Author Topic: 'Tis the season.... to rebuild the tortoise den  (Read 574 times)

Offline rimist

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Yes, you read correctly. My wife was given a small red footed tortoise several years ago, which has grown into a large tortoise, roughly 18" from head to tail. For years I've actually kept her warm using Christmas lights, however, I think her survival was more due to luck than anything I did. We live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, so we don't have extremely cold temperatures to deal with. I am planning on building her a stout home using cinder blocks, foaming the insides, and putting a proper roof on it.so here is the part i could use some advice on:

We have a tiny space heater we used to keep her warm previously, but the thermostat is faulty. It seems to be a problem with small space heaters. Since I neither want frozen tortoise nor roasted tortoise, I would like to use a spare digital HVAC thermostat to turn the heater or whatever heat source I choose on and off. Hvac thermostats run on 24v, which I have a power supply for, but i want to use this to control a standard 110v AC outlet. I think all I need is a relay, where to connect the 24v power, and where to connect the relay. Can anyone help me out with this, and tell me which relay to purchase?

Thanks in advance!
Rimist
- Rimist

Offline JDM1oc

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'Tis the season.... to rebuild the tortoise den
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2011, »
Not really DIY but I have used this to keep the dog warm in the garage for a couple of years with no problem.


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