you need to put ur probe dirctly under your heat source, (ceramic or spot) which presumably is the basking area then you just set it to your basking temp and plug everything in.
: victory:

 

i place the probe more towards the cool end, the habistat dimmers go to a maximum of 92 i think and you want a basking spot of 105-110,

place the probe towards the cool end and set it to 85, that way the bulb stays bright and your basking area is a good hot spot, might take a few goes to get cool end right and basking area right but it does work, just might have to move it a few times

 

the dimmerstat will only goto 92 degrees so you need to put it somewhere that it will be within the range on the stat mine is roughly a third across the viv where i know its about 88 degrees measured with a digital temp then i can adjust higher or lower hope that helps someone has asked this before so if you look there will be replies for this

 

The best place for a stat probe is near the cool end set to the temps you dont want the cool end to go above [85ish]

 

hey

i got my habistat thermostat (temp stat) 300w on my mat should i have it on the bulb my 100w exo terra bulb or on the mat or one on each and do i set it to fill temp on the bulb for the basking spot or to 85f for the tank heat or just 85f on the mat do i leave the mat on 27/7 or off at night.. thanx

 

why dont you guys know this stuff?

the reason for the stat is what? if it is to keep the temps in the cool end from overheating then the idea is to have the equipment do just that.

you put a bulb or mat or both down one end of the viv...

in the other end you have your cool end.
if you put the probe for the stat one foot away from the cool end wall you know anything past the probe will be as cool or cooler than the probe... and thus what it is set to.

so if you need a cool end of under 85 degrees you set the probe where you want it, set the stat to 85, close all the doors of the viv... wait till the heatsource whatever that is..turns itself off... and look at the temps to check they are accurate to what the stat is set to using...if possible...a digital thermometer.

what you have acomplished is getting your heat source to shut off when the temp where the probe is [beg of cool end] and everything after it..staying at the temps you want.

 

Another lovely explaination from Dean! My probe is about 10 inches from the wall of my cool end. Do I get brownie points?!?!?!

: victory:

 

you are a very clever young lady :Na_Na_Na_Na:

 

what heating you run through the stat is up to you..ideally...all...
but at the same time if one item alone is not going to overheat the viv theres no need....
BUT... a lightbulb on anormal temp stat wont last long and will be on,off,on,off etc which is NO GOOD AT ALL.
Likewise a heatmat alone on a dimmer stat wont function correctly.


example for coolfool.

100watt bulb
heat mat.

temp thermostat 300w.
bearded dragon

-----
firstly the stat is not ideal for your basking bulb and it will not last long on that stat and will work out quite expensive replacing often and possibly do your beardies head in with the constant on off flicking.

however a single 100watt basking bulb in a 4x2x2 viv is prolly not gona get the temps up to the point the stat will kick in... however...inb your other thread you said your having probs gettin it above 70 degrees so im lost...
I would expect if you had the bulb on all day... underneath the bulb at around 6-10 inches you would get your 100-115 degree basking area.
with a cool end 5 degrees above room temp.

estimated.

 

Whoops, no I'm not, because I just realised that this is about dimmers! Mines an on/off hooked up to my heat mat. It switches on when the cool temp drops, which is usually only when the room is cold (very rare) and at night....

: victory:

 

no you still are, as it goes for dimming stats more than for others...mainly for bulbs basically which we all tend to use dimmer stats with.

I got sidetracked.


With bulbs we want to protect the cool end so as already said, with mats and whatever reps do best with mats over bulbs then its the surface temp of the mat often more important to have statted than the cool end... buy using a properly small mat the cool end air temp [and certainely surface temp as no heating there] should stay fine and not really go above room temp by more than a degree or 2.
viv dependant of course.

we use bulbs for most of our lizards, heat mats for leos... and with those its the mat temp we stat but they are all in well ventilated "tubs" or faunariums in a cooler area of the rep rooms.

cool end is still important to protect of course and if i could get a heatmat that never went over the 100 mark on its surface itd be much easier and we could just have the stat probe in the cool end as you said which would make things easier.

 

The whole stat issue confused me for ages because I'm not technical at all and I can understand where people get stuck. I have the mat for the ackie mainly as a back up if the bulb goes, then at least his basking rocks will be warm for him to lay on til we sort out the bulb.

Now we have a few vivs in the same room it stays nice and warm, I go and sit in it when I get cold and play with them

: victory:

 

we had a huge issue trying to keep our main rep room cool this past summer.
It was just about managable when we unplugged about 600watts of bulbs from various vivs that werent actually needed, made all the difference [well liek 2 degrees]
may get a secondary air conditioning unit before this summer mind.

its nice to be warm yeh.

 

Ours was ok over summer, which is weird as that room is south facing so always has the sun. I guess if it gets too hot this year we will drop the ackies bulb to a 75 watt. The others only have low watt bulbs as they're purely for light and the swift has one of those arcadia bulbs which provides her heat and UV in one, so I don't know what we'll do if she overheats....oh no, she has a mat as well so I could turn that off.

I'm now a bit concerned about boiling them!! Oh well, we'll see when and if summer weather comes!

: victory:

 

I think yourl be ok with that lot.
we have a basement room, so no windows just a hole for the air con unit to blow out of.. and that was throwing out a lot of heat to the outside.

we had a lot of heat bulbs in amny viv sin there plus erm...the lighting in the actual room consits of about 40 of those bluumin spot bulbs set into the ceilin...which i think added to the problem. May very well once the summer is here bring alternative lighting into the room and keep those off.

all the best.
ttfn

 

Thanks for all the help guys, got it set up this evening, gonna monitor it over the next few days anyway, quick and more then likely stupid question for you, when my room temp goes up in the eve when im home and turn on the heating, the vivs temp obviously goes up too, but will that throw off the stat or will is just keep working as normal??:bash:,
i know but i just wanted to ask anyway:lol2:

Thanks again.
Vinnie.

 

yeh it will mean your cool end will get hotter than it would if the room was still cool and so the light will dimm earlier..
if set up corectly and the probe is near cool end as said then it should still stay within limits its set to.. thats what its for.

defo worth heating the place up whilst you keep an eye on it though to see for yourself.

if you have the heating on a lot and find the bulb dimms a lot.. then dropping down a wattge or adding extra ventilation in the viv is the way to go.


all the best.