Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have around a 300 square foot room that I would like to heat. I am probably going to use a space heater, but I want it hooked up to a thermostat for safety reasons. The space heater is 1500 watts, what would be the best thermostat for this. The helix is only rated at 500 watts if I am correct. What would be the best thing for me to use? I would be greatful for any help. Thank you in advance.

Thomas McCallie

i'm not sure what you mean by space heater.what i use and like ia an oil filled electric heater i found at wal-mart,it cost about $38,it has three settings:600,900 and 1500 watts,you can use 1500 watts to get the room temp where you want then switch to 600 watts to maintain that temp at a encomical setting.it has a built in thermosat.at only 300 sq. ft.it will heat that room very easy.have fun!

Well when i had my big burm, she was 16 feet long, i had her in a 10x13 room with all the hookups like trees tubs etc. I used a pig blanket for half of the room. I dont know if they sell them here as the one i had was 220, as i lived in england at the time. basically is was a big thick heat pad, a rubber amt that was 5x8 and stayed a constant 95 degrees. Then i had all the uv lights and hides and 3what nots in the room as well. I was going to use space heaters but they were just too dangerous IMO

ken
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0.1 Albino Cal. King (Fokker)
1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn (trouble)
0.1 Creamsicle Corn (Spot)
0.0.2 Anery (Thanks Jimmy)
1.2 Dogs(2 Boxers, Cookie and Joe, Lhasa Apso, George)
1.0 Betta
0.1 Wife
0.1 Kid

That is a big area to heat. An oil filled heater might do it.
If you are going to use this room long term for herps, and you truly want to heat it.
I would suggest installing another zone in your heating system.
Cheap no...again, I said long term.
If you already have fairly good ambient heat, then the oiled filled heater might be your ticket.
Or...how about an electric baseboard for a long term solution?

Thomas,

My recommendation is that you NOT use a room heater. I have known people who have lost entire collections depending on the thermostat of the room heater. The room heaters that you are describing were never meant to be used 365 days a year 24 hours a day. The thermostats built in these devices are not the highest quality and if they fail they often fail on the on position therefore potentially heating the room to temperatures that can kill your reptiles.

Winston

I just did a quick search on the caging classifieds and came up with this product.

http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=22&de=191323

I've also heard this guy is great to deal with.

>>I have around a 300 square foot room that I would like to heat. I am probably going to use a space heater, but I want it hooked up to a thermostat for safety reasons.

Absolutely hook it up to a thermostat. I exclusively use those oil-filled, radiator-style heaters that have already been mentioned. They are the safest electric room heaters by far, even safer than electric baseboard heaters, or so I've heard.

Mine is run through a cheap 1500 watt thermostat I found at a farm supply store. It has served me well for years but I'm about to retire it and buy one of the thermostats listed above.

How well one of these heaters will do in a 300 sq. foot room is a tough question.

I have used them to heat rooms that were about 200 sq. ft and they were remarkably efficient. I was able to leave the heater on the 900 watt setting and the thermostat rarely cycled on.

Now that I think about it, a friend of mine used one to heat an insulated two-car garage. He basically had it running full-bore on the 1500 watt setting but the room did stay in the low 80's. This was in early December in South Dakota - pretty impressive. He may have had to add a second heater later that winter, I don't remember.

I have a 7'x7' room in my garage that is uninsulated and has a large, hollow-core door. I just taped up some of that cheap, foil/bubble insulation. I did not weather-strip the door.

My heater is keeping that room in the mid-80's on the 600 watt setting. It is running almost non-stop so I may have to turn it up to 900 watts when the temps in the rest of the garage fall below freezing. Right now they are just above freezing.
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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

I use the oil filled style heater in my herp room as well. It does an excellent job. Helix does in fact make a 1500 watt system but it is around 220.00 it is the 1007. An on/off would be a better choice though. Dennis is an excellent guy! You will not be disappointed with him at all...
-Matt Graybeal
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www.mgreptiles.com
CBB Herps and Heating Supplies

Is the one it the link like the one you were talking about, the on/off type? I am new to thermostats. I would like to thank everyone for their help.

Thomas McCallie

http://www.mgreptiles.com/THERMOCOMPARE.html Check out this link, I made up a small comparison chart for the main tstats that everyone uses... Hope this helps,
-Matt
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www.mgreptiles.com
CBB Herps and Heating Supplies