I've been using thermostats in my tortoise enclosures since I started keeping tortoises, but have recently been upgrading from pretty basic ones to slightly more sophisticated (and slightly more expensive) ones.
I started with these, with which you program in your desired temperature and place the sensor in your enclosure... when the sensor registers a temperature before the desired temp, it turns on the heating element plugged into it; when it reaches the desired temperature, the thermostat turns off the hearing element.
I keep the thermostat in Darwin's, the Redfoot I live with, enclosure set to 86°, and it cycles within a degree or two of that all the time.
When I set up the bigger enclosure, for Aretha, the MEP I love with, I needed a thermostat that could handle higher wattage as I was using a more powerful heating element. The benefit I hadn't planned on was that this type of thermostat allows me to program in a range of temperature for the enclosure.
I have Aretha's enclosure thermostat set to have the heat come on when the temperature sensor registers 68° and turn off again when it registers 84°, allowing a 16° range through which the enclosure cycles.
(I also have a CHE in one corner, near the UV lighting that runs on a 12/12 cycle, so that she can come over to find some extra warmth if she's in the mood)
I'd be interested in hearing about other uses of, or preferences with, thermostats....
Jamie
I started with these, with which you program in your desired temperature and place the sensor in your enclosure... when the sensor registers a temperature before the desired temp, it turns on the heating element plugged into it; when it reaches the desired temperature, the thermostat turns off the hearing element.
I keep the thermostat in Darwin's, the Redfoot I live with, enclosure set to 86°, and it cycles within a degree or two of that all the time.
When I set up the bigger enclosure, for Aretha, the MEP I love with, I needed a thermostat that could handle higher wattage as I was using a more powerful heating element. The benefit I hadn't planned on was that this type of thermostat allows me to program in a range of temperature for the enclosure.
I have Aretha's enclosure thermostat set to have the heat come on when the temperature sensor registers 68° and turn off again when it registers 84°, allowing a 16° range through which the enclosure cycles.
(I also have a CHE in one corner, near the UV lighting that runs on a 12/12 cycle, so that she can come over to find some extra warmth if she's in the mood)
I'd be interested in hearing about other uses of, or preferences with, thermostats....
Jamie