Room Heater   Products    Environment Control       Herpstat       Herpstat ND       Herpstat II       Herpstat PRO       Herpstat Humidity       Herpstat Accesories       Night Drop Cable       Replacement Probe       USB Data Cable   BUY DIRECT       Online Store   News       What's New?   Projects       Future Development   About Us       Company Info       Reseller Info       Terms Question: Can I use a Herpstat product to control a space heater in my reptile room? Answer: We do not currently have any products that will work with space heaters. A proportional thermostat is not the ideal way of controlling a space heater because of the high wattage requirements of the heater. All proportional thermostats use a component called a triac. This is a small device that acts as a switch for the AC current. All the current going to the heater will pass through this device and the triac will generate heat. The more wattage....the more heat. This heat has to be dealt with so the triacs are equiped with heat sinks and in units such as our Herpstat II and Herpstat Pro internal fans will activate to cool the unit if necessary. A space heater (unlike a incubator or other well insulated enclosure) tends to spend most of its time on especially if set on low. This means the device would be putting out the max wattage (due to the high wattage of the heater) for long amounts of time. Its the equivelant of running your car engine hard. Eventually something will give and the car will not last as long. Larger heatsinks (like a aluminum enclosure with fans similar to a audio amplifier) would allow it to work however you add quite a bit of cost to the product and you still have a room that is going to fluxuate in temps more than a standard enclosure. For room heat I recommend a Johnson Controls or Ranco thermostat. In place of a triac they use a relay which is a mechanical switch. These do not give proportional control but also do not produce any additional heat from the components. Relays are designed to carry high wattage loads. These thermostat can be obtained much cheaper than a proportional thermostat and I feel are much safer for a room heat setup. In most cases they will do just fine keeping the room within a couple of degrees. Dion Brewington Owner, Spyder Robotics The information in the article is the opinion of the author and is to be used at your own risk. Spyder Robotics assumes no responsibility for the use of this information.