Thermostat help

[MrsShellington]

I bought a ceramic heat emitter and a digital thermostat with a probe that I can set to 80 for night time heat. Where do I stick the probe for the thermostat?

 

[Jodie]

I put it on the coldest, furthest from the CHE, so the minimum is maintained everywhere.

 

[MrsShellington]

Ok so put the probe on the opposite side of the tank that the CHE is on and set it to 80? That won't make it too hot directly under the CHE??

 

[Jodie]

While it is on, it will make it hotter than the other side yes. Watch the temp there and move it towards the center of the tank, if it gets too hot.

 

[Tom]

The CHE should be mounted over the center of the tank, so that it warms the whole thing. It should not be getting too hot under it. You will need to let it run for a couple hours and raise or lower it to get the correct temp under it. Or you can run it through a rheostat if its too hot and you can't raise it up.

You can run a rheostat in-line with a thermostat.

 

[MrsShellington]

Thank you! This might be a silly question but what is the difference between a thermostat and a rheostat?

 

[Markw84]

A thermostat automatically maintains a selected temperature you set. When the temperature drops below your set point it turns on your heat source plugged into it. When the temperature rises and reaches the set point it turns it off. So if set at 80f when the temperature is below 80 the heat is on. When above 80 the heat is off. Just like the thermostat in your home controlling your heating system

A rheostat controls how much power goes to your heat source. Usually has a dial or slider switch where you can adjust the amount of current going to the heat source from 0 - 100%. A dimmer switch like you would have on a light is a rheostat. So if you have a 150 CHE and that gets too hot for your enclosure, you can adjust the rheostat to say 50% and it will preform like a 75 watt CHE. That way you can select the exact amount of heat you want it to produce when turned on