Reptile & Amphibian Forums

IM BUILDING A FEW NEW CAGES 6X2.5X2.5 AND I WANT TO GO WITH HEAT PANELS MOUNTED ON THE TOP. WHAT BRAND IS GOOD AND IS THERE A LESS EXPENSIVE THERMOSTAT AVALIBLE UNDER $100. AND IF YOU ARE USEING ONE YOUR SELF HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?

Heat panels are an excellent source of heat for tropical reptiles (or any reptile actually) needing a large heated area. I've tried ProProducts and Helix - both are fine. So are Enerjoy from www.beanfarm.com.

The whole concept of having a heater that heats like a spot lamp without giving off light makes it perfect for a proportional controller. Look at Big Apple's proportional - I think its $100. Also, Rancos are good for ON/OFF control (like $60). My opinion is that having heat panels and not using a proportional controller is like buying a really nice car but then getting cheap tires. A proportional controller will make the heaters last longer too, like years longer.

How does a proportional controller work?? What does it do? I don't use heat panels so I'm new to this. Thanks for your time.

Bill

Let's just use an example. Say you have a ceramic heat emitter or a heat panel in a cage. Place the sensor of the proportional controller where you want to measure the temp, say in the center of the cage in the air. Say your desired temp is 80 deg, and the current temp is 65 deg. When you first turn everything on, the controller will deliver constant voltage and current to the heater. As the temp approaches the range (called the proportional band) say for example 75 deg, the controller starts pulsing current to the heater. As the temp approaches 80 deg, the pulses get smaller and smaller in time length. When the temp hits 80, the controller delivers no power. As the temp just starts to drop again, the controller sends small pulses as necessary to reach 80 deg.

So you can see, with a proportional controller the heater stays very close to the setpoint (your dialed-in temp on the controller). This extends the life of the heater because the heating element is not warming up then cooling off then warming up then cooling off etc - it is just staying warm but controlled.

An ordinary ON/OFF controller (i.e. the $30 ones you see alot) applies full power until 80 deg, then shuts off and usually allows a drop of 4 deg then turns back on. So the heating element heats up, then cools alot (much faster than the cage temp cools) then heats up.. it does nothing to help heating element life but does control your temps.

ON/OFF control is the method of choice for heaters (or coolers) that heat very slowly or have moving parts like fans or else in insulated cages/containers (i.e. incubators) where the temp change is slow to cool. Proportional controllers are for heaters that heat fairly quickly and have no moving parts (and emit no light, because how annoying would a flashing light be) or in cages that cool quickly if the heater goes off for more than a few seconds.

OK DOES PRO PRODUCTS HAVE A WEB SITE OR ANY OTHER SITE CARRY THEM. AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP WITH HEAT PANELS YOU CLEARED UP A LOT FOR ME.

n/m
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Mark

OK I FOUND THE HEAT PANELS FOR MY APPLICATION. NOW IF THE PANEL IS 75 WATTS WHY WOULD I NEED 1000WATTS FROM A HELIX BASIC THERMOSTAT? AND A BOOSTER TO GET EVEN MORE POWER? WHY SO MUCH POWER?

Who told you that you need that much? To be safe, I try to always have a device capable of at least 25% more than the load. The load is 75 watts, so you need a controller rated at least 95 watts (this is my own rule, not that of the manufacturer). I think the basic Helix system is 150 watts (may have changed since I last looked.) The point is, you're covered with the basic model. You don't need the power boost UNLESS YOU PLAN ON ADDING MORE CAGES AND HEAT PANELS TO THIS ONE CONTROLLER. Then you need it, or else just get another Helix for the next cage.