Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello!

I apologize for sounding like a novice- in advance. Here are my questions.

1. Is there a way rig a radiant heat panel, CPU fan, and fogger so that ventilation, humidity, and temperature are proportionally controlled from one unit?

2. Zoo Med HygroTherm Humidity and Temperature Controller- anyone like them? I'm thinking I could run these to control humidity and the fan, and use a larger PC thermostat to control the radiant panels or flexwatt.

3. Is it possible/safe to use more than one radiant panel on a single Helix or HerpStat?

If you're wondering, proud mom of 1 adult ball pythons, 2 juvenile ball pythons, one Columbian tegu, and one russian tortoise. I'm looking to upgrade husbandry in their display cages.

First off, use a temperature controller for the radiant heat panel. A proportional cntlr is the best and easiest tool for this. It varies the amount of ON time to better approach and hold temperature. Heat panels and heat pads have no moving parts, so you can pulse them all day long with no problem.

You can control multiple heat panels with a single controller. Wattage is additive. So, two heat panels each being 40 watts means 80 watts total load. Most proportional controllers will handle at least 300 watts, so no problem. Keep in mind you have one probe, so make sure the probe is always in a cage where the heat panel is connected to the controller. If you are going to unplug a heat panel in one cage for awhile, put the probe in the cage with the plugged-in heater.

There are some models that have 2 zones and 2 probes if you want to go that route. Cheaper than 2 units. But you can use a single controller if desired.

Fans are inductive loads - they have moving parts, I would not put one on a proportional controller. And, I wouldn't put it on the cntlr controlling the heat panels - the fan speed would decrease when warm and increase with cold. Is that what you want? Why do you need a fan?

Humidity control - use a relay (ON/OFF) controller for humidity I would guess. Does the fogger have moving parts - e.g. a fan?

Helix's are very good, Herpstats are very good, anything like those are great for heat panels, heat tape, heat pads, ceramic emitters.