alright i bought the probe thermometer and put it under the substrate and waited about 5-10 mins and looked at the temp... i immidiatly unplugged the UTH and aplogized to my little baby. It was creeping over 95 degrees F. I feel so bad. But that temp would explain why he was 'chilling' over on the cool side of the viv.
Ok so now the ultimate question is how can i regulate that UTH better? I have read about rheostats and timers and stuff but i dont know what to get.
I currently have a christmas light timer that can turn the UTH on and off at hour intervals expample turn on at 8am shut off at noon turn back on at 3pm and off at whatever time. Would that be a good solution??
Well lets start off with the basics. The first thing you need to do is consider your money situation. If you can afford to, a thermostat is by far the better option. If money is a concern, then a simple lamp dimmer is your best option.
Here is a lamp dimmer which you would plug into the wall and plug the UTH into (I like this one, it has a night light!). Then you simply adjust the dimmer until the UTH functions at the temps you want. Notice that this method will require adjustment as room temperatures change.
Your thermostat options are boundless. Some are cheaper, such as the
Zilla Temperature Controller (500w) and some can get rather expensive.
I can tell you that you want a digital thermostat, which the Zilla isn't, but once you get it set to the right temp your good to go. I currently deploy two of these Zilla TStats and my only complaint is the fact that they need set about 3-5 degrees higher to reach the temps I want (temp gun used to determine actual temps). That and they can be a little bit noisy when switching the UTH on and off, but you get used to it.
At the very least, get a dimmer like what I showed you and do away with a timer, they simply wont fit the bill.
