Skelly
Member
Can anyone recommend a dimming thermostat that I can connect two lamps to
Dimming thermostats
- Thread starter Skelly
- Start date
Skelly
Member
Arcadia ACU15 ultra seal controller 14-15w with an Arcadia euro range 10 percent D3+ desert reptile light and also an exo Terra aluminum dome with an exo Terra PT2136 intense basking spot light
You want your Arcadia tube on a timer, not a dimmer or a thermostat.
The intense basking spot light will cause pyramiding, so you should swap that out for a low wattage flood lamp from the hardware store. You don't want your basking bulb on a thermostat either. The "sun" shouldn't be going off and on all day. Your basking bulb should be on a timer, and you get the correct temperature under it by raising or lowering the bulb. You can also use a rheostat if the bulb height is not adjustable for some reason, but not a thermostat.
A thermostat would be needed to control ambient heat sources like a ceramic heating element or radiant heat panel, depending on species and temperatures.
What species and size tortoise are you housing?
Skelly
Member
I am getting a herman tortoise just under a year old, I don’t have him yet I’m trying to get my set up perfect first so this is really helpful thank you, so my heat source won’t be coming from the bulbs am I right in saying that ? Will I need to get a CHE ?
Skelly
Member
Also what flood light would you recommend
Basking heat comes from the basking bulb. Whether or not you need additional heat depends on your ambient temperatures in your house, and what temperatures you would like to achieve for your baby. Only your thermometer can answer this question. If the room is warm, and your basking bulb warms up the enclosure nicely during the day, then you'd need no additional heat. If the room is kept cool and the bulbs are not enough to warm things up during the day, then more heat will be needed.
There are four elements to heating and lighting:
- Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
- Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a Russian or other Testudo species. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for Testudo species. A little warmer for babies is not a bad idea.
- Light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. LEDs are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoise's room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
- UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you live in a cold climate or want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb. Regular "T 8" type UV tubes produce hardly any UV. CFL type UV bulbs are also ineffective, and sometimes dangerous, and should not be used.
