Mimicking a Gradual Sunrise/Sunset with Lighting

[cantgetagoodsn]

I am in the process of setting up the habitat for the little guy im getting in about 2 weeks. I've had chameleons in the past, but I'm lookin into ways to make the habitat even better. I've bought smart plugs to use for the timer for the lighting and mist/drip systems. This made me wonder if there was a way to gradually fade in/out the typical lighting equipment rather than a harsh on/off.

Has anyone had any success in gradually fading in/out lighting for the set up?

 

[cantgetagoodsn]

Is this even possible with the T5 UVB bulbs we use for our chameleons? I saw a couple of fixtures with a fast Google search, but they are NOT cheap.

 

[Beman]

LOL I love your screen name. Laughed so hard.
So I have mine kick on and off at different times. I run 3 total. All T5HO 1 for UVB and two 6400 daylight bulbs. I stagger mine. UVB comes on at 7:30 off at 6:30, then one kicks on at 8:30-5:30 then I have one that runs from 11-1:30.... This works well and does a gradual lights on and off. But I have not seen anything like what your thinking of. You want like a real sunrise/sunset effect.

 

[cantgetagoodsn]

LOL I love your screen name. Laughed so hard.
So I have mine kick on and off at different times. I run 3 total. All T5HO 1 for UVB and two 6400 daylight bulbs. I stagger mine. UVB comes on at 7:30 off at 6:30, then one kicks on at 8:30-5:30 then I have one that runs from 11-1:30.... This works well and does a gradual lights on and off. But I have not seen anything like what your thinking of. You want like a real sunrise/sunset effect.

Thank you! I couldn't get a good screen name for AIM in high school and has stuck ever since. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That seems like a good solution, but you're right. I'm looking for something more gradual, ideally mimicking the actual sunrise/sunset. This was inspired by my Hue lights. In have them gradually fade in before any alarm goes off. It's a muuuuuuch nicer way to wake up.

I thought it would be nice for the little guy as well.

 

[Beman]

Thank you! I couldn't get a good screen name for AIM in high school and has stuck ever since. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That seems like a good solution, but you're right. I'm looking for something more gradual, ideally mimicking the actual sunrise/sunset. This was inspired by my Hue lights. In have them gradually fade in before any alarm goes off. It's a muuuuuuch nicer way to wake up.

I thought it would be nice for the little guy as well.

No, I agree it would be an excellent more natural way to mimic their lighting to what it would be in the wild. I have not seen anything on the market for reptiles... Maybe you should develop it and then you could make millions and we would all have amazing enclosures with gradual lighting!

 

[ryavanzandt]

Phillips Hue will do a fade in or out over time. I use that on my russian tort habitat. I have wyze bulbs in the reptile room that I have come on at 10% intervals. Wyze does not do a fade in or out yet, so you have to setup different times to change the light, but it works. I use wyze on most of my stuff, plugs, cams. Everything in one app.

 

[nightanole]

You could also use leds. So at "dawn" you could kick on the single T5HO UVB, and then slowly kick on the leds. What came to mind really was the fact you could change the color temperature over the day. Is only a perfect 6500k noon on a summer day, its bluer in the winter, and its redder during dawn and dusk.

 

[cantgetagoodsn]

Phillips Hue will do a fade in or out over time. I use that on my russian tort habitat. I have wyze bulbs in the reptile room that I have come on at 10% intervals. Wyze does not do a fade in or out yet, so you have to setup different times to change the light, but it works. I use wyze on most of my stuff, plugs, cams. Everything in one app.

I have't hear of Wyze before. I'll have to check it out! I'm planning on using WeMo switches with their app (HomeKit integration as well) to control all of my lights and misting system. Outside of software, I'm curious as to whether the T5 bulbs are even possibly to have a dimmer attached to it, or does the lighting technology prevent that.

You could also use leds. So at "dawn" you could kick on the single T5HO UVB, and then slowly kick on the leds. What came to mind really was the fact you could change the color temperature over the day. Is only a perfect 6500k noon on a summer day, its bluer in the winter, and its redder during dawn and dusk.

That sounds cool. The different temperatures at different parts of the day sounds really beneficial! I'm still hoping to find a way to gradually fade all of the lights so it's as natural as possible. Might be a fun project!

