use it to power 4 20 watt intellimats in my dumerils boas tubs and it works excellent - great company - great customer service - fast shipping - great prices - watch steve's videos at big apple herps.com
 
HoosierHerper said:
Those work as a rheostat, but for a little more he can get something with an actual probe on it. You might think of something with a probe too...I know it's very hard to maintain constant room temps in Indiana...I messed with one for a while, and finally bought an actual Thermostat.
Click to expand...

I was told this is okay. If you haven't read some of my threads. Um it fits the heat pad I am going to buy and I am buying a thermometer with probe to watch temps. Dont worry. ;)
 
Skully23 said:
I was told this is okay. If you haven't read some of my threads. Um it fits the heat pad I am going to buy and I am buying a thermometer with probe to watch temps. Dont worry. ;)
Click to expand...

Right...they work but only if you can constantly, 24 hours a day make sure that the room temperature is an exact degree. A rheostat operates the UTH at a constant power level, not a constant temperature. You need something with a probe to operate it at a constant temperature.
Rheostats work, but I would never go more than a day at work without being able to come home and adjust it or check the temp. In some places they work better than others, I have just noticed that in Indiana, it's very hard to keep a constant temp in the house.
 
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