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thermostat reviews

gimpsnakelvr

gimpsnakelvr

New member
just seeing if they are any reviews of the low end thermostats. i tried this on another site but everyone was dedicated to the helix and i dont have that kind of cash right now. so who has them, do they work, you like them?
 
I've always used Herpstat. Their preformance has been 100% since 2004.

Sorry, just saw the cash portion of your question, Herpstat's probably range financially with the Helix. I'd use the home built rheostat till you can save the money to buy quality.
 
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Ranco & Johnson are both good on/off t-stats. Look at them.

Thing with t-stats though, is that a thermostat is probably the most important piece of equipment you'll ever buy as a herp owner. So you don't want to skimp, and that's why most people will tell you herpstat/helix.
 
Though the one I'm using right now is a helix (I think...not too sure)...the one I used before the the "ZooMed Repti-therm500R" It was only like 20 dollars plus shipping and handling and it worked just fine for me..in fact once my collection grows I'm going to need to use it once more :0)
 
the one i'm using now is a ranco...i'd say the ranco is about as low end as I'd go...but when i get a rack i'm going to get a helix most likely
 
Maize411 said:
Though the one I'm using right now is a helix (I think...not too sure)...the one I used before the the "ZooMed Repti-therm500R" It was only like 20 dollars plus shipping and handling and it worked just fine for me..in fact once my collection grows I'm going to need to use it once more :0)
Click to expand...

why did you change?
 
The repti-therm didn't have numbers on the dial..instead it was just a color gradient picture and I had to guess where to put the arrow..It took some time to get the right temp, but once ya find the right spot, just leave it there and your fine..

The helix has numbers and you just switch the arrow to the desired number and your good to go..It was just easier...heh..
 
Maize411 said:
The repti-therm didn't have numbers on the dial..instead it was just a color gradient picture and I had to guess where to put the arrow..It took some time to get the right temp, but once ya find the right spot, just leave it there and your fine..

The helix has numbers and you just switch the arrow to the desired number and your good to go..It was just easier...heh..
Click to expand...

i saw the big apple 1 but they say they're out of stock.
 
Everyone uses something different, and there are a lot of good t-stats on the market.
I tend to try and get as fault tolerant as I can, as I was an electronics tech for a number of years, I've seen all kinds of circuits fail, and can tell you for a fact that everything can fail, at any time, for no reason.
I don't like the idea of one point of failure killing multiple pets.

I use double rancos, that's 2 rancos in series, with 2 probes, and one set a few degrees higher, so that if one fails wide open the other will kick in and not cook all your critters. Fault tolerance is a good thing. You can use a ranco as a backup to a helix or herpstat also.
I actually use quad rancos on anything that houses more than 6 animals.
That's 2 sources of heat, each with a regular t-stat and a backup.
One t-stat fails wide open, the other t-stat kicks in and takes care of it.
One t-stat fails cold, they still have another heat source.
Even that is no substitute for not checking on it regularly.

If you think about it, something as simple as the probe wire falling off or getting a loose connection, can cook all the animals that it's hooked to.
That can be $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, and much unnecessary mental anguish. Not to mention a horrible death for your beloved pets.
 
caz223 said:
Everyone uses something different, and there are a lot of good t-stats on the market.
I tend to try and get as fault tolerant as I can, as I was an electronics tech for a number of years, I've seen all kinds of circuits fail, and can tell you for a fact that everything can fail, at any time, for no reason.
I don't like the idea of one point of failure killing multiple pets.

I use double rancos, that's 2 rancos in series, with 2 probes, and one set a few degrees higher, so that if one fails wide open the other will kick in and not cook all your critters. Fault tolerance is a good thing. You can use a ranco as a backup to a helix or herpstat also.
I actually use quad rancos on anything that houses more than 6 animals.
That's 2 sources of heat, each with a regular t-stat and a backup.
One t-stat fails wide open, the other t-stat kicks in and takes care of it.
One t-stat fails cold, they still have another heat source.
Even that is no substitute for not checking on it regularly.

If you think about it, something as simple as the probe wire falling off or getting a loose connection, can cook all the animals that it's hooked to.
That can be $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, and much unnecessary mental anguish. Not to mention a horrible death for your beloved pets.
Click to expand...

That's an EXCELLENT point you made about using a back-up thermostat!
 
The Ranco/johnson controls units are the cheapest I would recommend personally.
There are instructions online for wiring a ranco 111000 thermostat yourself, and they run just a bit over $50.
I wire them myself and buy them on ebay 4 at a time to get the best price.
The ranco/johnson controls is an on/off thermostat and it has 1 set of moving parts, (Relays.).
AFAIK it's intended use is for industrial heating and cooling.
I can't comment on others as I haven't used them personally.
 
I have one of the previous version and like it better than ZooMed 500Rs, but everything else is a Herpstat ND. Proportional thermostats are just so much steadier.
 
Nanci said:
I have one of the previous version and like it better than ZooMed 500Rs, but everything else is a Herpstat ND. Proportional thermostats are just so much steadier.
Click to expand...

thats what i've heard about porportional. that big apple one sounds nice i dont know anyone personally who uses it. youre the first
 
There have been quite a few improvements to it over the model I have. I don't think it would hurt to give it a try if you don't have $125 for a Herpstat.
 
ETC 111000

I was having all kinds of problems with my UTH. I built the home made rheostat found in these forums and was not happy with the constant flucuation of the temp. After reading countless posts arguing whos thermostat was the best (and at the right price) I decided to search for a ETC 111000. I figured the zoomed version was over $20.00 with tax and I would have to get a dependable thermometer as well, so i figured total price over $30. I picked up the Racon ETC 111000 on ebay, brand new for $44.00 with $9.00 shipping. I will have to wire it myself, but have found very simple directions with photos on the net. I will let you know how it works out, but for me I would rather spend an extra $20 and get something that I have heard works very well, and has a digital display.
 
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