How to heat a T room

[newspidermom]

My T collection isn't as big as alot of you on here, but I have 4 now with a 4" GBB coming soon and 5 versi slings arriving probably in April. Due to the expansion I want to dedicate an extra room I have to keep my Ts and eliminate the multiple heat emitters and flex watt tape I'm currently using. My question is to those of you who may have a separate T room. How do you heat the room? Winters here in Pgh, PA can get real chilly and I want the most economical way to heat the room. The room is only about 12 x 15 so I was thinking a decent ceramic heater w/ a thermostat would work and then I'd probably also use a humidifier to add the humidity I need. Any pics any of you have would be awsome.

 

[Rue]

If you're going to heat a room for them, I'd suggest one of the oil-filled radiant heaters...

I haven't used one for any animals in particular...but our house is very cold, we've experimented with all kinds of heaters over the years...and for in house use, these are my favourites...

 

[Rob1985]

I use a radiant heater... doesn't dry the air out.

 

[Introvertebrate]

I bought one of these at Home Depot:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showpost.php?p=1754365&postcount=18

 

[Suidakkra]

I bought one of these at Home Depot:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showpost.php?p=1754365&postcount=18

+1


I really love this heater. I never have to worry about temperature spikes or like mentioned above, it doesnt dry everything out like the forced air heaters.

 

[newspidermom]

I had a similiar oil-filled heater in my old apartment years ago. Hopefully my experience was just a fluke, but the control panel on mine shorted and sparked and almost started a fire. Thank goodness I was sitting close enough to hurry up and pull the plug! I"ve never trusted those again. I guess that could happen with most any heater though. I just always heard that the ceramic heaters were pretty safe and economical.

 

[Rue]

I had a similiar oil-filled heater in my old apartment years ago. Hopefully my experience was just a fluke, but the control panel on mine shorted and sparked and almost started a fire. Thank goodness I was sitting close enough to hurry up and pull the plug! I"ve never trusted those again. I guess that could happen with most any heater though. I just always heard that the ceramic heaters were pretty safe and economical.

...just until THEY short...

Seriously...I'd try another oil-filled...

 

[Rob1985]

I bought one of these at Home Depot:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showpost.php?p=1754365&postcount=18

I have the same style of radiator, they use quite a bit of a electricity, but work like a charm!

 

[hassman789]

I should have gotten one of those... I have a vornado heater and I don't like to run it because I don't want to waste alot of electricity. how much does it cost to run the oil heater a month?

 

[Rob1985]

I should have gotten one of those... I have a vornado heater and I don't like to run it because I don't want to waste alot of electricity. how much does it cost to run the oil heater a month?

I don't truly know. Mine only turns on when it get's below 72℉. The heat in my apt. sucks and rarely does anything.

I had a ceramic forced air heater, but it dried everything out really fast!

 

[catfishrod69]

i live in ohio so my weather is like yours there in PA...anyways my T room has a small ceramic heater...but i have a oil filled one in the bathroom, and it works great...once i do some rearranging in my T room im gonna put in my spare oil filled....only bad thing about them is electric bill....mine went from like 80 to 250 but i also got flexwatt, and heat lamps runnin and a fridge thats over ten years old, so that might be my prob...but id say go with oil filled

 

[Slimdean]

Here is a good vid.

how to keep t's warm by Jon3800

 

[newspidermom]

Ya..I've seen that vid by jon3800. That's where I got the idea of using the ceramic heater actually. I like his vids and robc has good informative vids also.

 

[bootdsc]

If you really want to know how much an electric heater will cost to run check your electric bill or call the utilities company. Ask what the current price for 1 kilowatt is and the average throughout the year. Then you find out the wattage of your heater and estimate how many hours it will have to be on each month so if its a 1200 watt heater which is common for the med or high setting of an oil radiator thats 1.2Kw(where i live its about 18 cents per Kw) maybe run it 6 hours a day for 30 days. 21.6x6x30/100 = $38.88

Between my 17 T's and new dubia colony I'm using 28 watts worth of reptile heat pads(setup on micro climate tanks not directly on my T's enclosures) that run about half the day so its hardly noticeable on my electric bill. Now back when i lived in Colorado during the cold months using radiator heaters often ran up the bill $400 more a month so i feel your pain.

 

[forrestpengra]

I wouldn't worry about an entire room at this point. Given your collection size I would recommend getting a 'wardrobe' and use either an IR bulb or your heat tape. This is what I have (I had 40+ in there for a while), and I heat with a heat bulb: