Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found a good website (Instructables.com) where a common programable house thermostat and realy was used with a space heater to warm a room at a certain time of day. I though this would work great in the snake room and would allow for night setback temps. Has anyone tried this?

Back in the 80's I knew a couple of guys who did this. I think it was more common due to the lack of choices in Tstats. I never tried it.

There are also some line-voltage Tstats than can be easily wired to run a plug-in space heater. I don't believe they commonly come with programmable temperature drops, but such a thing does exist.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

I used one of those Honeywell round wall thermostats. Using a 12v adapter, I ran 12v through the T-stat contacts and out to the coil of a 12v relay. The relay switches the 120VAC to the heater.

That is pretty much it. This can be done with any home thermostat compatible with 24v heating systems. Using 12v is usually just fine, or you can use 24v. Outdoor automatic sprinkler systems use a 24v adapter. You can buy just the adapter at Home Depot. 24v relays are available online at www.mouser.com. I used a low-profile PC-board-mount relay and put it in a $1.97 metal junction box from Home Depot.

>>I found a good website (Instructables.com) where a common programable house thermostat and realy was used with a space heater to warm a room at a certain time of day. I though this would work great in the snake room and would allow for night setback temps. Has anyone tried this?
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Mark

Some of the digital room T-stats require 24v power for the electronics, and so it is best to use a 24v relay. The T-stat I mentioned did not have a digital readout. The one in my house does, and I toyed with it before installing it. It would have done the job as well with a 24v relay.
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Mark