basking light question

[RickyNo]

This is my first high humidity animal so I'm unsure about this one. I have a 150 watt basking light. I do not want to Dangle it inside the enclosure. With the doors shut and the humidity high how high does the lights need to be to keep basking temperatures.?

 

[laurarfl]

It is really a hard question to answer because there are so many factors involved.

I have lights in my garage enclosures that are 3ft high. It gets warm out there so I don't need too much heat. There are two sockets, I run 100 watt basking in the summer, 160 watt in the cooler seasons, and I can add another bulb or CHE in the winter.

My indoor enclosure has a 100watt PowerSun that is about 16" from the basking surface. It gets pretty toasty in that enclosure with room temps at 78.

 

[RickyNo]

Ok thank you for the info

 

[RickyNo]

one last question. I was wanting to get a ceramic heat emitter to ensure my 4x8 has a constant temp. with this enclosure completely sealed other than two vents in the back would 1 150 watt emitter be sufficient?

 

[laurarfl]

You want to run a 150 bulb and a 150 CHE, just to make sure I understand it correctly? The CHE doesn't heat the air. It heats up the object beneath it..

 

[RickyNo]

There is 1.5 feet of substrate, highly doubt a heat man is going to help that lol

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

You may just have to try it out and adjust from there. Theres so many factors to determine what watt and type bulb you need to get optimal temps. So keep your receipts and boxes so you can switch out for a different bulb if needed. & be sure your measuring your temps correctly. for basking temp you need a temp gun to read the surface and digital therms do great for ambient. those dial guages arent always accurate.

 

[KritterKeeper]

I have 2 ceramic light sockets attached to the ceiling of my cage. I use a 45watt flood light for a basking light and about 3/4 of the way down on the other side i just have a regular household 40watt bulb so that end stays warm enough..Im sure you would need higher watts since your cage is bigger but the 2 bulbs would be enough and i dont think they both necessarily need to be 150watts. At night theres no light and i dont let my house get cold so i dont use anything at night.
Not sure where anybody said to use a heat mat...?

 

[KritterKeeper]

I guess its obvious that theres no light at night but i guess i just meant everything is off lol

 

[RickyNo]

Do you have to use a dome for a heat emitter? I was just thinking about attaching a socket to the top of the cage but if the heat is too much onto the wood i definitely dont want to start a fire! I ordered big apple pet supplies 150 watt black emitter. One should definitely be enough. i keep my house at 73 when im home btw.

 

[RickyNo]

You may just have to try it out and adjust from there. Theres so many factors to determine what watt and type bulb you need to get optimal temps. So keep your receipts and boxes so you can switch out for a different bulb if needed. & be sure your measuring your temps correctly. for basking temp you need a temp gun to read the surface and digital therms do great for ambient. those dial guages arent always accurate.

I ordered a temp gun last nite actually. I'll have this dialed in soon. Also ordered a nice thermostat from spyder electronics. shes a beauty. I can set my day time ambient temp and it will then automatically dial down to my night time temps. A lot of options with that thing..

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

Is the black emitter what your using for basking or just ambient heat?

 

[RickyNo]

Ambient heat