what watt ceramic heat emitter?

[shane1111]

my red foot Enclosure is 42" x 28". my room is at 65 degrees at night. i want to get two heat emitters one for day and one for night what Wattages should i use?
right now i have a 100 watt red light and its not keeping it hot enough. do ceramic heat emitters heat evenly?

 

[Madkins007]

They heat like a stove heating element- a sort of conical shape, especially if it is in a good reflector (shiny or white painted is best).

I would recommend a big CHE and a good thermostat- that way, the thermostat will regulate the temp. Of course, it will do it by turning it on and off full blast, like a furnace.

If you are up on electrical controls, you can find a dimmer switch that can handle the wattage and just throttle it up or down as needed.

Alternatively, try a few small CHEs spread around the habitat.

 

[shane1111]

will the zoo med ReptiTemp 500R Therm/Rem Sensor work? i have them at work. what brand CHE should i get?

the funny thing is my torts chose to stay in the areas that are 70 degrees when they sleep.

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and do i want a Rheostat or a thermostat?

 

[Yvonne G]

Unless you want to try a couple around different areas of the habitat like Mark suggested, there's really no need to buy two, one for day and one for night. You just buy one and leave it on day and night. They don't put out any light. If you want to buy a bigger one, you would just raise it higher if it makes the habitat too warm. Or if you buy a smaller one, you lower it to get more of the heat down into the habitat. And brand doesn't matter. The pet stores usually only carry one brand and each is as good as the next.

 

[shane1111]

i work at a pet store so i can get any brand i want. but my store prefers zoo med

 

[shane1111]

would a 250 be good?

 

[Yvonne G]

That seems pretty big to me. I've only worked with the smaller ones...100 and 150 watt. Then you mount them into an aluminum domed light that has a ceramic base. The aluminum directs the heat downward towards the floor of the habitat. Sometimes they come with a wire caged base. I don't like those because a lot of the heat escaped upwards through the wire.

 

[HLogic]

Another option for thermostatic control are the digital proportional thermostats (e.g. HerpStat, Helix, EcoZone, etc.). These thermostats vary the amount of current supplied to the heating element allowing a more precise control of the temperature. I use one in my incubator to maintain temps of ± 0.1 °C (0.2 °F). The range in an open environment will not be as precise, I'm sure, but it would be far better than the on/off thermostats. With these thermostats the wattage and distance are not as much an issue due to the nature of the control mechanism. As a matter of fact, a larger wattage CHE would likely perform better and longer due to the heavier guage element and additional mass of the CHE. The downside of the proportional thermostats is their price. They tend to be a bit pricey but with that you get a great deal of control, safety features, certain units have night drop capabilities and with some of the higher-end units; multiple independent control zones, gradient (time varying) control, timer controlled on/off and other advanced capabilities.

Also, depending upon the situation, investigating the MegaRay Heat Projector may be worthwhile. I have not used them but they seem to have certain advantages in particular instances. I sent an e-mail asking how much light is generated by the heat projectors. I'll post a follow-up when I receive the response.

 

[jackrat]

As Madkins said,a dimmer switch is an easy way to regulate the temp.There are some on the market that you just plug in-no wiring necessary.They keep a steady,even temp.

 

[shane1111]

my room never stays the same temp. so my cage could still get cold. and i cant spend to much on a thermostat

 

[terryo]

I've been using 100 wt. But, you have to be careful when keeping plants in the enclosure. Putting it directly over the plants will burn them.

 

[jackrat]

You don't need a thermostat.A dimmer switch is about $10 and will hold a constant temp.A thermostat will turn the CHE on and off according to the temp.The problem with this is,a CHE doesn't heat up or cool down instantly.It's a lot easier to just regulate a constant,desired temp with a dimmer.

 

[shane1111]

ya but i am never home in the day so a dimmer would not do me much good.

 

[HarleyK]

it depends on how high the enclosure is and the ambient room temp. i would use the zoo med che (i get the impression that they last much longer than other brands based on the statements on the box) and i use a 100 watt myself. in the winter time i may add an additional 60 watt che somewhere to keep the heat up like what mark said.

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Oh btw, I got my zoo med che's from petsmart. not sure if this is a typical price on che's, but the petsmart i went to had them on the very top shelf (overstock shelf) and they sold them for 9.99 for the 100 watt. i thought that was a good deal.

 

[Candy]

You don't need a thermostat.A dimmer switch is about $10 and will hold a constant temp.A thermostat will turn the CHE on and off according to the temp.The problem with this is,a CHE doesn't heat up or cool down instantly.It's a lot easier to just regulate a constant,desired temp with a dimmer.

Where do you buy these from? I have a 150 watt emitter in Dale and the babies enclosure.

 

[jackrat]

You don't need a thermostat.A dimmer switch is about $10 and will hold a constant temp.A thermostat will turn the CHE on and off according to the temp.The problem with this is,a CHE doesn't heat up or cool down instantly.It's a lot easier to just regulate a constant,desired temp with a dimmer.

Where do you buy these from? I have a 150 watt emitter in Dale and the babies enclosure.

Got mine from True Value Hardware.

 

[Cfr200]

I have a MegaRay Heat Projector and it works well. I like it better than a CHE because it does not get hot enough to burn you. As for light it barely makes any, you have to put your hand right up to it to see any. It does not light up the enclosure at all and seems to put out as much heat as my old 125W CHE.

 

[HLogic]

Cfr, thanks for the info on the MegaRay. I will probably investigate them further for my outside refugia.

A dimmer will not maintain a constant temperature in a room with varying temperature. It will maintain a differential temp that will vary almost linearly with an ambient temp change of several degrees. The larger the area to be heated or the greater the ambient temperature change will lessen the differential.

That said, 65°F is not life threatening, so even an inexpensive on/off type thermostat will work. When it fails, replace it...

 

[shane1111]

thank you Hlogic