What heat bulb watt?

[Nylah712]

Hey so I’ve been experimenting with the heat bulb so I could get the perfect temperature for masking. At the moment I am using a 60watt that gets the basking up to 87 degrees. That is too high for a 4 month old so, I tried a 50 watt, but I found that it only went up to 78 degress at the basking point. Anything higher than 60 watt would go into the 90s.

Any advice?

 

[Rontti]

Try getting a higher wattage bulb and then moving the lamp farther away from the top of the cage. That way you'll get the temperature you're looking for.

 

[Nylah712]

Thanks, I will try that but at the moment the humidifier is on and is maintaining a temp of about 84 degrees so, I will try to raise the light fixture!

 

[dshuld]

Another option is putting it on a dimmer switch. Not to hard to make one up or you can get a dimmer "extension cord" like this to plug the lamp into.

 

[Nylah712]

Ya, I'll look into that! It looks pretty interesting...thx

 

[dshuld]

Ya, I'll look into that! It looks pretty interesting...thx

You're welcome. I haven't used one like that personally but have seen other mention them. I make my own when needed. Can help you with that part if needed though lol.

 

[RyanBRZ]

I originally had a dimmer but I noticed that the bulbs give off an annoying buzz when they are not set to 100%. I personally would only use the dimmer for fine tuning (e.g. going from 87F to 85F) and not use it to reduce a bulb from say 100W down to what a 75W outputs. I did away with the dimmer all together and am (was) now using a 60W household bulb at 100%.

2 weeks ago I bought one of the below which is going to replace my incandescent bulb since my plants are responding well to it and my chameleon prefers to bask under it over the incandescent. It is a little too warm directly under it and am working on building a frame to sit on top of the cage to elevate it a bit. Another bonus for my setup is the fact that the LED bulb has a cooling fan which blows warm air into the enclosure which helps to increase the gradient temp a bit.

This LED came as a recommendation from another forum member when I was looking for advice on keeping my umbrella plant alive. It was losing leaves like crazy and getting bare on one side. Since putting this in it stopped dropping leaves and there is new growth already appearing. Here's a link to the thread if you are interested.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C7L31K8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[dshuld]

I originally had a dimmer but I noticed that the bulbs give off an annoying buzz when they are not set to 100%. I personally would only use the dimmer for fine tuning (e.g. going from 87F to 85F) and not use it to reduce a bulb from say 100W down to what a 75W outputs. I did away with the dimmer all together and am (was) now using a 60W household bulb at 100%.

2 weeks ago I bought one of the below which is going to replace my incandescent bulb since my plants are responding well to it and my chameleon prefers to bask under it over the incandescent. It is a little too warm directly under it and am working on building a frame to sit on top of the cage to elevate it a bit. Another bonus for my setup is the fact that the LED bulb has a cooling fan which blows warm air into the enclosure which helps to increase the gradient temp a bit.

This LED came as a recommendation from another forum member when I was looking for advice on keeping my umbrella plant alive. It was losing leaves like crazy and getting bare on one side. Since putting this in it stopped dropping leaves and there is new growth already appearing. Here's a link to the thread if you are interested.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C7L31K8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was @celeste_knitter /me lol. I am using "diy" dimmers on my baby cages with philips plant bulbs though. The leds are a bit to bright for the babies unfortunately. With a normal in wall turn style dimmer and the philips plant bulbs there is no buzzing though. Happy you're liking the led bulb as much as I do.

 

[Nylah712]

Thanks for all your responses but, I actually went with buying a thermostat controller....I don’t know if that’s a better option or worse? To be honest I was sceptical of buying it but, I will see how it works today!

 

[Nylah712]

This is the link...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01I15S6OM

 

[dshuld]

Controller is fine but that one will cycle the bulb off and on. A dimming proportional controller is ideally the one you want. Cheapest one I know of is the exo terra but there's not much info out there on reliability of them.

 

[Nylah712]

Oh good thing I can return it! I will look into the Exo Terra Thermostat. Since, I’m going to the Reptile Super show next week, I will ask them directly. As well as purchase it from there.

Separate question: Can the basking spot be 84 degress rather 82... that is as close as I could get it?

 

[dshuld]

Oh good thing I can return it! I will look into the Exo Terra Thermostat. Since, I’m going to the Reptile Super show next week, I will ask them directly. As well as purchase it from there.

Separate question: Can the basking spot be 84 degress rather 82... that is as close as I could get it?

2° should be ok as long as the screen isn't excessively hot. The dimming proportional with auto dim and brighten to maintain the target temp though. I was only able to find two "initial reviews" on the exo when I originally looked. There were no updates I could find but both people said they liked it in the initial.

So all that being said, if you get the exo check temps the probe is reading vs a temp gun and adjust accordingly. And also, please update us on how it works out with it. I've not pulled the trigger on them due to the lack of info out there.

 

[Nylah712]

2° should be ok as long as the screen isn't excessively hot. The dimming proportional with auto dim and brighten to maintain the target temp though. I was only able to find two "initial reviews" on the exo when I originally looked. There were no updates I could find but both people said they liked it in the initial.

So all that being said, if you get the exo check temps the probe is reading vs a temp gun and adjust accordingly. And also, please update us on how it works out with it. I've not pulled the trigger on them due to the lack of info out there.

For sure will update on it once I get it! Thank you for the advice!

 

[dshuld]

For sure will update on it once I get it! Thank you for the advice!

Sweet thanks!!