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BAH-1000SC Thermostat Utilizing Electronic IC Smart Chip Technology which is only 40 dollars.
Or this one
Ranco ETC-111000 prewired at 80 dollars

Are they both the on/off type? I realize one might be of higher quality but do they both do the same thing?
I just have a few herps, not doing any breeding or anything and dont see the need for a huge investment so Im wondering if I should skimp a bit here and get the 40 dollar one.

Both provide ON/OFF control.

Physical differences:
The Ranco is an industrial controller which is inserted in a splash-proof gasket-sealed housing made from a thicker plastic material that can withstand debri falling on it. You essentially pay a bit more for the NEMA rating of the housing.

Component differences:
The Ranco output relay is rated for 15 Amps, which means about 1650 Watts (or something like that) at 115 VAC. So if you were controlling a 12-amp air conditioner for example, I would use the Ranco.

Control differences:
The Ranco has an adjustable hysteresis setting. This is the difference between the OFF setpoint and the ON setpoint. For example, to save on wear and tear if you are controlling that 12-amp air conditioner, the device would turn off at say 75 deg and not turn on until 80 deg. So the hysteresis is 5 deg. For a room heater you could have it turn off at 80 deg and back on at 75 deg. The hysteresis value on the Ranco can be set from 2 deg to whatever, like 20 deg or more.

Hysteresis is necessary for ON/OFF control of items like room heaters or air conditioners, but not for heat pads, heat tape, heat panels, etc. Applying power to heat pads, etc doesn't hurt them no matter if it cycles alot or not. It does stop the mechanical relay from "chattering" between ON and OFF. A proportional controller "chatters" so to speak, but it doesn't have a mechanical relay so no problem.

The $40 thermostat has about a 4 deg hysteresis built in.

I don't know about the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) of the devices. I have 2 Rancos that are over 10 yrs old still going. I have an old BAH-500 that is 4 yrs old and still going. I use the ON/OFF to turn off power when the room temp gets high, so they do not cycle much.
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Mark

In conclusion, if you are controlling much less than 100 Watts of heat tape, heat pads, etc, and you are fine with a 4 deg difference between the ON and OFF temperatures, then you do not need the Ranco.

The Ranco will work, and it is reliable, so it is still a valid choice.

I believe that the new BAH-1000s fail OFF, so that is a plus. Meaning if the unit fails, it usually fails such that the power to the output id OFF. I believe Rancos do the same. That is an important feature.

For $80 bucks, you can put 2 BAH-1000s in series. One is the failsafe device set at a higher setpoint, and the other is your main controller. So for $80 you have a failsafe setup for the cost of just one Ranco. Sounds good to me.
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Mark

>>In conclusion, if you are controlling much less than 100 Watts of heat tape, heat pads, etc, and you are fine with a 4 deg difference between the ON and OFF temperatures, then you do not need the Ranco.
>>
>>The Ranco will work, and it is reliable, so it is still a valid choice.
>>
>>I believe that the new BAH-1000s fail OFF, so that is a plus. Meaning if the unit fails, it usually fails such that the power to the output id OFF. I believe Rancos do the same. That is an important feature.
>>
>>For $80 bucks, you can put 2 BAH-1000s in series. One is the failsafe device set at a higher setpoint, and the other is your main controller. So for $80 you have a failsafe setup for the cost of just one Ranco. Sounds good to me.
>>-----
>>Mark
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Mark

.If I have, lets say one cage with two sections of 11 in flexwatt.One cage with a 100 watt CHE and one 6ft piece of 3 in flexwatt(6 watt with 3 small enclosures on it) all would have to be set to the same temps ie. 88-92? And the BAH would run them all just fine at around that temp?

If I wanted to make the 6ft of flexwatt a lower temp I would have to use a separate thermostat right?
Is there a thermostat that will run two different temps at the same time(just hoping)?

CHEs are entirely different in the effect of their heat. There is no way you could have all of that Flexwatt of varying size plus the CHEs on a single channel controller and get expected results. One heater or the other would be too cold or too hot.

I would put the CHEs on their own controller for sure. Could be an ON/OFF plus a dimmer if you want, so the expense is not that great.

I would also put different Flexwatt sizes (widths - 11 vs 3 - not length) each on their own controller. If you want to save a little money, use only one ON/OFF controller for both Flexwatts but use a separate dimmer for each Flexwatt width - 11-inch and 3-inch.

I believe Herpstat (Spyder Electronics) makes a 4-channel proportional controller that ends up costing much less than 4 separate proportional controllers. Proportional controllers shoot little bursts of power to the heater. For more heat, the duration of each burst is longer. For less heat, the duration of each burst becomes shorter. So in effect they control the amount of average power to the heater with longer or shorter bursts. A dimmer does the same thing really except you set it manually - it doesn't sense the temperature and adjust the bursts accordingly.
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Mark

If I put a dimmer on along with the BAH would that work to keep the flexwatt or rhp from overheating if the thermostat failed?

SO in other words if the Dimmer is set for 3/4 power to the heatsource it wouldnt skyrocket to 130 degrees but would stay at least below 100 if the thermostat failed.
Sorry I know I asked this once before but I need to understand this and I dont do well if I cant see it in my head.

A Ranco will fail in teh Off position.

Not all Dimmers do so.

It is possible to wire them inconjunction with each other. By setting the Dimmer to just above the optimum temp, you can lessen the amount of on/off cycles. However be sure you use Dimmers that maintain there setting when powered down. Most new dimmers do so...
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
0.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow
1.0 Ghost
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0.2 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Anerthrystic
0.0.2 Normal

1.1 Morelia Clastolepis

Probably the other way around - you use a dimmer to set the heater to a comfortable level, and the thermostat is there to turn everything off in case temps get too high. So the thermostat is more your fail-safe in this case.

However, you are correct - if the thermostat did fail, and it somehow failed to an ON state, at least the dimmer would be there so the heaters would be not be at 100%.
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Mark

Mark, Great right up agree 100%

Just want to add, you can get RANCO ETC-111000 from online vendors like climate doctors for $45, an extension cord for $10 and with a little knowledge wire your own. Just saying...

The bushing clamp used dealers of pre-wired units often defeats the reasons listed by Mark for the Case...

Cheers
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
0.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow
1.0 Ghost
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0.2 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Anerthrystic
0.0.2 Normal

1.1 Morelia Clastolepis

The Herpstat Pro is 4 thermos in one. You can run 4 different temps with it. It is around $319