heating a large enclosure advice needed

[azz123]

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.

 

[lalacroft25]

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

 

[Tegu Dude]

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.

 

[james.w]

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.

 

[got10]

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 ?

 

[Jermosh]

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.

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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.

 

[azz123]

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

 

[Jermosh]

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#