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What thermostat do you recommend?

Caryl

Caryl

BrightHope
Hi all, I've got to purchase some thermostats and wondered what brand or type those in the the community like and have had long-term success using. I've read some bad reviews on Zoo Med rheostats, and would rather not buy 5 thermostats that won't work properly. Recommendations? Thanks in advance.
 
Well I'll most likely be no help then. I currently have 3 zoo med thermostats hooked up as we speak :shrugs:
 
Roy Munson said:
I'd go with a Spyder Robotics Herpstat. :)
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I love my Herpstats.. I have two singles and a double and will be picking up a couple of more here shortly. I thought I was having trouble with one and the owner of the company was in contact with me within 24hrs! It only required us setting it back the company defaults and then reseting my desired settings and no more issues. Customer service was awesome.
 
I currently run two rancos. You can get them pre-wired or not wired at all. A little less expensive, but is on/off.

I went through a helix and a herpstat because the circuitry in my room was off and the power surged a little. With the Helix and Herpstat, any electrical interference (including AC wires in your walls) can disrupt them. Just be aware of that.
 
clipclopclip said:
I currently run two rancos. You can get them pre-wired or not wired at all. A little less expensive, but is on/off.

I went through a helix and a herpstat because the circuitry in my room was off and the power surged a little. With the Helix and Herpstat, any electrical interference (including AC wires in your walls) can disrupt them. Just be aware of that.
Click to expand...


Are you saying that the Rancos don't use electricity? Or that the quality is low enough that power surges don't affect them? Sorry, I find that hard to believe. Anything that runs on electricity is going to be affected by power surges.
 
Weebonilass said:
Are you saying that the Rancos don't use electricity? Or that the quality is low enough that power surges don't affect them? Sorry, I find that hard to believe. Anything that runs on electricity is going to be affected by power surges.
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No, I meant that I now have two rancos because my others ended up failing. Not that rancos are better at all, nor are they unaffected by power surges. They were just my replacements after the others went absolutely wacky on me..three times. VERY frustrating until I figured it out.
 
I use the BAH 300 or whatever they are called from Big Apple Pet Supply. I use the herpstats on the arboreals as they require closer temperature control than the cornsnakes. It's too expensive to buy the higher end stuff for a snake that can live in temps down to 55 degrees........
 
Weebonilass said:
Are you saying that the Rancos don't use electricity? Or that the quality is low enough that power surges don't affect them? Sorry, I find that hard to believe. Anything that runs on electricity is going to be affected by power surges.
Click to expand...

Surge protectors are great solves the problems of surging power although many electronics have some built in protection. As for current being induced in a wire from other wires near by this can be prevented by adding shielding which most higher end products use.

Anyways I have both Zoomed and now a Newtek thermostat I would highly recommend the Newtek I haven't had it for more then a month or so but it is great it has a dial with actual temperatures listed on it so you dial it in to the temp you want and thats what it gets up to no guessing like you have to do on the zoomeds which use a color gradient. The Newtek also stayed exactly at the temp I set it on day one with no adjustments needed.
 
I no longer place my herpstats on surge protectors. I talked to Dion about it after I had a problem with them shutting off and not coming back on. I was told to plug directly into the wall. I almost had a heart attack when I realized the thermostat had power but was not powering the heat source. My chondros were down to 65 degrees by then. I didn't even realize it because I could see the light was on and there were numbers, but I didn't notice the numbers were so low. I no longer use surge protectors for any thermostats.
 
I have all Spyder Robotics Herpstats. One of the basic model, all the rest of the Night Drop. I don't use the night drop feature, but it has a few other things I like, mostly the high/low alarms that the slightly cheaper model doesn't have. I also have one of the previous version of the BAH 1000- if you have to buy a cheaper stat, I'd recommend that one. The Herpstats are proportional, so they keep the temp closer to what is set than an on/off type- which is probably not critical for cornsnakes, but I like it.
 
I have been using a Helix for several months and have had no issues with it. I really like it but if I ever get another I might try the Herpstat just for comparison.
 
Thanks for the input, everybody. I have my UTHs on a surge suppressor strip, and plan to put the thermostats on it. I live a mile or so from the power plant, and we have power blips on a semi-frequent basis. I have some ideas of what to look for now. Thanks again.:)
 
Hmm...depending how many Uth your trying to control...I would say either Repti-Therm or Helix...
 
I've got six snakes, so six UTHs. I assumed I'd need a separate thermostat for each; is that not the case?
:confused:
 
You can use the same thermostat if the viv sizes are the same and the heat mats are the same size, and ideally, the same manufacturer. I still get variation when the vivs are stacked, but not side by side. Most thermostats will control two or three vivs- you just have to add up the wattage of the individual mats and not exceed that.
 
If you don't mind the cost, I agree with the Herpstat suggestion. For lower cost models, the ZooMed 500R Thermostats are fine and can be bought online for $20 each.
While their RHEOstat is not good for corn snakes as it doesn't dial the temp down low enough, their THERMOstat works just fine for corn snakes.
I've got several of them, some were in use on multiple tanks for over a year with zero problems. I still use them for various other tasks, one of them is running a homemade styro cooler incubator.
 
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