# Reptile Room heating - Best way please?



## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

I really want to be able to better control the heating in my reptile room during the winter, rather than relying on the central heating that heats my whole house and is on a time clock.

I was thinking maybe a green house heater would be good, mounted on the ceiling and attached to a stat. However, I dont know anything about them, what kind of stat would work with it etc.

Does anyone have herp room heating, how do you do it, does anyone use the method above, what stat would work etc etc etc??????

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!


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## Akua_Ko_Nalu (Feb 15, 2007)

I use a stand alone Radiator throughout the winter, just to maintain an ambient room temperature. I'll fish out some details of it later and PM you them.

Depending on how many animals and heaters you have running in the room anyway, will decide how much it is needed.


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## peaches (Apr 3, 2007)

I've got 2 small oil filled radiators which both have stats on them and just use that.


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

I use a standing heater as well, costs me about £45 a quarter to run.


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## fixitsan (Apr 15, 2008)

I don't have a herp room, but I have plenty of heating and control experience.

The heater you're talking about can be controlled by any type of stat.
I would be tempted to fit the heater down at ground level though, because warm air rises. I can see it might be intuitive to put a heater high and the thermostat low which would mean that you 'fill' the room with warm air from the top down but it is not something which is known to work too great, and it doesn't produce the most even heat distribution. It's better to put the heater down at ground level and let the rising warm air cause a stirring action for the rest of the room's air.


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## peterf (Jul 27, 2007)

fixitsan said:


> The heater you're talking about can be controlled by any type of stat.


Remembering that most electronic "Herp" thermostats will not run oil filled radiators. They are usually 1500 watts or 2500 watts and beyond the capacity of these thermostats.


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

peterf said:


> Remembering that most electronic "Herp" thermostats will not run oil filled radiators. They are usually 1500 watts or 2500 watts and beyond the capacity of these thermostats.


That was my initial thoughts. Are there any available stats that could be used with these kind of wattages?

The room heaters/rads you use, are the incorporated stats in degrees or do they have settings like 1.2.3.4.5?

Putting a greenhouse heater on the floor is a no go as space is limited.

Thanks so far everyone


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## fixitsan (Apr 15, 2008)

peterf said:


> Remembering that most electronic "Herp" thermostats will not run oil filled radiators. They are usually 1500 watts or 2500 watts and beyond the capacity of these thermostats.


Absolutely, you need to stay within the rating of the controller.

But in saying that many oil filled radiators seem to have the right thermostat built into them and don't need another stat/controller

I think the sort of frost guard greenhouse heater being looked at wasn't rated for anything like kilowatt levels, they run at about 250W for a 3ft one (or that ballpark) and could easily be powered by a Habistat or Microclimate of the appropriate rating


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## fixitsan (Apr 15, 2008)

Crownan said:


> That was my initial thoughts. Are there any available stats that could be used with these kind of wattages?
> 
> The room heaters/rads you use, are the incorporated stats in degrees or do they have settings like 1.2.3.4.5?
> 
> ...


 
Practically any central heating thermostat should be able to cope with a few amps. This one on ebay can switch 3kW, for example
*NEW ROOM THERMOSTAT FOR ELECTRIC TUBE HEATERS on eBay, also, Heaters, Heating Cooling Air, Home Garden (end time 13-Sep-08 09:12:55 BST)*

I think you could probably get one from Homebase or B&Q too. They're old technology but still work.
There are electronic versions available too for a couple of pounds more, some of which have programmable temperature gradients for night/day settings


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## Lotus Nut (Jan 7, 2008)

The type of heater depends on what you wish to heat, is the heater just to provide background room heat so all vivs have heatmats/ahs etc or to heat room with all vivs which have no heat in them. If vivs have heat then you just need to raise room temp to reasonable level, heat required will be dependant on outside temp and room heat loss (which i am sure you fully understand). As said before the tubular greenhouse heaters can give quite a heat and range from 2' - 5', if space is a issue you can get 500w oil filled rads which are quite compact which would run off a 600w stat. When operating it would be just trickling the heat as it would be on all the time and would turn off/reduce heat when central heating is on. As a giude a 10'x10' bedroom central heating radiatior is around 700-1200 watts.


