Heating an entire room

VolkswagenBug

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 26, 2017
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500
Not completely sure if this is the right forum or not.
Anyway, my room is very cold except in summer and early fall. Room temp is almost always under 70 degrees, even in mid-spring (right now). I keep a lot of small bugs, so heating them all with heat pads isn't feasible, and at night it dips even more, but I can't keep heat lamps on. Thankfully, none of them have died from low temps, but it takes a really long time for them to grow because the cold slows their metabolisms. I thought about using a space heater, but that would probably decrease the humidity a lot. I live with my parents right now and we can't afford extra heating in the 70s range. So is there any way to heat just my room enough for the bugs, or is there a type of small heat pad that would work on the side of deli cups and isn't incredibly expensive to buy for 30+ bugs?
 

user 666

Arachnobaron
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Jan 27, 2017
Messages
355
I have a space heater in my office, which doubles as my T room. I can't say it reduces humidity or dries out the air at all.
 

VolkswagenBug

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 26, 2017
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500
I have a space heater in my office, which doubles as my T room. I can't say it reduces humidity or dries out the air at all.
Maybe it's just mine. When I use the space heater in the basement, the room gets all stuffy, which I would assume brings down the humidity. I could buy a new one, I suppose.
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
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Heat causes moisture in the air to precipitate faster. Conversely, a hot plate with a pan of water on it is both a relatively efficient supplemental heat source as well as a humidifier.

How much moisture is removed from the air by using a heater depends on the relative humidity.

For example, at the hospital I worked at it was required to have supplemental humidifiers in the heating system. We discovered by accident that the relative humidity was so high the humidifier was never required. $15,000 worth of sensors and moisture injection apparatus was a complete waste of money.
 

ParabuthusKing

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Jan 4, 2006
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182
FlexWatt tape with a rheostat for temperature control. Do not use space heater unless you want a 300 electric bill every month, trust me on this one. The Bean Farm sells all you would need to get this setup minus some wiring and rheostat at the hardware store. Hope that helps :)
 

user 666

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 27, 2017
Messages
355
FlexWatt tape with a rheostat for temperature control. Do not use space heater unless you want a 300 electric bill every month, trust me on this one. The Bean Farm sells all you would need to get this setup minus some wiring and rheostat at the hardware store. Hope that helps :)
Nope.

There was a several year period where I was house-sitting for my mother where I had a space heater for the animals in my office and left the rest of the house at 55. My winter heating bills were considerably lower than the years before and after.

I think you may be working from the assumption of heating an entire house with a space heater. That would take a lot more energy than heating a single enclosed room.
 

Venom1080

Arachnoemperor
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used a space heater for years. even for very moisture sensitive species. no issues. its by far the easiest and best option.
 

VolkswagenBug

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 26, 2017
Messages
500
Heat causes moisture in the air to precipitate faster. Conversely, a hot plate with a pan of water on it is both a relatively efficient supplemental heat source as well as a humidifier.

How much moisture is removed from the air by using a heater depends on the relative humidity.

For example, at the hospital I worked at it was required to have supplemental humidifiers in the heating system. We discovered by accident that the relative humidity was so high the humidifier was never required. $15,000 worth of sensors and moisture injection apparatus was a complete waste of money.
It's usually super dry here in Utah, and even more so inside houses. The humidity in my bug tanks is often fairly high, however, other than the desert species.

Nope.

There was a several year period where I was house-sitting for my mother where I had a space heater for the animals in my office and left the rest of the house at 55. My winter heating bills were considerably lower than the years before and after.

I think you may be working from the assumption of heating an entire house with a space heater. That would take a lot more energy than heating a single enclosed room.
Yeah, and in just my room, at least it would be somewhat more preferable than having to foot the heating bill for the thermostat being 5 degrees up.

BTW, thanks for all your answers. Much appreciated!
 

Ungoliant

Malleus Aranearum
Staff member
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Mar 7, 2012
Messages
4,096
I thought about using a space heater, but that would probably decrease the humidity a lot.
Any heater will reduce humidity. This just means you will need to check water dishes and substrate moisture more often. (You can also run a humidifier near your inverts to counter the heater.)

Heating the room rather than the enclosures is generally regarded as safer for the animals -- and using heating pads can get expensive once you start adding thermostats, especially if you have lots of enclosures.
 

user 666

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 27, 2017
Messages
355
Any heater will reduce humidity. This just means you will need to check water dishes and substrate moisture more often. (You can also run a humidifier near your inverts to counter the heater.)

