What bulb wattage should I use

[AlphaTen223]

I am getting some cave roaches and my house usually sits around 65-68 degrees so I need to provide heating. What wattage for a bulb will keep it at about 75-80 degrees? I am goi to keep it on one side of the enclosure so they can regulate temperatures.

 

[xXTristinaXx]

I’d say get a ceramic heater and one keep it at a very small wattage, but I’d recommend just getting a temp controller and set it at the temp you want. Also I’d recommend using a heat mat

 

[AlphaTen223]

I’d say get a ceramic heater and one keep it at a very small wattage, but I’d recommend just getting a temp controller and set it at the temp you want. Also I’d recommend using a heat mat

I can’t afford the ceramic heater and temp controller at the moment so what would you suggest. Also what wattage for the heat mat works best for a ten gal.

 

[The Snark]

How large is your containment? We are talking a few watts to a few billion kW here.

Trial and error is the best way as it accommodates temperature, humidity and heat leakage. Put in a 50 or 100 watt bulb and take the temperature after 24 hours. Then to adjust, incandescent bulbs produce around 90% heat. So a 100 watt bulb is a 90 watt heater. Try different bulbs until you know the wattage for the desired temperature.
Ceramic IR heaters are near 100% efficient. You can use an ordinary light dimmer to adjust the heat.

 

[xXTristinaXx]

I think 100 is a little too hot, I’d say 50 watt

 

[AlphaTen223]

How large is your containment? We are talking a few watts to a few billion kW here.

Trial and error is the best way as it accommodates temperature, humidity and heat leakage. Put in a 50 or 100 watt bulb and take the temperature after 24 hours. Then to adjust, incandescent bulbs produce around 90% heat. So a 100 watt bulb is a 90 watt heater. Try different bulbs until you know the wattage for the desired temperature.
Ceramic IR heaters are near 100% efficient. You can use an ordinary light dimmer to adjust the heat.

It’s a 10 gallon terrarium

 

[The Snark]

I think 100 is a little too hot, I’d say 50 watt

It’s a 10 gallon terrarium

Okay, over complicating things here. IMMENSELY SO. 100 watt bulb is way overkill and very undesirable. Worst case plus plus. The best heat source is a heat mat, but what wattage?

The test with the light bulb will give a rough approximation of wattage, A cheap and easy way to ball park things. It is done in an empty container with the lid in place, the bulb at one end, the thermometer as far away as possible at the other, shielded from the direct light. This is radiant heat and is great for broiling the inmates of the container. Makes reptiles happy but is a health hazard to just about anything else.

What you want is a combination of conductive and convective heat which is best supplied by a heat mat through a medium in the form of a dense material like a substrate.
The heat is conducted and mediated by the material at the bottom and converted to convective heat warming the air. The slower it warms the air, the better. This resists, retards, temperature extremes maintaining an even median temperature. Again, this is slow. It can take several days for the containment air to come up to temperature. This can be frustrating to dial in as say, an inch of sand as substrate can take 48 hours or more to achieve maximum heat and stabilize.

Best way to go. ANY form of heat mat. They can be very cheap. A cheap, quick and dirty way to control the heat a light dimmer will work fine. Add a thermostat controller later as finances permit. With a medium such as the substrate it is pretty simple to achieve a stable temperature.

Why all this complexity? 80%+ humidity, ambient temperature that fluctuates 10-15 degrees, glass walled terraium and an open screen for a lid, compared to acrylic with a solid lid, ambient temperature hardly ever fluctuates and 50% humidity... your wattage demand, BTUs can be several hundred percent different. Thus the crude test first.

ROUGH RULES.
Radiant heat as from the sun is VERY inefficient. Air does not trap radiant heat well and loses heat fast. Most of the heating of the planet is from radiant heat which heats up the land and objects which converts the energy to convective and conductive heat. Radiant heat heats objects. The speed that it heats objects depends on the object's thermal coefficient. Lots of nasty math gets in on things there.
Convective heat is better than radiant. A medium, typically air, is heated by surfaces. For example a passive radiant heater in a room.
Conductive heat is the most efficient and as such, the hardest to control. As example, a frying pan. From not cooking to burning the bacon in a few moments.
Thus the heat mat. Heat is conducted quickly into material as a substrate converting the energy to convection as the heated material heats the air. Conduction -> Convection + radiation.
The most efficient form of heat for a containment, or a room in your house is forced convection as in a fan forcing air over a heated medium. Of course, use of a fan in an animal environment is much to hazardous.

Apologies for all the noise. I'm certified to operate HVAC systems in hospitals. Lots and lots and lots of variables to be considered.

 

[AlphaTen223]

Okay, over complicating things here. IMMENSELY SO. 100 watt bulb is way overkill and very undesirable. Worst case plus plus. The best heat source is a heat mat, but what wattage?

