Reptile & Amphibian Forums

np

A thermostat will shut on and off to keep a temperature within a range. It powers at full wattage then shuts off until it gets to a certain temp.
A rheostat keeps the temp at a constant because it is always on. You control how much wattage is being released thus keeping the temp very close to the same at all times.
hope this helps
Bruce
Geckosbydesign

recomending a thermostat???
If it shuts off the temps are probably fluctuating all day, where as the rheostat keeps it at a determined temp, without the fluctuations.
So why is it the thermostat cost more and more people suggest it???
Just curious
Thanks
Jack

Well, lets consider this, you have 2 tanks side by side in the same room.
Tank A is controlled by a thermostat, Tank B by a rheostat.
You get both tanks set up for a comfortable 88 deg. on the hot side.
Now lets say it is summer time when you set this up, winter time rolls around and the temps in the house go down. The thermostat is going to adjust tank A and leave the pad on until the temp goes up to the preset 88 degrees. The rheostat is going to keep putting out the same amount of juice to the pad regardless of the temp, so while tank A stays at the 88 degrees you want, tank B is going to be cooler because it isn't changing based on outside factors like room temps. Flip that around to spring when you set the rheostat. Summer arrives and the room is warmer, Thermostat will turn off heat pad when desired temp is reached, rheostat keeps pad on regardless of room being hotter, now your temp in tank B is at 95+ because it is being heated by the higher room temps and the same wattage from the rheostat.
Hope that answered your question.
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Sam
Gecko Den
Email Me

Jack they do two different things. A thermostat measures the temp and the rheostat when attached to your under tank heater will help you adjust it by controling how much power the heater gets, it lets you fine tune the temperature which is measured buy a thermostat. Hope that helps ya

I personally like the thermomstat better than the rheostat but that's because my animals are housed in the room where the temperature fluctuates a great deal especially in the afternoon where it gets afternoon sun. I set the max temperature at 88F degrees and the thermostat will turn the heat off once it reaches my max and turns it back on when the temperature drops below 88F degrees. However if the room where you have your geckos stays pretty much the same temperature throughout the day then a rheostat will work fine.

np