Heating the room rather than the enclosures is generally regarded as safer for the animals -- and using heating pads can get expensive once you start adding thermostats, especially if you have lots of enclosures.
this reminds me, some T owners use, say, a clear rubbermaid trunk as a mini T room. They put the enclosures inside and keep the trunk heated and humid on a thermostat, giving them all the benefits of heating a room without heating the entire room.

you can find this type of setup on Youtube.

I want to see my Ts, so this has no appeal to me. But I can see the value.
 

Avel

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 20, 2017
Messages
4
Make an insulated box with a clear Lexan front to view them. You MUST have a way to control the temperature automatically.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NZZG3S/ref=s9_acsd_al_bw_c_x_2_w
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NZZG3S/ref=s9_acsd_al_bw_c_x_2_w
That's an inexpensive thermostat. I would also get an infrared thermometer to check each enclosure and dial in the temperature. Raise it slowly, and check often.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Co...uared-Edge-Insulation-Sheathing-45W/100320352
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Co...uared-Edge-Insulation-Sheathing-45W/100320352
That foam can be glued with a hot glue gun, if you get the 1" thick stuff its really easy to cut too. And you can paint the outside with a latex paint, or cover in paper mache if you like.
 

Red Eunice

Arachnodemon
Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Messages
666
Cabinet 4-21.jpg
If you're handy, simply build a heated cabinet. This one took one evening to build and about $75 in materials. A $14 line voltage t'stat (Menards, brand is Honeywell), $25 Flexwatt (11"X48"), $7 foam insulation (Lowes 8pcs. 16"X48"X3/4"), 2 wire rack assemblies (Aldi $14.99 each), fan (salvaged evaporator fan) free and a $5 electrical bridge.
Using a WattMizer this consumes about 15 cents of electricity per 24 hours @ a constant 80°-82°F. My invert room is below grade, using a space heater set at 750watt, increased the electric bill by $35 this past January/February. The room area is 8'X24' and kept in the mid/upper 70°F range.
 

VolkswagenBug

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 26, 2017
Messages
500
View attachment 238003
If you're handy, simply build a heated cabinet. This one took one evening to build and about $75 in materials. A $14 line voltage t'stat (Menards, brand is Honeywell), $25 Flexwatt (11"X48"), $7 foam insulation (Lowes 8pcs. 16"X48"X3/4"), 2 wire rack assemblies (Aldi $14.99 each), fan (salvaged evaporator fan) free and a $5 electrical bridge.
Using a WattMizer this consumes about 15 cents of electricity per 24 hours @ a constant 80°-82°F. My invert room is below grade, using a space heater set at 750watt, increased the electric bill by $35 this past January/February. The room area is 8'X24' and kept in the mid/upper 70°F range.
I'm not very handy, but maybe my dad could help, since he is. That would probably work for a while, but the issue is that I have to keep most of my bugs in separate cages, even if they're communal (especially roaches). The deal is that I'm allowed to have roaches if they're in separate containers, although I tried to explain to them that bugs of separate genuses (is that how you spell it?) can't breed, especially when they're juveniles. Since I'm planning to get more roaches soon, I might have to have two cabinets. :rolleyes:
 

VolkswagenBug

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 26, 2017
Messages
500
this reminds me, some T owners use, say, a clear rubbermaid trunk as a mini T room. They put the enclosures inside and keep the trunk heated and humid on a thermostat, giving them all the benefits of heating a room without heating the entire room.

you can find this type of setup on Youtube.

I want to see my Ts, so this has no appeal to me. But I can see the value.
Yeah, I don't really get the point of having pet bugs if you're never going to see them. All of my interesting display bugs are out on bookshelves in my room, and the burrowing/tiny ones are on a shelf in a little nook where I can still look at them if I want. I suppose that if you keep the tank walls really clean, you might be able to see them still.
 

Reest

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 9, 2017
Messages
11
A little late to the party but where i live it gets really cold in the winter (sweden) and i only use the space heater 30-50 min in the morning before school and the room has only dropped 2 degrees celcius max when i get back (79 F down to 75). And my room has huge windows that get really cold.

Maybe it's just my room but I would guess that if you have working radiators the temp will stay in the needed range and you wont have to use the spacheater more then 30min a day.

Never had a problem with humidity droping significantly either.
 

VolkswagenBug

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 26, 2017
Messages
500
Yeah, that's what I've experienced. I usually keep my door mostly closed, although it has a crack open so my cat can get in. If I use the space heater for around an hour (it would probably be less if I didn't have an old, crappy space heater), it stays pretty warm for 6 hours or so and then I need to turn it on again. It's been evaporating a bit of water in the substrates of the bugs, but I've been counteracting that by misting it again. Having the heat up also made one of my roaches abort an ootheca that she had been keeping, which probably didn't hatch because it was too cold.
 
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