heat lamps, what kind of bulb to use?

[jgod790]

I just moved, my room is now the basement, it is starting to get cold. I used to just use a space heater, and kept the room at a good temperature. But the basement is to big for the space heater to work. I have herd you don't want to use bulbs with uv rays. What brand of bulbs do I want?

 

[MarkmD]

If its for Ts and scorps, use a ceramic/fan heater thats what I use, they don't take up much space and will heat your entire room to good temps, you could also use heat mats on the side of the enclosures. I never use bulbs as the bulb can over heat or dry out substrate to quickly and Ts don't like the light except natural light, but if its a desert species then low energy bulbs are ok during the day. I'm sure someone will fill you in better.

 

[Kazaam]

Why do you want to use heat lamps, anything is better than those.

 

[Alltheworld601]

lamps directly on the enclosure is a nono no matter what situation youre in...but i understand the cold problem...i know they are hardy and can survive at low temperatures, but in the place we currently live (we are moving in two weeks!), the only safe place for my Ts is the bedroom, and the bedroom is a poorly insulated addition to the rest of the place. the heat barely touches it. i got little heat pads like the size for hermit crabs...very small...and stuck them on the sides of the tanks. never plugged htem in unless it dropped below like 62 degrees in there...but it did the other day and i freaked. even so...i didnt wanna battle with the heat pad drying out everything either, so yesterday i got a space heater for the room. though, space heaters have a reputation in my house for causing electrical fires....long road thats been.

anyway, small heat pads placed on the side of an enclosure arent that big of a problem and should help for a while till you figure out something more efficient. at least in my experience thus far.

 

[jgod790]

I would love to be able to use a ceramic fan heater, but this basement is HUGE, and unfinished. I would need like 5 heaters to heat it up, and I just don't have that kind of money. Other then the fact that the heat lamps dry the substrate, if you use a red bulb, is it still an issue?

 

[catfishrod69]

Just hang blankets/rugs/curtains anything like that to make a room around your critters. You could even just buy sheets of foam board insulation to make walls. Then you can use your space heater.

 

[zonbonzovi]

Skip the heat lamp altogether, unless you're opening up a fast food stand. Get something that will enclose all of your animals, i.e., cabinet, aquarium, etc. depending on the size of your collection. Attach a heat strip like:

http://beanfarm.com/product_info.php?products_id=5577

Control it with a dimmer switch or rheostat or...?

 

[XrustyjamesX]

how about a broken one :sarcasm:

 

[Stan Schultz]

I just moved, my room is now the basement, it is starting to get cold. I used to just use a space heater, and kept the room at a good temperature. But the basement is to big for the space heater to work. I have herd you don't want to use bulbs with uv rays. What brand of bulbs do I want?

IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT TARANTULAS, read Temperature.... (An updated version is almost ready to be posted. Check back at that address in a few weeks.)

In a very extreme case, if you're only keeping one or two tarantulas, use a separate heating pad for each cage and mount them on the side, close to the bottom of the cage's wall.

If you're keeping more than one or two tarantulas, consider using a closed environment case with it's own heater. Commercial cases are available, but very pricey. You can improvise one for yourself with a little ingenuity.

If you're keeping a large number of tarantulas, consider partitioning off a section of the basement and installing a separate electric heater for it.

NOTE THAT ALL ARTIFICIAL HEAT SOURCES MUST BE THERMOSTATICALLY CONTROLLED TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THE TARANTULA! We do not condone roasted or baked tarantulas.

NOTE THAT YOU NEED TO GET HELP FROM A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN IF YOU PLAN TO FABRICATE YOUR OWN ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS. Electrocuting yourself or burning the house down is considered bad form on this forum!

:laugh:


Enjoy your little 8-legged frost bite!

 

[Poxicator]

Ive known people to use a low wattage bulb, aroud 20-40w as their sole source of heat, within a cabinet. Its worked like such for many years but you'd be as well to have it on a dimmer for night temps and test the temperatures its creating.

 

[Shrike]

I just moved, my room is now the basement, it is starting to get cold. I used to just use a space heater, and kept the room at a good temperature. But the basement is to big for the space heater to work. I have herd you don't want to use bulbs with uv rays. What brand of bulbs do I want?

How cold are we talking here?

 

[jgod790]

Pennsylvania unfinished basement cold. Right now it isn't to bad, about 70 during the day, 60 at night, which is close to perfect, but in a month or two it will start to be 50/40, and by December probably 40/30.

 

[Shrike]

Pennsylvania unfinished basement cold. Right now it isn't to bad, about 70 during the day, 60 at night, which is close to perfect, but in a month or two it will start to be 50/40, and by December probably 40/30.

Well, that is cold. Personally, I'd stick with the space heater and go with the measures catfishrod69 and zonbonzovi suggested.

I take it you can't move the tarantulas upstairs?

 

[jgod790]

No, can't move them upstairs, kids in the house. Yea I will probably confine them in a small area some how and use the space heater. But now I'm just wondering. Has anyone had any bad experiences with heat lamps? Other then drying up the substrate? I would be using a red bulb, not a regular one.

 

[SamuraiSid]

Ive known people to use a low wattage bulb, aroud 20-40w as their sole source of heat, within a cabinet. Its worked like such for many years but you'd be as well to have it on a dimmer for night temps and test the temperatures its creating.

An incandescent light bulb turns 6% of its energy input into light, the rest of the energy is turned into heat. I've used a series of 2- 40w bulbs connected to a cheap dimmer and thermostat to heat an un-insulated 62L tote to 82F in a room that was ~53F (us Canadians like it cold). cpu fans are cheap and can easily be connected to an old cell phone charger to get the air flowing.
If you google chicken egg incubator you'll get proper instructions (with wiring diagrams) on creating one out of styrofoam. All you gotta do is scale up to fit a cabinet from there. At good will i can find "decent" ones for $35.

---------- Post added 09-27-2012 at 10:32 AM ----------

No, can't move them upstairs, kids in the house. Yea I will probably confine them in a small area some how and use the space heater. But now I'm just wondering. Has anyone had any bad experiences with heat lamps? Other then drying up the substrate? I would be using a red bulb, not a regular one.

Im pretty sure I dehydrated and killed one of my first P.imps with a lightbulb... but back then all I knew was what internet caresheets told me:sarcasm: