# heating a large enclosure advice needed



## azz123 (Jan 3, 2012)

ok so my enclosure is built and ready. it is in an outbuilding and i have tiled the walls and built a wooden top and front with plexi glass windows and a plexi glass/ wooden door. the floor is also tiled.

it measures 7ft long x 5ft wide by 3.5ft high.

because it is so cold where i live in the united kingdom england i could not achieve the same temps i do in my small tank. i tried spot lights no joy. i have ordered a 500 watt microclimate AHS i hope i have made a good choice, is there anything i can do to aid my heating system. so far all i have in there is my substrate. i am starting to wonder if my enclosure is to high. i should receive my ahs tommorow.


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## lalacroft25 (Jan 8, 2012)

hey i am also from the uk.  the trick is to use more than one light. if you use 3 of 4 lights but a smaller wattage so ure not burnung ure teg it should work. you could also try using the heat cable ive never used it before but it would be worth a shot. if its quite hi then you could put a shelf in it for ure tegu. just some ideas hope this helps


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## Tegu Dude (Jan 8, 2012)

Heat lamps work well, but they will burn if placed too close. The good thing w/ them is that they are affordable, easily available, & come in red for use at night. Be sure to use a ceramic fixture bc they will melt plastic. Brooder clamp light fixtures work great and they are only @$10 at wal mart, lowes, etc here in the us.


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## james.w (Jan 8, 2012)

For ambient heat I recommend radiant heat panels. For your basking spot you can use multiple halogen flood lights, typically 55w will work. Just adjust the distance to get the temps right.


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## got10 (Jan 8, 2012)

azz123 said:


> ok so my enclosure is built and ready. it is in an outbuilding and i have tiled the walls and built a wooden top and front with plexi glass windows and a plexi glass/ wooden door. the floor is also tiled.
> 
> it measures 7ft long x 5ft wide by 3.5ft high.
> 
> because it is so cold where i live in the united kingdom england i could not achieve the same temps i do in my small tank. i tried spot lights no joy. i have ordered a 500 watt microclimate AHS i hope i have made a good choice, is there anything i can do to aid my heating system. so far all i have in there is my substrate. i am starting to wonder if my enclosure is to high. i should receive my ahs tommorow.



That sounds like a monster size cage , could you post your plans ?


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## Jermosh (Jan 9, 2012)

Get a good radiant barrier and a oil circulator heater. Should be all you need, would not worry about conductive loss to much, and you can put the RB anywhere on the wall. Outside or in. 


Also you could use a radient heat panel too, just need to add a good thermostat, I would reccomend Pro-Products with a comercial therm.


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## azz123 (Jan 10, 2012)

ok reduced the enclosure to 7ft long by 2.2ft high by 2.2ft wide fitted an AHS 500watt and 4 spot lights how can i keep the temps up at night????????? because obviously the lights need to go off and the AHS 500watt does not heat it up enough


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## Jermosh (Jan 11, 2012)

azz123 said:


> ok reduced the enclosure to 7ft long by 2.2ft high by 2.2ft wide fitted an AHS 500watt and 4 spot lights how can i keep the temps up at night????????? because obviously the lights need to go off and the AHS 500watt does not heat it up enough



Do you have a radiant barrier or does the insulation have a radient barrier?

I think the AHS is more conductive heat, it needs a high R-value insulation. Although I am not 100% sure what it is.

Where as a radiant panel, or oil recirculator is pure radient heat. I believe you can also use IR bulbs with Gu's. 

Something like this with proper RB should be plenty.:
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4GGHP_enUS450US450&q=electric+space+heaters&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1311&bih=534&ion=1&wrapid=tlif132633389536410&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=5018539931404594258&sa=X&ei=3D8OT9SxC4mMiAK57vmoDQ&ved=0CNoBEPMCMAQ#


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