Does anyone use a thermostat?

[solstitialis]

I am looking at the Herpstat thermostats and the Helix DBS 1000.

I just want something to maintain my tortoises shed at the right temperature, but not *too* high as I want it to be fairly energy efficient.

Do these fancy thermostats work well, or am I better off just buying a cheap manual rheostat?

Can you just buy a thermostat from the hardware store, or does it have to be herp specific?

 

[Yvonne G]

If you buy a pig blanket, you should also buy the controller that goes with it. The controller is set to a certain number and it goes on and off to maintain that temperature. Also, if you supplement with a space heater, your shed will probably be cold enough that the heater will stay on constantly. I use the deVilblis (spelling?) oil filled radiator-type electric space heater in one of my sheds. I set it on the energy saving setting (600watts) and the highest setting within that range. But in the other sheds, I've insulated them well, and they stay warm inside with just the pig blankets and the black lights hanging from the ceiling.

 

[chadk]

If you have the $$$ a good t-stat would be awesome. But they can be a bit tricky to rig. You don't NEED a herp specific design, but they tend to come with probes and other things setup and ready for herps. But if you just want to manage the ambient temps, then any good t-stat would do.

My shed does not have a t-stat. I just monitor the temps and make adjustements when needed (not often). I have CHEs and a space heater with built in t-stat (just on or off, not variable). Works fine for me. But a t-stat would help with just being able to set it and forget it...

 

[Madkins007]

I use a Zoo Med rheostat, and really like it. You need to make sure the unit can handle the wattage of the heating system, and the bigger the gap between what it is rated for and what you use, the safer it is.

The more costly units offer better control, more reliability, features like night drops, etc. I would suggest that the more heat you are running through it, the better the unit should be.