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Ultratherm vs Cobra heat nats

bakeaway Sep 12, 2009 11:42 AM

I was wondering if they are the sameor even made by the same company. Both made in Scotland.
It says you can use without a thermostat. Anyone do this?
Seems strange to have it with no control.
I was going to hook it to my Herpstat thermostat.
Thanks
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Ball Python
Jungle Carpet Python 1.0
Eastern King 0.1
Mexican Black King
Great Basin Gopher
Hypo Brooks 1.0
White Sided Bull 1.0 (Envy)
Striped Pacific Gopher (Envy)
Axanthic Brooksi 0.1 (Mark Kenderdine)
Goini King 1.0 (Mark Kenderdine)
Northern Pine 1.0 (Nick Puder)
Arizona Mtn. King 1.0 (AAM Snakes)
1.0 Pastel Red Tail Boa

I love the smell of aspen shavings in the morning...lol

"To serve man..it's...it's a cookbook!"

Replies (4)

markg Sep 15, 2009 11:47 AM

They look alot alike, but I do not know if it is the same company. Same heating element for sure, basically a flat carbon resistor laminated in plastic. Same Watts per square inch.

The instructions say it can be used w/o a thermostat meaning the watt density of the heater is low. At "normal" room temperatures, the heater at full power will not reach dangerous temperatures. It is a nice feature to have a heater that isn't too powerful.

However, we must use some common sense here. If you were in that cage would you want a heater in there without at least some control? No. So use the Herpstat if nothing else as a safety high limit cutoff.

In Winter (for a boa, I use Ultratherms) they run on full power. I have them hooked up to a controller but the temp never gets high enough for the controller to actually kick in to limit the power to the heaters.

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Mark

bakeaway Sep 15, 2009 11:54 PM

mark,,
thanks for the reply.,,,,i saw on a couple other boards that they are the same and just are sold under other names....
so your t-stat is keeping you mats at full heat all the time,,,wow,,so it can run on full power 24 hours,,that is great,,,
-----
Ball Python
Jungle Carpet Python 1.0
Eastern King 0.1
Mexican Black King
Great Basin Gopher
Hypo Brooks 1.0
White Sided Bull 1.0 (Envy)
Striped Pacific Gopher (Envy)
Axanthic Brooksi 0.1 (Mark Kenderdine)
Goini King 1.0 (Mark Kenderdine)
Northern Pine 1.0 (Nick Puder)
Arizona Mtn. King 1.0 (AAM Snakes)
1.0 Pastel Red Tail Boa

I love the smell of aspen shavings in the morning...lol

"To serve man..it's...it's a cookbook!"

bakeaway Sep 15, 2009 11:55 PM

do you think it would be safe to use on the bottom of a rubbermaid container (plastic)?,,,,with a little air space between mat and table,,,,
-----
Ball Python
Jungle Carpet Python 1.0
Eastern King 0.1
Mexican Black King
Great Basin Gopher
Hypo Brooks 1.0
White Sided Bull 1.0 (Envy)
Striped Pacific Gopher (Envy)
Axanthic Brooksi 0.1 (Mark Kenderdine)
Goini King 1.0 (Mark Kenderdine)
Northern Pine 1.0 (Nick Puder)
Arizona Mtn. King 1.0 (AAM Snakes)
1.0 Pastel Red Tail Boa

I love the smell of aspen shavings in the morning...lol

"To serve man..it's...it's a cookbook!"

markg Sep 16, 2009 01:25 PM

Oh sure. These mats are probably one of the best heaters for that application. The other choices would be the 6 watts/ft Flexwatt (or the new 5 watts/ft Flexwatt) or the 17 inch-wide Flexwatt (which is a low watt density as well).

Use a lamp dimmer or T-stat of course and you will be fine.

I still use a controller on mine for the boa, it is just that when the room is cold, the controller has the Ultratherms pretty much on full.

Basically if the room temp is below 72, an Ultratherm can be on full power if there is an air gap. Above that temp, better to have some control. The above is a general guideling based on my experience at home. It is not physics law, as so many factors affect heat transfer. Best to always have a controller hooked up to any heater.
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Mark

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