Thermostats

[houseofcutler]

After several weeks of fiddling with the temps in my table I am thinking of getting a thermostat to take care of things for me.

Currently I have a 100W Arcadia D3 Combined bulb and a 40W Halogen.
I had to get the halogen as the as the D3 bulb want putting out enough heat on its own.

I have a few questions

1 - Is there a minimum load required for the habistat thermostats? (my halogen is only 40W)

2 - Will a pulse proportional thermostat work with a halogen or any bulb as long as it is suitable for dimming?

3 - Is there anything else I should be aware of when buying a thermostat.

Thanks

[rosshan]

Im sure someone will be along shortly with the facts. But i dont think you can put a thermo stat on combo bulbs. I think its because of the nature of the bulb, that it takes time to brighten. So it cant be 'quick switched'.

[houseofcutler]

Originally Posted by rosshan

Im sure someone will be along shortly with the facts. But i dont think you can put a thermo stat on combo bulbs. I think its because of the nature of the bulb, that it takes time to brighten. So it cant be 'quick switched'.

Sorry should have been clearer - I know the combi bulbs are not suitable fro dimming etc. my plan is to use the thermostat for the halogen one.

[wigwamman]

dimming stats work best with bulbs,never used pulse stat but would imagine you would have a flashing bulb.
just looked up habistat dimmer it says 5 to 600 watt so should be o.k.

[houseofcutler]

Originally Posted by wigwamman

dimming stats work best with bulbs,never used pulse stat but would imagine you would have a flashing bulb.
just looked up habistat dimmer it says 5 to 600 watt so should be o.k.

Thanks for that - I have seen that now too - best get shopping...

[Ozric Jonathan]

As said above a dimming thermostat is the best for use with a halogen bulb. The pulse proportional stats work really well with ceramic heat emitters.

I was using a dimming stat with a halogen lamp indoors but in the end I stopped using the dimmer. If the halogen lamp is placed 'near enough' the tortoise will select the distance from the heat which is right for it. I got fed up with the probe - unless it is in the right place it's no real use but it can be moved about by tortoise and the cable was a nuisance as well.

If you go for a dimming stat I suggest a 100 watt halogen something like this one

http://www.bltdirect.com/product.php?pid=7543&cat=1593

A lot of the time your halogen might be working at half power on the dimmer but that extra power will be useful at some point.

[houseofcutler]

Thanks for that Jonathan thats what I needed to know.
I am curious though the dimming habistat description at surry pet supplies says:

"Clearly, not what is required of a basking light. If the wattage of the light bulb is reduced, then the intensity of the heat locally will be greater, or proportional. "

Are they referring to the non halogen type of bulb?

[Ozric Jonathan]

Hi Ben. I had a look at the surrey pets site and I think what they mean is not to use a really powerful heater with a dimming stat if the enclsoure is small and easily heated because the heater will hardly be working. And the heater would have the effect of raising the temperature in the whole enclosure which is not what we are aiming at.

This is where the placement of the probe comes in as well because the temp will be maintained by the lamp at the location of the probe. If we have the probe at the hotspot to get that temperature right then the tortoise may sit on top of the probe or otherwise mess it up. If we put the probe somewhere else then we would have to compensate for this by setting the stat to a higher temperature. This is why I stopped using the dimmer stat for a basking spot but other keepers find it works well for them.