Timers and Thermostats

[Ambaryerno]

So I'm finally making the move on getting a garter, and have a terrarium set up. Right now the bioactives are cycling in advance of getting the snake, and I'm trying to fine-tune the lighting and heating. Here's my dilemma:

I'm using a Reptisun UVB bulb for a basking lamp. I've tried adjusting the height, but I'm concerned the tank is running about 5 degrees warmer by the end of the day than it should (hits just under 90 in the warm side, and 80 in the cool side). I currently have the lamp on a timer.

Rather than adjust the schedule and reduce the amount of time the basking lamp is running, I decided a more accurate alternative would be to add a thermostat. After doing some looking around, I picked up a Vivosun, which I was told would retain its settings when powered down. Except it doesn't. When the timer switches the lamp off at night,the thermostat resets back to its factory defaults.

Now, the timer DOES have an internal battery and will retain its settings when powered down, so I thought I could reverse the setup: Plug the thermostat into the wall, and the timer into the thermostat, however I'm concerned that the lamp may not be powering on at all in this configuration (it's hard to tell with my timer how to bypass it, short of changing the off/on schedule).

Any thoughts on this?

[MNGuy]

What’s the heat source for the tank? 80 sounds warm for the cool side of the tank. It should be in the mid-70s. 90 sounds hot, too. Mid to high 80s should be sufficient.

I keep my heat basking light/heating pad on a thermometer plugged into a timer and leave the separate UVB light on with a timer plugged into a different outlet and no thermometer without any impact on temperature.

[Ambaryerno]

I realize it's hot, thus why I was looking for a solution (granted, my thermometer/hygrometers could also be badly placed). ;-)

I tested the system this morning, and the lamp does turn on with the thermostat in the wall, and the timer into the thermostat. I'll see how the temperatures look when I get home from work, but I think that should do it.

[BPGator]

The setup you described should work. Having the thermostat connected to the wall, the timer to your thermostat and the light to your timer should accomplish what you want. When the timer is on and allows the light to turn on, your thermostat will power on and off based on the temperature reading. When the timer cuts power to the lights, the thermostat will recognize it is too cold and just stay "on" all night, but the lights will be off since the timer doesn't allow current through. The only issue could be if cutting power to the timer affects times when it turns on/off.

I'm wondering if this could all be avoided with a lower wattage bulb. I keep the room with my snakes at 75F and put a 25W bulb over my vivs. This results in a hot spot in the low 80s. The UVB bulbs come in a 13W and 26W varieties.

[Ambaryerno]

The problem seems to be finding a combo UVB/Visible Light bulb (I'm limited on space for multiple light sources) that's lower than 80W. What's your thoughts on the Sunray 35W?