Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, lets see if someone has this down. I have yet to find the perfect combination of heater and thermostat. What thermostats can handle high watt heaters and/or what low watt heaters are effective in keeping good warm ambient temperatures? What combinations are you guys working with and how effective are they in keeping an accurate temperature for a reptile room? My room thermostat just gave up on me and I know it was because of the high wattage of my heater, for those of you that may have gone through this, how did you fix the problem? Most heaters are over 1000 watts and most thermostats start to burn out at about 700 watts.

Thanks in advance,
Angel

I've used Rancos to control oil filled Radiators for quite a while. Many are 5 years old
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South Central Herpetological

That should read 5 plus years old.........
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South Central Herpetological

How many watts is the Ranco rated for and what does your heater run?

Rancos are rated for 1500 watts, and I believe the Radiators run at 1000 or 1200 watts at peak usage.
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South Central Herpetological

I use a system I actually invented. I didn't invent the Ranco to be sure, but I invented the "Double Thermostat" set up system that uses two thermostats. One thermostat runs the heater while the other is set a couple degrees warmer that will prevent overheating of the room which can happen very quickly with a space heater. Safety is very important. That is exactly what I use to run the little space heater in my baby room. It will handle 1500 watts. Most space heaters are either 750 watts or 1500 watts. Works like a charm.
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Boaphile Home
All Original/Boaphile Plastics
Boaphile Photo Gallery

It was a Ranco that took a dive on me. What type of heater/s do you use?

I use a johnson control I got from Reptile Basics. I use an oil filled heater. The thermostat is rated for 1500 watts. It works great. The heater has 3 settings, 700,800 and 1500 watts.

Angel:

I use an oil filled space heater hooked up to an evergy saver thermostat. The space heater has two settings 600 and 900 watts. I have it set to the 600 watt setting.

The energy saver is set to turn on the space heater when the ambient room temperature goes below 78 degrees. I have a 12 inch diameter fan set up behind the space heater turned to the lowest speed setting 24 hours a day 7 days a week which helps to minimize the temperature variation in my snake room. The TC. or thermal couple is positioned about four feet off the ground next to my sub adult rack.

You are welcome to come over and see the set up anytime.

I hope your having a great season.

Brian
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Brian Gundy

www.for-goodness-snakes.com

boaphile is the best temp control you can get, I have 6 cages pluged in to 1 temp control and each cage is within 2to3 degrees dif between cages. Or you can make your own by getting a 20 amp outlet and 120 volt dimer switch 4 squar electric box with half inch k/o's and a exstention cord and a 4 squar mud ring.I use this type of dimmer for 1 cage only, if you hook up 2 cages the temp has 3 to 7 degrees dif. If you need help hooking it up you can email me at farnorthboas@msn.com.

Thanks for the input but my cage thermostats work fine. My message was in regards to how people keep warm ambient room temperatures for their boa rooms.