They will save money by useing on/off types. However, look at the manual that comes with flex watt heating, it says for use with PROPORTIONAL thermostats only! The on-off type causes a spike in temperature when it goes on, and when off can drop considerably for a short time. When houseing imperator this kind of thermostat with its fluctuation is allowable by the hardy nature of the subspecies. However, when keeping other subspecies for example amarali when you need exact and perfect temperatures it is better to use a more reliable source.

I have heard of many people whose thermostats failed, one lost a T positive Albino Argentine breeder. in every failure it was in an on-off sticking open. With moveing parts in the device it is more likely to fail than in a proportional which regulates current to the appliance through constant measure of temperature. The Helix maintains a constant temperature in the warm end, the Herpstat has a function to view high and low temps, it only changes a degree from the set temperature even when there is a great change in weather which alters temperatures within the home. A proportional does not react within a degree of error, but at a constant temperature. It is better for the more demanding species, and proven through electronic analysis to be more reliable. I would rather pay a little more for my electric bill that have something happen to my animals, which would also cost a lot more than a few cents a month difference. Every cage I own is controled by its own individual proportional thermostat and I have never had a problem, in contrast when I first started I used the analog (on/off type) and they all eventually had something go wrong.

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