Spyder Robotics Herpstat 1 Review

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wodesorel
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Spyder Robotics Herpstat 1 Review

Post by wodesorel » Fri Dec 08, 2017 9:11 pm

I got tired last year of always having to adjust the heating in my critter room based on what the weather was doing outside. (Old house.) Since moving it into one of the bedrooms that is three times the size, I really didn't want to spend weeks adjusting it and then having to readjust for Ohio weather changes now that there are three big windows affecting the temps. Over the summer I used a window A/C with a built in thermostat which was insanely easy and worry free in keeping the temperature stable at 78 degrees. I got spoiled! However, I did not feel comfortable running a heater non-stop in cold weather and didn't want to worry about the humidity levels from hot air heating. I tried blasting the furnace grate wide open for a while which made the heating perfect if not on the high side, but the humidity dropped to 13% in the room and the enclosures were drying out within a couple of days.

I choose to heat the entire room (11x18) with a 150 W ceramic heater. It's pretty much the same as having a giant enclosure and the Herpistat would work the same way on a crabitat with a smaller bulb. I have the furnace mostly closed off to this room so that it doesn't end up overheating the room and so the humidity stays higher. I also have a HEPA filter running that helps circulate air and the temperature.

I REALLY love this thing. I spent 5 minutes setting it up and haven't touched it since! Temp has been perfect.

This model has one probe and can do either temp or humidity. They make other models that can do both, or can run even more probes for multiple tanks. For heat you can choose dimming (rheostat) or straight on/off for adjustments. With humidity it will control a fogger or humidifier when it gets too low.

It also has a built in night cycle option so you can set the day and night temps to be different. I have mine drop 5 degrees at night for more natural heating. I really like that it comes with a ramping feature as well, you get to set how much time the day to night and vice versa transition takes. I have mine set to adjust slowly over an hour.

The menu takes a little while to get used to, there is only three buttons - an enter button, and up/down buttons. It's short and sweet though.

The probe it comes with has a 10 foot cord. The power cord is longer as well, I think 6 feet.

It also comes with a small built in battery so if power is lost or you need to move it the settings are saved as well as the time. The only time the temp settings resets is if you change the mode from heating to humidity.

I like that these thermostats will fail into the off position so there will be no roasted critters in the event of trouble. They also come with back ups to prevent damage and overheating.

The also have an optional audible alarm that will sound when the temp gets to a level that you set. I have mine set to alert us if it gets over 90 or under 72. It's a nice feature in case the bulb goes without me noticing or in case I turn it off and forget to turn it back on. That has happened before!

There are other companies out there that make similar, but I chose this one because of the safety features and also because the night cycle was built in. With others the night cycle is an optional add on unit that costs more.

I spend $140 on my Herpistat and I feel it was a great investment. I now have 24 reptiles/amphibians, 40 some hermits, and around 80 scorpions in this room, so for keeping them safe and comfortable all winter long it was totally worth it! When we get around to building the new crabitat I plan on getting the next model up that has dual controls so that it will make things easier there as well.

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aussieJJDude
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Re: Spyder Robotics Herpstat 1 Review

Post by aussieJJDude » Fri Dec 08, 2017 11:25 pm

Nice write up.
The dual thermometer and hydrometer sounds like an amazing addition to the crabitat...
Wonder if this has the AU styled plug?
Edit: by the looks of it.. no

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Re: Spyder Robotics Herpstat 1 Review

Post by Richard » Sat Dec 09, 2017 7:10 am

That is very cool. Computers controlling environments with special needs is great.I know that manually controlling heat + humidity, probably is viable for people who live in areas where it's always hot and humid. Or people who put in a lot of work every day making sure the tank(s) stay at the right temp/hum. But if you need to go somewhere out of the house for a few days. Not having a computer to control your environment, might make you worry about if your animals are ok

Unfortunately I don't think I am lucky enough to find a unit like that for only 140$ where i live :cry:

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