habistat thermostat

[mrmacca]

hi all ,
i have a habistat dimming thermostat a 600w that i use only on my 4ft viv , is there anyway that i can run 2 bulbs from it as i would like to use it on my 3ft viv too , can this be done , if so can someone tell me how.
many thanks
dave

[fixitsan]

Originally Posted by mrmacca

hi all ,
i have a habistat dimming thermostat a 600w that i use only on my 4ft viv , is there anyway that i can run 2 bulbs from it as i would like to use it on my 3ft viv too , can this be done , if so can someone tell me how.
many thanks
dave

Dave, yes it can be done, but you should only consider doing it for the tank which houses the temperature probe. If you don't then your 4 foot tank will have proper temperature control and the 3 foot tank will have no control at all.

Obviously , a 4 foot tank is likely to need more heat than the 3 foot tank (all other things being equal) and this will most likley mean that the 3 foot tank will be overheated at times.

Some people do it and say that it is safe, but speaking as a control and automation engineer, if you are going to run something like a heater without any direct control you are only creating a potentially dangerous situation somewhere down the line.

It's always going to be better to use 1 stat per viv, and it is no problem making 1 stat work several heating devices in that 1 viv as long as the total power demand of all the heaters doesn't exceed the power rating which the stat is able to control. (600w in your case)

If you have identical vivs, or rubs, then you have a slightly better chance of getting similar temperatures, but, some people have reported that their heat mats have overheated. Obviously if a mat overheats in a viv which does not have a probe then there is no way to avoid a disaster.

Chris