Viv controller that can adjust day length/sunrise/sunset/temp times with the seasons

[carml]

I have for the longest time been using an EcoZone controller that allows me to manually program in different sunrise/sunset times by month as well as season appropriate changes in heat. I have it set up where the enclosure gets 14hrs of light in July and 8hrs in January. There is a gradual transition from month to month. I also have the temperature at its highest in July and lowest in January. The temp changes very gradually, over 15 days from month to month. All of this is set up to roughly mimic what is actually happening outside my window in terms of daylength, etc. My beardies go into brumation same time every year and come out same time from one year to the next.

The EcoZone, however, is no longer manufactured. I am afraid my unit, which is around 15 years old, will fail at some point in the near future.

Does anyone know if anything currently on the US market can allow me to reproduce this seasonal change effect - ideally a pulse proportional PID controller. All of the major controllers I've looked into (Herpstat, Vivarium Electronics, Helix) cannot reproduce this effect. I just feel like we put in so much effort into trying to replicate gently sunrise/sunset effects, but what is the point if you cannot change when those actually start to actually correspond to the actual conditions outside your window.

 

[CooperDragon]

I haven't heard of one that automatically adjusts for seasons. I use a herpstat2 and can adjust manually, but after a few years of doing that I stopped bothering since it hadn't seemed to make much difference in my dragon's health or behavior. I think it helps to have an automated on/off cycle (I keep mine set to about 13hrs of light with about 10hrs of UVB, but I'm not sure (either way) if adjusting for seasons has as much effect. That said, I'd certainly be open to trying out an automated system that takes seasons into account if you come across a modern one that does it. Perhaps you can dig up some new old stock of your EcoZone stashed somewhere or perhaps listed on Ebay.

 

[carml]

I haven't heard of one that automatically adjusts for seasons. I use a herpstat2 and can adjust manually, but after a few years of doing that I stopped bothering since it hadn't seemed to make much difference in my dragon's health or behavior. I think it helps to have an automated on/off cycle (I keep mine set to about 13hrs of light with about 10hrs of UVB, but I'm not sure (either way) if adjusting for seasons has as much effect. That said, I'd certainly be open to trying out an automated system that takes seasons into account if you come across a modern one that does it. Perhaps you can dig up some new old stock of your EcoZone stashed somewhere or perhaps listed on Ebay.

I’ve never used a herpstat so wondering if it could be configurable with a smart timer or smart outlet. The outlet itself has a built in sunrise/set calendar built in and would provide power to the herpstat only at those times. Not sure if that would be possible.

 

[CooperDragon]

In theory, the battery backup would retain the settings programmed into the herpstat so when the outlet went off/on it would know what time it is etc. I'd think that it would mess with the ramping that is built in to simulate sunrise/sunset though, and kind of defeat the purpose of the programming. The newer versions have a web interface and some additional controls, but I haven't tested that one out yet. Might be worth looking through the updated features to see if there is a seasonal change option via date settings or something like that.

 

[carml]

After some thought, I think it’s possible to accomplish what i envisioned in my original post with a combo of a “smart” plug/timer and a “dumb” dimming thermostat that has no timers built in. There’s a number of smart plugs (Phillips hue being one) that can be programmed to turn on/off with the local solar cycle. You can also program a delay, say turn on 1 hour after that days sunrise.

But the question now is what’s a good “dumb” dimming thermostat to use?

 

[CooperDragon]

I don't know of a dumb dimming thermostat. Just on/off style. A Herpstat Intro might be worth a shot as a basic option.