Cost – $135

Features

NiteDrop - This feature allows a change in night time temperature, just like an animal would experience in the wild. The unit allows for a change of up to 20 degrees Farhenhuit. In order to use this feature, you must set a start and end time, this way the unit knows when to cool down, then heat back up. After picking the times, you can pick your temperature. If your tank is kept at 90F, and you want it to go to 80F, you select a change of 10.0.

Proportional vs Non-Proportional - The Herpstat ND allows for a choice of proportional or non-proportional regulation, depending on what you are trying to control. Proprtional is generally used for heating of reptiles, as it keeps the heater on at all times, but at a constant temperature. Non-proportional thermostats will turn on when the temperature is cool, and off when it gets too hot. Non-proportional is a great way to add a cooling system to a unit, such as an emergency fan if it gets too hot.

Temperature Alarm – Worried about the temperatures going too high, or too low? This handy feature allows for an alarm to go off when the temperature changes. First you must set the threshold for the alarm, which can vary from .5 degrees to 10 degrees.

Pros

• Automatically adjusts day/night temperature
• Easy, straightforward setup
• Threshold alarms (ability to turn on/off)

Cons

• Backlight is always lit (fairly annoying for those of us that share a room with our reptiles)
• Menu only navigates one way, and you must wait for it to move to the next section (cannot just click through)
• Unit is a bit too large for our liking

The Herpstat ND is an excellent proportional thermostat for any range of reptile keepers. It works best in rack setups, where each piece of heat tape is the same length (or one long piece). This model only offers one probe, but for a reptile keeper like myself, it works great. The ability to raise and lower temperatures automatically for night/day gives the reptiles a better cycle of day/night time temperatures.

Overall, I highly recommend this product to those will only one item to control. If you are looking to control multiple items with one unit, the Herpstat Pro is the way to go.