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

fixitsan said:


> Practically any central heating thermostat should be able to cope with a few amps. This one on ebay can switch 3kW, for example
> *NEW ROOM THERMOSTAT FOR ELECTRIC TUBE HEATERS on eBay, also, Heaters, Heating Cooling Air, Home Garden (end time 13-Sep-08 09:12:55 BST)*
> 
> I think you could probably get one from Homebase or B&Q too. They're old technology but still work.
> There are electronic versions available too for a couple of pounds more, some of which have programmable temperature gradients for night/day settings


I assume that I could wire the heater and a mains plug into this thermostat so that I can plug it in? If I did this, where would be the best place in the room to site the stat itself?



Lotus Nut said:


> The type of heater depends on what you wish to heat, is the heater just to provide background room heat so all vivs have heatmats/ahs etc or to heat room with all vivs which have no heat in them. If vivs have heat then you just need to raise room temp to reasonable level, heat required will be dependant on outside temp and room heat loss (which i am sure you fully understand). As said before the tubular greenhouse heaters can give quite a heat and range from 2' - 5', if space is a issue you can get 500w oil filled rads which are quite compact which would run off a 600w stat. When operating it would be just trickling the heat as it would be on all the time and would turn off/reduce heat when central heating is on. As a giude a 10'x10' bedroom central heating radiatior is around 700-1200 watts.


The heater would be used to provide a warm temperature at night, so that I can have all of the individual vivarium heating equipment turned off in order to get a night time drop of a few degrees but without going too low which ambient winter temps would produce.

The room in question is approx 7'x8' and has vivs all round leaving approx a 3' x 4' area in the middle where I stand in order to do maintenance etc.

Lastly, what sort of stat would be best for a green house/tubular heater and what would be best for an oil filled rad?

Thanks again all, this is great info


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## stan (Sep 18, 2006)

I use something an oil filled radiator like this - Amazon.co.uk: DeLonghi TRD0820ER 2kw Dragon 3 Oil Filled Radiator with ECC: Kitchen & Home

It has a built in thermostat and timer. The thermostat is set to a proper temperature like 24C, rather than "low" or "2" - so it does actually switch off when it gets to the required temperature. The timer can be used for a night time drop as well which is pretty handy.


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

stan said:


> I use something an oil filled radiator like this - Amazon.co.uk: DeLonghi TRD0820ER 2kw Dragon 3 Oil Filled Radiator with ECC: Kitchen & Home
> 
> It has a built in thermostat and timer. The thermostat is set to a proper temperature like 24C, rather than "low" or "2" - so it does actually switch off when it gets to the required temperature. The timer can be used for a night time drop as well which is pretty handy.


 
I like the sound of that!! Thanks!


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## fixitsan (Apr 15, 2008)

Crownan said:


> I assume that I could wire the heater and a mains plug into this thermostat so that I can plug it in? If I did this, where would be the best place in the room to site the stat itself?


It simply needs to be at the level where you want to have control of the temperature.
If you have vivs right down to floor level then it should go low down, if your viv's start 3 feet off the floor it should be there (no point heating the ground air if nothing is down there to enjoy it) to save electricity.
The level where you put the stat at is the level which gets the most reliable temperature control.


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

fixitsan said:


> It simply needs to be at the level where you want to have control of the temperature.
> If you have vivs right down to floor level then it should go low down, if your viv's start 3 feet off the floor it should be there (no point heating the ground air if nothing is down there to enjoy it) to save electricity.
> The level where you put the stat at is the level which gets the most reliable temperature control.


 
Many thanks!

However, now Im told the heater needs to go on the ground rather than ceiling mounted, so is this a must for a greenhouse heater? Or would it work from above? What about using reflectors etc?

Thansk again!


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

if you use a heater with a built in stat,especially a high powered one,still wire it through a basic room stat which is set a bit higher than the heater stat so if that one fails on you still have a safety cut out a few degrees higher than what you want but not enough to harm any animals...


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

Dan Bristow said:


> if you use a heater with a built in stat,especially a high powered one,still wire it through a basic room stat which is set a bit higher than the heater stat so if that one fails on you still have a safety cut out a few degrees higher than what you want but not enough to harm any animals...


That is a VERY good idea! I was thinking about what might happen if something went wrong. Definately good to safe guard against any failure.

Thanks very much!


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## Lotus Nut (Jan 7, 2008)

For a 7x8 room you may find the rad is about 500mm x 500mm and about 450 watts so this will give you a rough wattage guide. As the night heater does not have to take a cold room to warm it will just need to maintain temprature after central heating is off and viv heat is off.
I would not mount it on ceiling as its not efficient up there and would not heat lower vivs so i would fit at floor or 6" above as it heat the air which will then circulate around room.

