incandescent light bulbs

[Night0wl]

Hi all,

I keep reptiles and use 25 watt 'party globes' as heating for their enclosures. I'm not sure if there is any reptile enthusiasts in here but basically the bulb is at one end of the enclosure to provide heat for the reptile and the other end stays cool to create a thermal gradient from warm to cool, one end to the other. This is because reptiles can't create their own body heat so we provide the temp gradient so they can choose the optimal temp they require at the time.

Anyway, in Australia the government is banning incandescent light globes and in the near future (approx 2 years) they will apparently no longer be available.

Is there any other form of heating that would do the same job as these globes so I can convert my enclosures before the ban? I have thought about using heat cord, which is available through Reptile Supplies Stores but if anyone could think of an alternative would be much appreciated.

Thanks for your time,
Shane

 

[things]

banning incandescent bulbs ??????? i never heard of that ban?? are the bulbs on all the time, day/night? there are multiple ways to do this, how big is your enclosure? what kind of temps do you require? does there have to be light, or just heat? please give as much info as you can so we can help you better.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

banning incandescent bulbs ??????? i never heard of that ban??.

Your wonderful prime minister came up with the idea a while back!, I suspect more for political reasons than anything else? - it made the news right round the world!.

The UK seem to be following suit, there are due to be banned in about 18 months here - so what are you supposed to do with dimmers?.

 

[bloody-orc]

maybe IR LED's they give out IR radiation, what comfortably happens to be the same as heat radiation. Or maybe you can cool your PC to that terrarium venting all that warm/hot air to the reptiles .

 

[mneary]

You can buy small electric heaters, start looking under 'boot toasters'.

 

[Night0wl]

Some good ideas there peeps, thanks I recall someone in a reptile forum talking about alternate heating some time ago but can't find where I saw it. He mentioned using the heat from hot water passing under the enclosures, maybe connected to a solar hot water system?

things: The bulbs are on 24/7 for young snakes and as they get older the night time cycle starts and the bulbs are then only on for about 12 hrs/day. The enclosures vary in size from 90cm (W) x 60cm (D) x 60cm (H) to 120cm x 60cm x 60cm. A couple of them are taller than wide, being approx 70cm (W) x 60cm (D) x 100cm (H). The heated end must get to 30 - 32 deg/C and they don't require light, only heat.

Any other ideas?

 

[Hank Fletcher]

The same ban is scheduled for Ontario, although the Premier there (in his support of the Canadian Auto Workers Union) has outright denied the possibility for emission control on vehicles, so the whole thing's obviously politically (rather than environmentally) motivated.

The solution is obvious. The ban is on the sale, not the use, of incandescent bulbs, so stock up! And stock up now, before the prices are cranked up due to paranoia as the ban date closes in. How many bulbs could you go through in your (or your lizard's) lifetime? Make a liberal estimate, and buy twice as many - you more than likely will be able to recoup your cost in post-ban blackmarket bulb sales.

I don't like undermining environmental conservation, and the truth is that already non-incandescent bulbs are the majority in my house. But I mean, come on, get your priorities straight - like I said about the emission control, and add to that the coal electric plants in Ontario, the fact that the majority of houses have fireplaces, the list goes on. I should be able to choose for myself how much I want to spend on electricity and in what form of lighting. If you want to limit my options, just raise the price and I'll limit them myself - it's called a free market.

Don't manipulate the masses with lip-service environmentalism, either do it right or not at al (and get voted out, because we're all too bright to know when we're getting screwed out of clean air). Getting tough about the environment means getting tough with industry. What if some kid chucked his fast-food garbage on your lawn? You'd make him deal with it, right? So what's the difference between that and an industry chucking a couple tons of garbage in the form of air polution on your property? Nothing. The reason for governments is to forward the rights and interests of their citizens, not to pander to any industry or special interest groups like unions. The only special interest group any government should be considering is its collective and individual citizens. Sometimes that means being tough on unions or an industry sector where a large number of your citizens are working, so be prepared to make concessions to help those people deal with the change. For instance, if you fear the large automotive companies will leave your province if you enforce emission controls on vehicles, start a state-run vehicle manufacturer to absorb anyone made redundant. That's win-win for the state, and the automobile execs know it, so all you got to do is play hardball and tell them the way it's gonna be. The kid who littered on your lawn may complain, he may even threaten to egg your house, but that's what separates the righteous from the stupid, and in time you'll both benefit from teaching him to put garbage where it belongs.

