A life with the same temperature 24 hours a day, the same humidity (or above all dryness) and only two light states: on/off: What would be a horror for humans is unfortunately everyday life for many terrarium animals!
This is because they do have (heat) lamps and/or heating elements available, but these are usually on or off because they are either simply ‘controlled’ by manual operation or by ‘stupid’ timers, for example. Such a setup is miles away from a species-appropriate and animal-friendly situation.
A better solution is therefore to use more intelligent control units which – depending on the scope and quality – can control the connected devices for light, heat or even irrigation systems via several programme points. With the Econlux CON1, for example, it is also possible to realise complex lighting scenarios.
Climate control is good…
Such control units are a great thing, for example in the aquarium area, where you can also realise sophisticated lighting patterns including natural sunrises and sunsets and thus optimise the living conditions in the tank for the animal and plant species it contains.
Such switchable socket strips are also often used in terrariums to control the lighting, heating stones or heat panels and foggers or sprinkler systems. Useful environmental simulations can also be created for many situations.
The problem with this is that the ‘climate’ in terrariums is much more subject to external influences from the surrounding space than in aquariums:
If the room becomes particularly warm in summer, the terrarium animals will also be exposed to this increased heat. A purely time-controlled heat source in the terrarium can then provide too much heat. Humidity is also subject to fluctuations, as it depends directly on the humidity in the room air. A sprinkling schedule programmed for ‘normal days’ is then no longer sufficient for very hot or particularly dry days, while conversely, if the humidity in the room is higher, an otherwise ‘suitable’ sprinkling can be too much.
To avoid this risk, you would have to measure the actual environmental conditions in the terrarium at different times throughout the year and adjust the timers wherever necessary. This is a tedious task that means you are practically always ‘running after’ the optimum.
So what if the climate control system for your animals could always react automatically to the actual environmental conditions in your terrarium? That would be climate simulation on a whole new level, we call it: climate intelligence!
…climate intelligence is better!
For us, climate intelligence means controlling the terrarium climate or weather simulations on the basis of the actual environmental conditions in the terrarium. And this is how it works:
The new SolarRaptor timer controllers CON-T and CON-TH have, in addition to the sophisticated time control socket, slots that are linked to sensors for temperature (CON-T) or for temperature and humidity (CON-TH).
This is how you can take climate control in your terrariums to a new level:
SOLAR RAPTOR® Timer Controller
- Switchable socket strip
- CON-T: Temperature/time control
- CON-TH: Temperature/humidity/time control
- Quick setting desert/tropical mode
plus shipping
Similar to the CON1, you can use the CON-T or CON-TH to design and save flexible lighting scenarios. To do this, you connect your basic lighting, such as an LED light or UVB spotlight, via the timer slot. You have the option of programming four different time periods to the second to create different lighting situations.
For intelligent control of the heating elements, use the slot with temperature sensor. This measures the current temperature in the terrarium with a very sensitive thermal sensor and regulates your pre-programmed settings based on the measurement results by switching the connected heating elements (heat lamp, heating cable, heating mat) on or off. The monitoring measurement of the actual temperature by the temperature sensor ensures that your set temperatures are actually maintained. Excessive heating is prevented, as is cooling down to temperatures that are too low for your animals.
Would you like ‘one more environmental factor’? With the CON-TH, a slot with a humidity sensor is added to the temperature sensor slot. Connect a sprinkler system or nebuliser to this and set the value for the optimum humidity for your amphibian or reptile roommates. Values between 10 – 90 % are possible here so that you can set the best possible humidity for each species. Once you have placed the humidity sensor in the terrarium, it reliably monitors how high or low the humidity is for your animals. If the humidity falls below the value you have defined, the CON-TH switches on the connected irrigation or misting device until the desired value is reached again.
Day and night mode for temperature and humidity control
For even more naturalistic climate simulation in the terrarium, the slots with temperature and humidity sensors also differentiate between a day and night mode. This allows you to adjust the day and night temperature differently to offer your scaly pets more variety in their artificial habitat and give them the feeling of being at home.
Reliable storage even in the event of a power outage
Of course, the CON-T and CON-TH have also been designed to protect your sophisticated weather scenarios and climate simulations against loss in the event of a power failure. After all, you want to be able to unplug your intelligent power strip from the socket to plug it in somewhere else. That’s why both control units contain storage batteries that prevent data loss in the event of a power failure. So don’t worry: your programming work won’t be lost even if you and your pets move house!
Quick start thanks to presets
Speaking of programming work: Does the settings sound a little too complex for you at first? Don’t worry: thanks to the pre-set modes in the control unit, you can get started straight away without having to do any programming yourself. This is ensured by the quick settings ‘Tropical’ and ‘Desert’, which you can select at the touch of a button. The preset parameters correspond to the average values of tropical rainforests (‘Tropical’ setting) or deserts on our planet (‘Desert’ setting).
Hint
The CON-T or CON-TH is the ideal climate automation solution for everyone: whether as a control unit for simple, quick access or as a powerful & ‘intelligent’ socket strip with sensor control for sophisticated professional use.
