Microclimate: OLED Dimming thermostat review
Authored by Pete Hawkins:
Chameleon Network
Bearded Dragons Network
Snake Network
Gecko Network
Amphibian Network
Voted winner of Reptile Report’s Readers Choice ‘Lizard Personality of the Year’ 2016
I Have been extremely lucky to of had this Microclimate OLED dimming thermostat for testing over the past few months.
The only person in the world to be running one. So, quite the honour.
Here is the vital tech low-down;
OLED Dimming stat (Front view)
Microclimate OLED Dimming thermostat: RRP online – £62.99*
4cm x 6.5cm x 11.5cm – with a 4cm display.
The Microclimate OLED dimming thermostat, is a single channel thermostat. It is capable of controlling your environment using of course; a dimming method(reduces the power to the bulb lowering temperature. Then, bringing it back up when safe to do so).
It is capable of controlling heaters up to 600w.
Temperatures can be controlled with a ‘constant’ mode’. This is one set temperature, 24/7.
There’s also a ‘day/night’ mode giving you the choice of setting two separate temperatures. This is used to simulate the climate change the reptile or amphibian would experience in the wild.
You also get to set the start and finish times of the day/night cycle.
The OLED provides visual information on the small screen. Scrolling through the current temperature. Percentage of heat-source power and the current time. Scrolling through at 5 second intervals.
You set the parameters settings you require via the 4 on-board buttons. Those being left and right. With the two up & down buttons set between these.
Testing:
In my test each ‘mode’ was tested for 4 weeks. Any temperature’s were taken from both the unit’s display and my own digital thermometers which I had cable-tied together sitting alongside the unit’s probe. Thus providing individual readings but using an established baseline for reference ensuring and testing for accuracy.
The first month: Corn Snake vivarium
I first set-up the thermostat on my Corn Snake vivarium. In which I use a ceramic bulb for heating.This gave me the chance to make use of the day/night mode. I’m a huge fan of the day/night mode for all species. I use it on all my Snakes, Frogs, And Geckos.
OLED Side view (with easy fuse access)
I set the day temperature as 31c. Starting at 8am when the UVB comes on.
The night temperature was set at 27c. Simulating their natural environment which they have evolved to thrive in (Central and south-eastern United States).
This worked amazingly well. Without any issues what-so-ever in the 4 test weeks. In fact. I found out, via the “power usage” display; my 100w ceramic I was using to heat the vivaria, was a little too high in wattage. A lower wattage would be far more efficient.
The temperature variation between the stat display, and my trusty digital thermometer were literally 0.1 to 0.3 a degree difference. Again the renowned Microclimate accuracy was prominent.
The second month: Red Eyed Tree Frog glass tank
This second month I wanted to use the “day/night” mode again. But this time around. 12 hours at 28c and 12 hours at 0c (this turns the bulb off).
I use a standard 50w E27 heat-bulb, as opposed to a ceramic in the Red Eyed Tree Frog tank.
Again. No issues at all. The bulb would dim once the tank reached 28c.Thus, reducing the tanks overall temperature and come back up as needed when safe to do so. Keeping that 28c extremely stable indeed.
I was very happy here, once again.
A couple of weeks testing on a cave cricket breeding bin/rub.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the thermostat running on a large heat-mat. One on the outside of a large cave cricket breeding bin/rub. This is set on “constant” mode. And 30c. 24 Hours a day. 7 days a week. I don’t need to tell you. Yep, you guessed it. No issues at all.
Stable temperature means, stable breeding within the rub. So I am happy. And the crickets, more so
OLED – settings edit screen
To Conclude:
Like their very impressive bigger cousins of the Microclimate Evo range. These thermostats do what us Reptile/Amphibian keepers need them to do. They perform with accuracy, precision, and efficiency. All it a very stylish yet simplistic way.
What more, this is a company that listens to what the keepers need. And for myself, I give constant updates on performance when testing. And I know they do listen to any issue, query, or ideas I mention. I know the after-care support on offer from the team at Microclimate is also fantastic. With them offering support still to Thermostats they don’t even produce anymore. You cant ask more from a company that really does ‘care’.I was very happy with this OLED stat.
So again. A big thumbs up to Microclimate for providing us keepers with many options for accurate and precise temperature control thermostats.*Microclimate ARE looking to launch the OLED, Evo lite, Evo, and Evo Pro in the USA very soon. They are currently looking for a nationwide USA distribution.