Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have seen designs for a homemade rehostat but i was wondering if anyone has any for a thermostat. I was thinking there may be some way to rig up a normal home thermostat you can get at Lowes so that it will work with a probe or something like that. I would love to hear from anybody that has seen one or knows how to do it.
Thank you
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1.1 Motley het butter corns
0.1 Snow corn
0.1 Okeetee corn
1.0 Anery mutt corn
0.1 Stripe Ghost corn
0.1 Amelanistic corn het carmel
2.1 Colombian Redtails
1.0 Hypo Colombian redtail
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Anery Kenyan sand boa
0.1 Normal Kenyan sand boa

I think it would be more trouble than its worth. First you would still have to buy every key piece the mercury thermostat switch the temp probe etc. Second if you able to find a temp probe and some how get it to work with a home thermostat you still would have to deal with the fact that its a 24v system and you would have to have a converter as well. Save yourself the trouble and pick up a 120v Ranco. Unless of course you would perfer a proportional that is up to you.

Don't get me wrong I think that its a noble idea however, it is still easier to use a Ranco or similar thermostat. Its also garanteed to work. Ultimatly temp probes, CC Switchs, and software all tied to the home PC will be the best. We are a few years off from the average household from achieving that type of system, but its coming.

By the way I use dimmers or rheostats on all my cages I simply check the temp everyday with my non-contact temp gun. Easy and cheap defenetly the way I would go.

Good Luck
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.10 Red Hypo Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
0.0.1 Youth -coming soon-

Like BigHurt said, it is cheaper to buy them already complete. But yes, I have made them from scratch (IC's and thermistor) and also using the ones made for home A/Cs by having them drive an external relay that switches the heater load.

I did this mainly to learn. My home projects worked very well but cost alot more in the end, especially in terms of time, which anymore is more valuable to me than ever before.

My latest controllers were purchased from www.omega.com (look in the Temperature section.) These controllers have web servers and can be configured via the web. You can set the setpoint, the type of control (i.e. ON/OFF or PID) and even have the temperature display change color when the setpoint is reached. I bought thermocouples for them, wired them to connectors and hooked them up to the base controller. I also purchased an SSR to drive the load (controller output is a 10DVC pulse.) If you can understand what I just described, you can do your own controller.

I would suggest to learn electronics and some control theory before trying to do your own project. Until then, get what is offered by manufacturers. The website link above has alot of tidbits of info about temperature control, and they do sell some very simple low-cost controllers that you can learn alot with.