# Thermo for my DIY



## Snow_Wolf_Black (Aug 28, 2014)

Hello, another question from me. I guess this comes in 2 parts.



Firstly is do I need a thermostat and heating? I was going to put one in anyway and if it switched on for 10 minutes a day, well its on for 10 minutes a day. I live in the NT, and have an NT Carpet, so really the natural climatic changes should be fine in theory. Recently a slight cold snap seemed to cause the carpet to go off food, which is expected. Now with the BHP, I have a low wattage mat that is constantly on, just to perk up the temp, and I manually measure the temp and random times of the day. From what I have read about BHPs they like their temps 3 or 4 degrees higher, hence the mat. *Question: DO you think it is worthwhile get a mat / lamp and thermo for the NT Carpet?*
Either way I will be getting one for the BHP as the new enclosure will have a heat lamp, higher wattage, and I obviously don't want to cook him. Now I have seen plenty around, Amazing Amazon, Ebay etc. On the extreme I can get one of Ebay for $11, or $250 of amazing amazon and everything inbetween. *Question: What successes or failures have people had? What are important factors to look out for (temp ranges, wattage of equipment, measuring tolerance)?*

Any help will be muchly appreciated.


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## wokka (Aug 28, 2014)

If you use the search function there are plenty of threads about failed heat matts. Generally as price increases so does reliablity. Unfortunately in price driven markets the makers of reliable product cant always compete and so go out of business. If you stick with the better known names you'll have a better chance of success.It cost the same to ship poor quality as good quality so ask the supplier as they normally want long term business rather than a short term kill!


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## Snow_Wolf_Black (Aug 28, 2014)

wokka said:


> If you use the search function there are plenty of threads about failed heat matts. Generally as price increases so does reliablity. Unfortunately in price driven markets the makers of reliable product cant always compete and so go out of business. If you stick with the better known names you'll have a better chance of success.It cost the same to ship poor quality as good quality so ask the supplier as they normally want long term business rather than a short term kill!


thanks wokka I will look through


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## MrVic (Aug 29, 2014)

Buy once, buy right. 

I spent $150 on a dimming thermostat for my Bob that has day and night temperature limits for 24hr comfort. 
Sure I could have gone and spent <$25 on a thermostat but I didn't, I invested in a Quality product in the hope that it should outlast the snake it's keeping warm  

That's not to say that a quality product won't fail. They all have the capacity to fall. Spend what you are comfortable spending. 

A cheaper non Pnp unit would need to be wired by an electrician so add an additional ~$100 to the overall costs. Unless you happen to be a sparky.


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## Snow_Wolf_Black (Aug 29, 2014)

MrVic said:


> Buy once, buy right.
> 
> I spent $150 on a dimming thermostat for my Bob that has day and night temperature limits for 24hr comfort.
> Sure I could have gone and spent <$25 on a thermostat but I didn't, I invested in a Quality product in the hope that it should outlast the snake it's keeping warm
> ...


hey mrvic too true. agree with you wholeheartedly. I love my snakes so really I would rather get something I know is going to treat them well. I believe my wife is picking up two secondhand ecotech thermostat and timer LCD today. they seem to have gotten some really decent reviews on petbarn. any thoughts or comments?


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## MrVic (Aug 29, 2014)

Snow_Wolf_Black said:


> hey mrvic too true. agree with you wholeheartedly. I love my snakes so really I would rather get something I know is going to treat them well. I believe my wife is picking up two secondhand ecotech thermostat and timer LCD today. they seem to have gotten some really decent reviews on petbarn. any thoughts or comments?



I'm using the EcoTech EGT45.it's the dimming thermostat with day/night function with a timer for the light. 
The alarm can be a tad annoying. I ended up turning mine off (muting) as it would alarm each time it came to 0700 or 1900 (lights on and off) 
I only wanted it to alarm when the temp fell outside of the set limits. 
I really should troubleshoot it but meh...


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## Snow_Wolf_Black (Aug 30, 2014)

I got an ecotech dtc 100. seems to be working well atm, but need another 2.


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