Oil filled rads have built in thermostat though cheap ones may be just a simple bi-metallic switch providing on/off which will be fine. As said above you could use a room stat to control temps as most will switch 2 amps or more. A dimer stat may work but if heaters temp control is electronic it could cause problems.

Mat stats (300W) would work on lower wattage greenhouse heaters and you could use 2 driving a tubular heater each if your collection is valuable though adds to cost.

I would also have couple of max min temp gauges at different levels just so you know heat range.

Here is a rather cheap (£5!) room pulse proportional stat mainly for heat cable OJ MICROLINE THERMOSTATS FOR COMFORT HEATING on eBay, also, Thermostats, Heating Cooling Air, Home Garden (end time 13-Sep-08 00:11:08 BST) but mmm...... me thinks it could have some uses for controlling heat in vivs, small problem is that it needs min load of 200w.


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## fixitsan (Apr 15, 2008)

Crownan said:


> That is a VERY good idea! I was thinking about what might happen if something went wrong. Definately good to safe guard against any failure.
> 
> Thanks very much!


I forget which regulation it is, but I believe all heaters for domestic use must have a primary safety device fitted to them internally, in order to prevent thermal runaway.


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## hogboy (Aug 22, 2006)

A great tip i got from a mate, is to have a cheap deskfan aimed at the radiator, this moves the warm air around the room, and a better overall temp


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

fixitsan said:


> I forget which regulation it is, but I believe all heaters for domestic use must have a primary safety device fitted to them internally, in order to prevent thermal runaway.


they do yes but using a room stat which can switch 10amps(some are lower so check) is a safe way and cheap way to protect from over heating as the safety devices that are built in could still allow the room to get too hot for the animals in question


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

oh and obviously ensure your heater current is no higher than the max load on the room stat!!!


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

hogboy said:


> A great tip i got from a mate, is to have a cheap deskfan aimed at the radiator, this moves the warm air around the room, and a better overall temp


My problem is though is that house temps run off one stat and one time control, these are both generally set for human convieniance and economy, not good for constant temps in a herp room


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## hogboy (Aug 22, 2006)

Sorry i meant with a standalone plug in radiator, with built in thermostat
One of those Delonghi things, about £50 from Comet


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

hogboy said:


> Sorry i meant with a standalone plug in radiator, with built in thermostat
> One of those Delonghi things, about £50 from Comet


Oops, sorry, then it sounds like a pretty good idea! A de-stratification fan! Love it :no1:


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## hogboy (Aug 22, 2006)

No probs
A rad on its own doesn't heat the room that well, but add a fan and its a far more effiecient solution :2thumb:


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## InternetReptile (Aug 2, 2008)

*Electric fan heaters*

What about electric fan heaters? They have a thermostat built in and move the warm air about too. I've just fished an old one out the attic now its getting colder and it works perfectly. Just a bit worried about the running costs... anyone else had any experience with them


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## hogboy (Aug 22, 2006)

I think the problem with fan heaters is partly running costs, and i guess fire risk ?


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

hogboy said:


> I think the problem with fan heaters is partly running costs, and i guess fire risk ?


Fan heaters are generally 1kW+ The 'thermostats' in my experiance are generally shit with settings such as 1-4 or low-high. Fan heaters are particularly inefficient also.


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## fixitsan (Apr 15, 2008)

GeckoMorphs said:


> What about electric fan heaters? They have a thermostat built in and move the warm air about too. I've just fished an old one out the attic now its getting colder and it works perfectly. Just a bit worried about the running costs... anyone else had any experience with them


Fan heaters are very efficient because they heat the air directly. You can get fan heaters with wattages down to 500W so they are comparable, in terms of running costs, to any other background heating device.
Honewell make on, model number *FSW-505E*, selling on eBay for about £20
They have a fan built in which keeps the air moving and which minimises the time taken to transport the heat.

They usually have poor temperature regulation if not only because the thermostat will be down at floor level but if you set it to full power any room stat would be able to control it easily and accurately.

In terms of running costs, you need to check with your electricity bill obviously but if we said that 1 unit costs 12p (1kW of heat for one hour = 1 unit) You can work out what your running costs might be for each power rating. EG a 500w heater which is on continuosuly for 10 hours = 0.5 (500w= 0.5kW) X 10 hours, 0.5 X 10 = 5 units, or 60p per day.

Most heaters won't be on continuously at all. An efficient heater in a well insulated room might be able to maintain the background temperature by being on for as little as 10%-20% of the time and so your running costs come down too.


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