# Thermostat that turns itself off at night?



## Cookaaaaay (Mar 8, 2009)

Hello,

Sorry for the stupid question... :blush:
Is there a thermostat that automatically turns the basking bulb off at night?

Thanks. :blush:: victory:


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## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

Yes, Microclimate D1ME or the D2ME. You can choose daytime and nighttime temperatures. It uses a 'magic eye' to measure the light level and switch between the two.


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## Cookaaaaay (Mar 8, 2009)

So, basically do I just set the nighttime temperature to 0°C?


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## CSJ10 (Jun 7, 2010)

It depends on what reptile you have and also on the ambient temperature but there is a 0 setting for nighttime


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

If you want it to go off at night regardless of temperature just plug whatever stat you have into a digital timer like you would do normal lights.


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

I agree with Simon, if you want it completely off at night it's easier and maybe cheaper to use a normal stat and a timer.

I haven't used the magic eye ones myself, but I'd assume they stay on if the room lights are on? And if they switch on when it gets dark outside that means varying lengths of day and night throughout the year, which may not be something you want, as many retiles come from places where the day/night cycle is more constant.


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## Cookaaaaay (Mar 8, 2009)

So, can I get this one Habistat Dimming Thermostat on eBay (end time 06-Sep-10 16:43:59 BST) and then just plug it into a digital timer?

: victory:


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

That'll do it!


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## Cookaaaaay (Mar 8, 2009)

Thanks, what timer do you recommend? :blush::blush:


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

Depends how accurate you want to be, if +/- 5 minutes or so is OK then a simple analogue segmented timer is fine, I got a load from Wickes for about £3 each. If you want greater accuracy then get a digital, they're a bit more expensive, I have a couple from Homebase which work fine.


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## Cookaaaaay (Mar 8, 2009)

Graham said:


> Depends how accurate you want to be, if +/- 5 minutes or so is OK then a simple analogue segmented timer is fine, I got a load from Wickes for about £3 each. If you want greater accuracy then get a digital, they're a bit more expensive, I have a couple from Homebase which work fine.


Oh, ok. Thanks! :notworthy:
Hopefully this will be an end to all my stupid questions.. :whistling2::lol2:


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Just to add that the analogue ones I've had in the past have been quite noisy so if this is in your bedroom or some place you'll notice the noise then get a digital one.


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

When you have the constant sound of singing crickets and running water in the background you don't worry about such things!


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## Cookaaaaay (Mar 8, 2009)

_simon_ said:


> Just to add that the analogue ones I've had in the past have been quite noisy so if this is in your bedroom or some place you'll notice the noise then get a digital one.


Thanks for notifying me about that. :notworthy:
I was going to get a digital anyway. : victory:



Graham said:


> When you have the constant sound of singing crickets and running water in the background you don't worry about such things!


:lol2:


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## Spuddy (Aug 24, 2009)

Just to clear up though to who mentioned the thermostat will stay on with room lights on etc, they dont.

Ive got one on my Leo viv, it only reacts to uv light, so as soon as the sun goes down the thermostat kicks into night time mode. 

Bit of a pain in the ass however, as if a big black raincloud comes over any time during the day, UV light is blocked and the thermostat goes into night time mode and drops the temperatures.

The only way to combat it, is to mount the thermostat inside the viv (providing its not a humid setup of course and have a uv light in there on a timer) Which is what i originally planned to do, but decided against due to the amount of wires that would be trailing along the insides of the viv and the holes that would be drilled to get wall socket out etc.

But thankfully there is a switch on the bottom of it that you turn and puts it in day or night time mode permanently, so ive got mine set to permanent day time on a timer switch. 

My ambient room temps never fall below 71-72f really at night anyways so the day/night thermostat was a bit pointless for me, however I dont have my receipt to take it back, I only got it a fortnight ago but im useless where receipts are concerned. 

Sorry for the rambling, but hope this clears things up a bit, day/night timers arent worth the hassle imo.

Spuddy.


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## Cookaaaaay (Mar 8, 2009)

Spuddy said:


> Just to clear up though to who mentioned the thermostat will stay on with room lights on etc, they dont.
> 
> Ive got one on my Leo viv, it only reacts to uv light, so as soon as the sun goes down the thermostat kicks into night time mode.
> 
> ...


Ohh, I've ordered a B2ME for my ceramic. :bash: ..Ahh well, should be ok.
Thanks for mentioning the switch at the bottom! :notworthy:


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## Spuddy (Aug 24, 2009)

Cookaaaaay said:


> Ohh, I've ordered a B2ME for my ceramic. :bash: ..Ahh well, should be ok.
> Thanks for mentioning the switch at the bottom! :notworthy:


 
No worries, although the manual is a little rubbish that comes with it.

It says in the manual "turn the switch to 7 o'clock position for night time permanently, 12'oclock position for day and night or 5 o clock for day time permanently."

So i turned it to the 5 position but still when night came, the thermostat went into night time mode and dropped the temps. Couldnt work out why at first, eventually got it. 

You have to turn the night time temperature setting to 0 for it to work otherwise it still comes on. Something the manual fails to mention at all :bash:.


Apart from that its general working order seems spot on :thumb:


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## Cookaaaaay (Mar 8, 2009)

Spuddy said:


> No worries, although the manual is a little rubbish that comes with it.
> 
> It says in the manual "turn the switch to 7 o'clock position for night time permanently, 12'oclock position for day and night or 5 o clock for day time permanently."
> 
> ...


Haha, that's really confusing.:devil:
Thanks. :notworthy:: victory:


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

> it only reacts to uv light, so as soon as the sun goes down the thermostat kicks into night time mode


But UV light is blocked by glass, so unless the sensor is outdoors somewhere or in an open window then that shouldn't work, are you sure that's correct?

Still it sounds more trouble than it's worth, with most reptiles coming from latitudes where day and night are of more equal length than in the UK it seems a bit pointless, you'd be constantly wanting to override the sensor, a simple timer operated night/day stat would be much better and easier to set up.


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## roddy mac (Dec 10, 2009)

i just use the analogue segmented timer ones but then depends on what is in the viv


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

I've also used the security ones that vary the on/off times by up to 30 minutes or so each day, it seems more natural as it doesn't always get light and dark at exactly the same time day after day, whether the animals appreciate it I don't know!


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## Spuddy (Aug 24, 2009)

Graham said:


> But UV light is blocked by glass, so unless the sensor is outdoors somewhere or in an open window then that shouldn't work, are you sure that's correct?
> 
> Still it sounds more trouble than it's worth, with most reptiles coming from latitudes where day and night are of more equal length than in the UK it seems a bit pointless, you'd be constantly wanting to override the sensor, a simple timer operated night/day stat would be much better and easier to set up.


 
Positive that it is from UV light as it only reacts to natural light, and not to household lights etc. 

And if you put a uv light next to it and turn it on, the thermostat goes into daytime mode.

Maybe glass does not block UV altogether, and some still escapes through the otherside? ... But not enough for a human to ever notice at all?


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