to heat or not to heat? that is the question...

As my collection of T's and other inverts grows (and I SWORE it wouldn't LOL), I'm getting sick of shelling out for any more UTH heaters. I'm wondering if I even need them at all, at least on some of the enclosures. Here's the deal: I've turned my spare bedroom into an invert room. I have a few tropical and native scorps (I'm in Arizona), some tropical pedes, and shortly my T's will include a sub-adult genic, parahybana, blondi, and an adult boehmei and H. schmidti. The room is undisturbed unless I tiptoe in there, I have the blinds drawn and a sheet over the only window, which faces South. All in spacious enclosures. These guys have it pretty good.

I've used UTH heaters on the glass of a back corner of each tank except for the native scorps (H. arizonensis and C. exilicauda). For the three Winter months, it can get down to the 40's and 50's at night (usually upper 50's I'd say). I leave the heater vent to the room open, and the thermostat for the whole house at is around 68-70 degrees. It's about that temp in the bug room, too, maybe a couple degrees cooler at night. I let the UTH heaters run 24/7 during these months, and I figure it heats the corner by a few degrees and gives the critters a temp gradient (the boehmei is always hugging the glass near the UTH heater or right in front of it, where she's set up shop). In the Summer (about 5 months here), I keep the house in the low 70's. I shut off the A/C to the bug room by closing the vent, and the room stays about mid-80's in the day, a little cooler at night. I'm not planning on using the UTH's at all during these months. During the Spring and Fall, I don't heat or cool the house at all, and it stays in the mid to upper 70's in the day, cooler at night. Last Fall I put the UTH's on a timer and ran them only at night.

I'm wondering if this heating arrangement sounds about right. I'd rather not have to heat the enclosures at all, but I'm afraid the T's will be too cold if I don't, especially during Winter nights. I know that blondis, in particular, should be kept pretty warm. I may look into a space heater, but don't like the idea at all for safety reasons. I hate buying the UTH's for every tank, since they are expensive and there are more power cords and surge protectors than I care to look at. What are some options, or do I just stick with the UTH routine?

Thanks,
John

Ts do fine at anything above 70F in general. They can survive temps down in the 60sF without any harm for months at a time. The only temps that will eventually kill them are 50s or lower. If your invert room isn't dropping below 66-70 at night I would say that although not ideal there's nothing wrong with it and you could skip the UTH heaters. If you really want to keep them warm in the winter for a larger collection you will find a space heater to be far more economical but never try to heat things too warm and don't cheap out - people have cooked their spider rooms by driving temps up into the 90s or more when something malfunctioned.

damn that sounds like a lot of work i give you props.... i basically change the bulbs from 60, 40, to 15 watt depending on the season and leave them on 24/7... i use long tanks in hopes that it provides a good gradient witht he extra length just in case things get to hot. Other than that I also use an extra heat pad which is on all day also for one of the scorp tanks, for some reason it cant get past 85 even with a 50 watt red bulb during this summer and i live in southern cali.. my setup has worked out so far and yours seems a lot more efficient so I wouldn't worry too much if I were you.

UTH for *all* of your tanks? Dang, that *would* get expensive!
I have one space heater that I use. It is set to 78 F and goes on and off as needed. I agree with CM, if you get a space heater, don't go cheap. Get a good one with a thermistat and a hi and low temperature setting so you can set your desired temp and how much heat you want to pump out at a time and you don't have to worry about remembering to turn it on or off or hooking it up to a timer. Plus, space heaters tend to use less electricity that heat lamps, especially when an entire room or a large collection needs to be heated.