 

[Hank Fletcher]

Any other ideas?

Solar-powered heat. It's hot in most of Australia most of the time, isn't it? So don't even use an electric solar panel, just let the water heat from the sun in a tank and have a small heating element to keep the water temperature just right before it enters the enclosure. You could use piping, but you could even just let the water flow through the enclosure in a luke-warm pond, as long as you're mindful of evaporation, condensation and the greater rate at which the water will cool.

 

[Night0wl]

Solar-powered heat. It's hot in most of Australia most of the time, isn't it? So don't even use an electric solar panel, just let the water heat from the sun in a tank and have a small heating element to keep the water temperature just right before it enters the enclosure. You could use piping, but you could even just let the water flow through the enclosure in a luke-warm pond, as long as you're mindful of evaporation, condensation and the greater rate at which the water will cool.

I thought about Solar Power to heat the enclosures but not sure how many panels I would need. I use a 25 watt bulb in each enclosure and have 10 enclosures to heat.

It does get hot here in Summer, but winter is very cold and where I live the day's top temp usually only gets to around 10deg/C, with little sunlight. Overnight temps can fall below 0deg/C for about 8 weeks through winter.

The piping sounds like a good idea. Just letting the water flow through the enclosure, however, would not work as the humidity levels wound be too high and the snakes would suffer scale rot.

Thanks for your help, it is much appreciated.

Cheers
Shane

 

[theinfamousbob]

so what are you supposed to do with dimmers?.

I'm guessing the dimmers will become PWM based, and after the bulb starts up it should be fine?

 

[Rolf]

Imersion calrod.........

Some good ideas there peeps, thanks I recall someone in a reptile forum talking about alternate heating some time ago but can't find where I saw it. He mentioned using the heat from hot water passing under the enclosures, maybe connected to a solar hot water system?

things: The bulbs are on 24/7 for young snakes and as they get older the night time cycle starts and the bulbs are then only on for about 12 hrs/day. The enclosures vary in size from 90cm (W) x 60cm (D) x 60cm (H) to 120cm x 60cm x 60cm. A couple of them are taller than wide, being approx 70cm (W) x 60cm (D) x 100cm (H). The heated end must get to 30 - 32 deg/C and they don't require light, only heat.

Any other ideas?

May i suggest using a liquid refreshment warming element, It will burn up if not kept in liquid but if you use a dimmer to regulate the power to it, then it seems to me it should work and you should be able to get the correct temperature without immersing it.

Edit: Just touched my 14w fluorescent desk lamp metal shade, it is nice and warm and the bulb is actually to hot to hold more than briefly.
So by using a fluorescent bulb four times larger (w) than your current light you will get about the same amount of radiant heat.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I'm guessing the dimmers will become PWM based, and after the bulb starts up it should be fine?

You mean you've got to replace every dimmer with a much more expensive one?, plus buy more expensive 'dimmable' low energy lights.

Or more likely!, repace the dimmers with more expensive ones, buy special dimmable lights, plus change the wiring as well? - dimmable flourescents don't dim very well on normal mains connected dimmers, you need to be inside the starter circuitry.

 

[Hero999]

Your wonderful prime minister came up with the idea a while back!, I suspect more for political reasons than anything else? - it made the news right round the world!.

I know, it's a silly idea but what can you do?

The UK seem to be following suit, there are due to be banned in about 18 months here - so what are you supposed to do with dimmers?.

I've never heard of that happening here in the UK.