 

[Clayton0520]

It is very possible, I have this set up on my cages. It is a way over kill and if I wasn’t in the profession to “come up“ on this kind of equipment it would have been very expensive. You need a dimmable ballast for your T5 lamps as well as a dimmable lamp. I have my system setup and controlled by an Allen Bradley PLC. I wrote code to accommodate sunrise, sunset, and rain events. So on my HMI (touch screen) I have a sunrise time where I enter the time that I want sun rise to happen. Sun rise consisted of my 65k lamps slowly turning on starting at 5% and increasing by 5% every 4 minutes until full power is on. This takes nearly an hour and half to get to full power. Once my 65k lamps are at full power I turn on my UVB lamp at full power. I do not dim my UVB lamp it just goes on and off. I repeat these steps on my sunset time in opposite order. For my rain events I enter how many times I want it to ”rain” and for how long. During this step I kill my UVB lamps, and dim my 65k lamps by 15% over 2 minute intervals down to 55% at this point I turn on my fogger for 3 minutes. At the 3 minute mark I start my misting system ( for predetermined amount of time ) 30 seconds after my misting system starts I turn off my fogger. When my misting system timer has expired I shut my mister off and wait for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes my light system begins to turn back on in the reverse order. Like I said it’s WAY overkill but works perfect and it makes going out of town super easy when some one else has to tend to your Chams for a day or two.

 

[Beman]

It is very possible, I have this set up on my cages. It is a way over kill and if I wasn’t in the profession to “come up“ on this kind of equipment it would have been very expensive. You need a dimmable ballast for your T5 lamps as well as a dimmable lamp. I have my system setup and controlled by an Allen Bradley PLC. I wrote code to accommodate sunrise, sunset, and rain events. So on my HMI (touch screen) I have a sunrise time where I enter the time that I want sun rise to happen. Sun rise consisted of my 65k lamps slowly turning on starting at 5% and increasing by 5% every 4 minutes until full power is on. This takes nearly an hour and half to get to full power. Once my 65k lamps are at full power I turn on my UVB lamp at full power. I do not dim my UVB lamp it just goes on and off. I repeat these steps on my sunset time in opposite order. For my rain events I enter how many times I want it to ”rain” and for how long. During this step I kill my UVB lamps, and dim my 65k lamps by 15% over 2 minute intervals down to 55% at this point I turn on my fogger for 3 minutes. At the 3 minute mark I start my misting system ( for predetermined amount of time ) 30 seconds after my misting system starts I turn off my fogger. When my misting system timer has expired I shut my mister off and wait for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes my light system begins to turn back on in the reverse order. Like I said it’s WAY overkill but works perfect and it makes going out of town super easy when some one else has to tend to your Chams for a day or two.

ummmmm so I knew about your electrical genius but now you have coding genius too!!!!! I am so jelly Clayton... Just want you to know that

 

[Tony_S]

It is very possible, I have this set up on my cages. It is a way over kill and if I wasn’t in the profession to “come up“ on this kind of equipment it would have been very expensive. You need a dimmable ballast for your T5 lamps as well as a dimmable lamp. I have my system setup and controlled by an Allen Bradley PLC. I wrote code to accommodate sunrise, sunset, and rain events. So on my HMI (touch screen) I have a sunrise time where I enter the time that I want sun rise to happen. Sun rise consisted of my 65k lamps slowly turning on starting at 5% and increasing by 5% every 4 minutes until full power is on. This takes nearly an hour and half to get to full power. Once my 65k lamps are at full power I turn on my UVB lamp at full power. I do not dim my UVB lamp it just goes on and off. I repeat these steps on my sunset time in opposite order. For my rain events I enter how many times I want it to ”rain” and for how long. During this step I kill my UVB lamps, and dim my 65k lamps by 15% over 2 minute intervals down to 55% at this point I turn on my fogger for 3 minutes. At the 3 minute mark I start my misting system ( for predetermined amount of time ) 30 seconds after my misting system starts I turn off my fogger. When my misting system timer has expired I shut my mister off and wait for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes my light system begins to turn back on in the reverse order. Like I said it’s WAY overkill but works perfect and it makes going out of town super easy when some one else has to tend to your Chams for a day or two.

How can I place my order?

 

[Ridick]

There are several lights that will do that, and you set it up all from your phone, from time to intensity etc. Check your local salt water aquarium store. I've been using them years ago on all my coral reefs before I moved, so I know for sure they have them.

 

[Lil’ Sneak]

We’re going to be doing it with an ATI T5 Sunpower Dimmable. It’s super sweet! two channels, 10 set points per channel and here’s the kicker - you set an on time and then set a percentage and a endpoint time. Say lights on a 7 am, 100% at 10am, and then the controller will ramp each channel independently 1% at a time proportionate to your set endpoint and percentage.

