OMG! What are you doing about heat lights after Jan1?

fluxlizard

Avid Member
Oh brother- I just found out as of Jan 1st 60 and 40 watt bulbs are being eliminated from sale in the US.

http://shine.yahoo.com/at-home/60-40-watt-bulbs-banned-2014-know-211800860.html

I don't know why but I thought I saw a news article last year that said that they had decided not to go ahead with this. Appears that article was mistaken.

This past week I've been buying up all the clamp lights I could find locally figuring again I'd go with 60 watt bulbs.

Now I'm wondering if I just blew a few hundred bucks on clamp lights for no good reason if I won't have bulbs that require that.

Makes me sick to my stomach.

So, the reason I'm posting-

What are you guys doing about heat lights this coming year? Any good inexpensive solutions?
 
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This is disappointing. Not only for its impact on chameleon keeping but because I really prefer incandescent lights to CFLs. I prefer the quality of light they give off. I guess we should all stock up!

As for alternatives I've had someone once recommend par 20 halogen floods as a good option but I've never tried it. ExoTerra makes a 40 W and 60 W Sun Glow Daylight which looks to me like a standard incandescent. Not sure if this will also be discontinued in 2014 though.

Hopefully the big reptile product companies will start producing some kind of alternative that works well for chameleons, but it will be higher priced for sure!
 
Oh brother- I just found out as of Jan 1st 60 and 40 watt bulbs are being eliminated from sale in the US.

http://shine.yahoo.com/at-home/60-40-watt-bulbs-banned-2014-know-211800860.html

I don't know why but I thought I saw a news article last year that said that they had decided not to go ahead with this. Appears that article was mistaken.

This past week I've been buying up all the clamp lights I could find locally figuring again I'd go with 60 watt bulbs.

Now I'm wondering if I just blew a few hundred bucks on clamp lights for no good reason if I won't have bulbs that require that.

Makes me sick to my stomach.

So, the reason I'm posting-

What are you guys doing about heat lights this coming year? Any good inexpensive solutions?


Seriously its a 40 watt light where 95% ( im not making this up) of the heat is convection.

Switch to flood halogens were at least 20% of the heat is radiated to the cham. Just get something around 800 lumens.
 
I may have to figure out floods.

I tried them years ago with an iguana and didn't like them.

Floods and spots create hot spots instead of thermal gradients. So I don't like them much.

But maybe if I mount them further from the enclosures and use higher watt floods... (And thereby use more power instead of less to do the same job...)
 
You can't find 75 or 100 watts any where. 40 and 60 do noy even come close to a high enough basking temp for me. I tried halogen floods but they were too hot. Home Depot sells a halogen light that looks like a conventional light bulb. I got the one that is comparable to a 100w incandescent but only uses 72w of electricity. It brought Clouseau's basking spot to the right temp. It puts out a fair amount of light tool I think they have 40 and 60s.
You could stock up too. Just buy as many as you can before they are gone. Also Amazon had 75w and 100w incandescents. I found them after I already bought the halogen.
 
What kind of halogens are you guys using? The kind that screws into a regular light socket or the kind with a couple of pins or?
 
I'm a low voltage halogen guy so no problems here.

Carl

Ditto....

Several of the stores I usually picked up incandescents at stopped carrying them several months ago here. Par20/30 for larger enclosures and GU10 for small enclosures.

Halogens come in different angles of reflection( hope that makes sense). Tight beams and wider beams of light, which can help give off that gradient your looking for.

In a way, halogens are just your incandescent bulb and reflector in one!
 
Glad to hear there are other options out there. I read this same story today and looks like Ill be heading out to target or k-mart to stock up on some supplies.. The article says they will be allowed to sell off whatever they have left, so hopefully we can snag enough to get us by for a while.
 
I've been using the normal screw-in halogen bulbs for 2 years now so I don't care, I'm not affected by this. You can still use halogens with those dome fixtures, so they wouldn't go to waste.

They are heavier bulbs and thus harder to angle the clamp fixture at an angle but it's possible.
 
I've been using the normal screw-in halogen bulbs for 2 years now so I don't care, I'm not affected by this. You can still use halogens with those dome fixtures, so they wouldn't go to waste.

They are heavier bulbs and thus harder to angle the clamp fixture at an angle but it's possible.

What fixture do you use for your halogens, if not a dome/clamp lamp?
 
Which brings me to my next question- should I be investing in more reflectors then or ?

Nope. Like Olimpia stated, halogens can be used in any dome/clamp lap given they are rated for high enough wattage..

The bulbs themselves basically have a reflector built in, so technically, just a socket required.

I'm soon switching out my dome reflectors for track lights.

Exactly what I use on smaller cages, love'em!!! :)
 
I'm a low voltage halogen guy so no problems here.

Which bulbs and fixtures are you using Carl?


Not sure the best way to go about figuring out what I'll need now. Hard to experiement when the bulbs are $5-$10 a pop or a special fixture is needed for the smaller bulbs...

I still need many fixtures- but I was about halfway done buying up the reflectors- Now I don't know whether to keep them and just use the halogen bulbs in them or rig up some sort of home made socket apparatus over the cages and sell the reflectors used on craigslist and cut my losses or something...
 
so hopefully we can snag enough to get us by for a while.
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For me that just isn't practical because of how many bulbs I would need even for a few years ahead. Plus I plan on breeding lizards still 30 years from now - I'll have to deal with this sooner or later, so maybe since I'm rebuilding sooner is better than later...
 
Which bulbs and fixtures are you using Carl?


Not sure the best way to go about figuring out what I'll need now. Hard to experiement when the bulbs are $5-$10 a pop or a special fixture is needed for the smaller bulbs...

I still need many fixtures- but I was about halfway done buying up the reflectors- Now I don't know whether to keep them and just use the halogen bulbs in them or rig up some sort of home made socket apparatus over the cages and sell the reflectors used on craigslist and cut my losses or something...

Since I only keep small species I use under cabinet lighting. My basking spot reads around 82f 4"-5" from the light. The lights are like the size of a hockey puck. A set of 5 runs like $30 at the big box stores. They are the double pin bulbs either GU10's or GU12's. I'll post a pic of them tomorrow. I've been using them for years.

Carl
 
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