Anyway, in Australia the government is banning incandescent light globes and in the near future (approx 2 years) they will apparently no longer be available.

Ever heard of eBay, mail order?

maybe IR LED's they give out IR radiation, what comfortably happens to be the same as heat radiation. Or maybe you can cool your PC to that terrarium venting all that warm/hot air to the reptiles .

If you see any IR LEDs rated at 25W and emit most of their radiation in the mid infrared region where it's most use for heating then I'd like to know where you can buy them from.

Most infrared emitters emit around a couple of watts at the most, far too little to be of any heating use.
EDIT:
You're joking aren't you?



There are other environmental implications, what about the mercury and the large number of fittings and dimmers that need to be replaced?

Perhaps you should write a letter to the government or your local MP and see if they can do anything about it.

I wouldn't have a problem if they subsidised compact fluorescents and taxed incandescents more so they cost nearly the same price but banning them is a ridicules idea.

 

[Rolf]

I don't miss my dimmers.......

Your wonderful prime minister came up with the idea a while back!, I suspect more for political reasons than anything else? - it made the news right round the world!.

The UK seem to be following suit, there are due to be banned in about 18 months here - so what are you supposed to do with dimmers?.

I have replaced all my normally and a few of the seldom used lights with fluorescent. Dug out some of the old lamps with one central (3 way, now used as a single) lamp and three perimeter lamps controlled with two switches. The selection of any or all of the lamps gives enough control of the illumination so I don't miss the light with the dimmer.
It is simple arithmetic and I don't think poetics have anything to do with it, after all it adds up to mega watts of saved power.
Why not try to reduce your carbon footprint a little?

 

[things]

It does get hot here in Summer, but winter is very cold and where I live the day's top temp usually only gets to around 10deg/C, with little sunlight. Overnight temps can fall below 0deg/C

where do you live? as i think someone allready said, maybe you could link the enclosures together, or in groups with some pipe, and just have one central heating enclosure. that way you only need one heater

 

[Night0wl]

where do you live? as i think someone allready said, maybe you could link the enclosures together, or in groups with some pipe, and just have one central heating enclosure. that way you only need one heater

I live near Bathurst in NSW. I currently have the enclosures stacked on top of each other in banks of four plus 2 spare enclosures that aren't stacked and the heat lamps all grouped to one side of the banks.

I think the pipes idea is great and will look into that one. I can't see a total ban on incandescent bulbs going ahead but in case it does I should be prepared.

 

[things]

if the boxes are stacked, just cut a hole in the bottom of them, put some mesh over the holes so they can't get through, and just put, say a hairdryer or something in one box, then the heat will travel through the other boxes. so really you only need one heater, maybe not a hairdryer though

 

[Hank Fletcher]

I know I'm working from my limited understanding here of Australia's climate, but even in the cold season do you still get plenty of sunlight? If so, you could still heat your water directly with sunlight if you build a transparent enclosure around the water reservoir for insulation.

Reduce your footprint where you can, but don't let environmentalism become the new fear-mongering tool for politicians. The environment is too important to be taken so trivially.

 

[Night0wl]

I don't think we would have enough sunlight on average to do that Basically, if I wash my clothes and hang them out to dry at, say... 9am .... they won't dry by dusk in this weather. Some days are sunny, but not enough to keep the water heated between those days I don't think.

I think heat cord or tape might be the easiest way to go. I can buy 15 watt heat cord, 4 metres long, that should heat a bank of 4 enclosures. I thought about using Solar Power to run them but after describing our lack of sunlight here in winter maybe that would be useless? Would batteries hold enough power for up to a week between charges? I guess I'd use about 60 watts worth of heat cord running with 45 watts running 24/7 and 15 watts running 12 hours/day.

BTW, thank you everybody for your help so far, it is very much appreciated

Cheers
Shane

 

[Speakerguy]

Banning incandescents entirely is stupid policy. Read here for an excellent analysis:

**broken link removed**