 

[Clayton0520]

Lol thanks guys and gals, there are probably many many way cheaper options out there. I do work like this as a profession so it’s kinda habit to over kill simple project like this lol. plus it’s super fun to try and make my little guy and gals home as close to natural as possible.

 

[CK415]

Lol thanks guys and gals, there are probably many many way cheaper options out there. I do work like this as a profession so it’s kinda habit to over kill simple project like this lol. plus it’s super fun to try and make my little guy and gals home as close to natural as possible.

Would love to see pics or a video of your setup. Sounds mind-blowing

 

[cantgetagoodsn]

It is very possible, I have this set up on my cages. It is a way over kill and if I wasn’t in the profession to “come up“ on this kind of equipment it would have been very expensive. You need a dimmable ballast for your T5 lamps as well as a dimmable lamp. I have my system setup and controlled by an Allen Bradley PLC. I wrote code to accommodate sunrise, sunset, and rain events. So on my HMI (touch screen) I have a sunrise time where I enter the time that I want sun rise to happen. Sun rise consisted of my 65k lamps slowly turning on starting at 5% and increasing by 5% every 4 minutes until full power is on. This takes nearly an hour and half to get to full power. Once my 65k lamps are at full power I turn on my UVB lamp at full power. I do not dim my UVB lamp it just goes on and off. I repeat these steps on my sunset time in opposite order. For my rain events I enter how many times I want it to ”rain” and for how long. During this step I kill my UVB lamps, and dim my 65k lamps by 15% over 2 minute intervals down to 55% at this point I turn on my fogger for 3 minutes. At the 3 minute mark I start my misting system ( for predetermined amount of time ) 30 seconds after my misting system starts I turn off my fogger. When my misting system timer has expired I shut my mister off and wait for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes my light system begins to turn back on in the reverse order. Like I said it’s WAY overkill but works perfect and it makes going out of town super easy when some one else has to tend to your Chams for a day or two.

We’re going to be doing it with an ATI T5 Sunpower Dimmable. It’s super sweet! two channels, 10 set points per channel and here’s the kicker - you set an on time and then set a percentage and a endpoint time. Say lights on a 7 am, 100% at 10am, and then the controller will ramp each channel independently 1% at a time proportionate to your set endpoint and percentage.

Both of these solutions sound EXACTLY like what I was hoping to discover. That being said I JUST ordered everything for the little guy's rainforest and need to save for a larger Dragon Strand cage later on down the road. These fixtures aren't cheap!

Thanks for sharing!

Would love to see pics or a video of your setup. Sounds mind-blowing

Yes, pictures please!!!

 

[mujino]

I really like @Clayton0520’s solution! For my guy I have a Yeelight in the room near the window which simulates sunrise and sunset for 20 min each. The sunrise starts at 8a, and about 15 minutes in I have the basking light start ramping up from 0 to 100% over 15 minutes. Once the basking light is fully “on” and the sunrise is over, I kick on the UVB. I don’t have a dimmable ballast so the UVB just kicks on at the end of the sunrise cycle. I have a couple daytime events which simulate passing clouds too. Then it’s the reverse at sunset which starts at 8p. I monitor the lights independently with a few light and temperature sensors for validation that store measurements for me to review later, so the whole system can be fine tuned.

The sunrise-sunset cycle goes full color (purple -> deep mauve -> orange -> pale yellow), while gradually getting brighter (and more whitish), then it switches over to a nice daylight color temperature of about 5400K. The sunset is a little brighter with vivid colors because I personally really like sunset. One of the sunsets looks like this:

The only advantage to the Yeelight is that it’s a little cheaper than the Phillips Hue. Although honestly I wish I’d just purchased the Hue to begin with. It gets much better reviews and has a much better interface. It was fun building though! Anything you come up with your cham will definitely appreciate.

 

[mujino]

We’re going to be doing it with an ATI T5 Sunpower Dimmable. It’s super sweet! two channels, 10 set points per channel and here’s the kicker - you set an on time and then set a percentage and a endpoint time. Say lights on a 7 am, 100% at 10am, and then the controller will ramp each channel independently 1% at a time proportionate to your set endpoint and percentage.

Wow that is a nice system!

 

[mujino]

@Clayton0520 what do you do professionally?

 

[Clayton0520]

I’m an electrician by trade, but I work for a system integrator. We automate water and waste water plants. Iv attached some pics of my setup. The cage on the right is my female Sydney she’s fixing to lay eggs that’s why her cage is covered.