The test with the light bulb will give a rough approximation of wattage, A cheap and easy way to ball park things. It is done in an empty container with the lid in place, the bulb at one end, the thermometer as far away as possible at the other, shielded from the direct light. This is radiant heat and is great for broiling the inmates of the container. Makes reptiles happy but is a health hazard to just about anything else.

What you want is a combination of conductive and convective heat which is best supplied by a heat mat through a medium in the form of a dense material like a substrate.
The heat is conducted and mediated by the material at the bottom and converted to convective heat warming the air. The slower it warms the air, the better. This resists, retards, temperature extremes maintaining an even median temperature. Again, this is slow. It can take several days for the containment air to come up to temperature. This can be frustrating to dial in as say, an inch of sand as substrate can take 48 hours or more to achieve maximum heat and stabilize.

Best way to go. ANY form of heat mat. They can be very cheap. A cheap, quick and dirty way to control the heat a light dimmer will work fine. Add a thermostat controller later as finances permit. With a medium such as the substrate it is pretty simple to achieve a stable temperature.

Why all this complexity? 80%+ humidity, ambient temperature that fluctuates 10-15 degrees, glass walled terraium and an open screen for a lid, compared to acrylic with a solid lid, ambient temperature hardly ever fluctuates and 50% humidity... your wattage demand, BTUs can be several hundred percent different. Thus the crude test first.

ROUGH RULES.
Radiant heat as from the sun is VERY inefficient. Air does not trap radiant heat well and loses heat fast. Most of the heating of the planet is from radiant heat which heats up the land and objects which converts the energy to convective and conductive heat. Radiant heat heats objects. The speed that it heats objects depends on the object's thermal coefficient. Lots of nasty math gets in on things there.
Convective heat is better than radiant. A medium, typically air, is heated by surfaces. For example a passive radiant heater in a room.
Conductive heat is the most efficient and as such, the hardest to control. As example, a frying pan. From not cooking to burning the bacon in a few moments.
Thus the heat mat. Heat is conducted quickly into material as a substrate converting the energy to convection as the heated material heats the air. Conduction -> Convection + radiation.
The most efficient form of heat for a containment, or a room in your house is forced convection as in a fan forcing air over a heated medium. Of course, use of a fan in an animal environment is much to hazardous.

Apologies for all the noise. I'm certified to operate HVAC systems in hospitals. Lots and lots and lots of variables to be considered.

So a heat matt and to tell what wattage works best put a thermometer in to see what the heat is? Also do I tape the heat matt to the side? I’ve been told that roaches will burrow to escape heat so a matt on the bottom can harm them.

 

[xXTristinaXx]

So a heat matt and to tell what wattage works best put a thermometer in to see what the heat is? Also do I tape the heat matt to the side? I’ve been told that roaches will burrow to escape heat so a matt on the bottom can harm them.

Yes don’t put it in the bottom, put it on the side

 

[The Snark]

So a heat matt and to tell what wattage works best put a thermometer in to see what the heat is? Also do I tape the heat matt to the side? I’ve been told that roaches will burrow to escape heat so a matt on the bottom can harm them.

Test! Experiment. Keep in mind heat from mats propagates slowly. It can take hours to bring the tank up to temperature. Best is usually a heat may underneath the enclose at one end, wait until the temperature is stable, then introduce a few animals and see how they react. Crowd away from the mat - MAYBE too hot, or they like it at that temperature but not direct exposure to their exoskeleton. Always some trial and error factors. Heat mats on the side may also be just fine. Test.

 

[AlphaTen223]

Yes don’t put it in the bottom, put it on the side

What kind of tape should I use? I don’t want to have the tape melt. Also are there spacers i can use so the mat isn’t directly on the tank?

 

[The Snark]

Funny one. A while back I checked out a persons computer. It had plumbing attached. He was fan forced venting it through a filter then a screen into a large tank he was raising reptiles in. Bonus was no mold. Convection was exhausting mold spores and keeping humidity down.

 

[xXTristinaXx]

Funny one. A while back I checked out a persons computer. It had plumbing attached. He was fan forced venting it through a filter then a screen into a large tank he was raising reptiles in. Bonus was no mold. Convection was exhausting mold spores and keeping humidity down.

Haha I should do this, I have a beardie and a ginormous PC right next to the enclosure

 

[AlphaTen223]

Yes don’t put it in the bottom, put it on the side

Also will the roaches be able to get far enough from the mat in a 10 gallon or would a bigger tank work better?

 

[The Snark]

Haha I should do this, I have a beardie and a ginormous PC right next to the enclosure

His setup was very simple. An inline fan, 2 1/2 inch flexible duct, closed off some of the exhaust vents on the comp, stuffed some air con filter media in the duct and connected it to a screen down low on the side of the tank. A 300-450 watt supplemental heater.
I suppose you could just connect a plenum to the exhaust of the power supply and maybe speed up the fan a bit.