# Advice on Halogen bulbs



## Nade8285

Hi guys,
At the moment i use a 100w reflector bulb as a heat source in a 3ft viv for my bearded dragon dexter. Although I've had Dex nearly a year now, and always used a 100w and never had any temp issues i'm wondering if switching to a halogen bulb might be a better cost affective way to heat the viv, my knowledge on electrics isn't very good at all and was just wondering if anyone could give me a bit of advice as if i could use a smaller wattage bulb and not be using as much electric but still achieve the correct heat gradient this would be great, thanks guys


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## Arcadiajohn

If using the Arcadia heatspot then a 50w halogen will do as good a job as a 100w tungsten.

Halogen reaches temp much quicker than tungsten and uses less current to do so.

Ours has a very thick metal reflector inside the lamp. This helps you to create a decent gradient without wasting heat.

Halogen is almost dimmer proof also, so less lamp changes in a year.

Please feel free to ask me questions if anything isn't clear, you could also see the tech at www.Arcadia-reptile.com thus is an educational resource and not a sales site.

John: victory:


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## AOTP

I posted this in another thread so will just paste here.

Issue with most of the shop bought Halogens is they are designed to direct the heat backwards. I fit hundreds of these in a hotel, using the 12v transformers they attach to.

The bulbs throw most of the heat backwards into the ceramic fitting so as to not burn peoples heads or put too much heat into a room.

Ive seen reptile shops selling halogens that claim they direct the heat downward instead. Not sure how this is done and have yet to test one but if someone has a reptile shop bought halogen spot, with a 2 pin connector let me know as im interested to hear about them.

Edit: Ive also seen some halogens that screw into a Eddison screw fitting how are these?


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## kerrithsoden

AOTP said:


> I posted this in another thread so will just paste here.
> 
> Issue with most of the shop bought Halogens is they are designed to direct the heat backwards. I fit hundreds of these in a hotel, using the 12v transformers they attach to.
> 
> The bulbs throw most of the heat backwards into the ceramic fitting so as to not burn peoples heads or put too much heat into a room.
> 
> Ive seen reptile shops selling halogens that claim they direct the heat downward instead. Not sure how this is done and have yet to test one but if someone has a reptile shop bought halogen spot, with a 2 pin connector let me know as im interested to hear about them.
> 
> Edit: Ive also seen some halogens that screw into a Eddison screw fitting how are these?


If the ones you fit are on a transformer then those are mr16 lamps, the ones from the mains that have 2 plugs instead of pins are gu10 lamps.

I use the ES halogen lamps with much success on everything from tokays to day geckos


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## Arcadiajohn

The Arcadia heatspots are E27 and a completely different beast to the small two pin halogens used for ceiling lighting. They have a very thick internal metal reflector and large halogen capsule inside the lamp. They do project heat and light forward and will save you cash on running costs.

We are updating our halogen info on the website later today, keep an eye out

John


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## AOTP

I see, yeah we fit gu10 as well but agains they mostly reflect heat backwards.

Ive looked at the arcadia ones online they appear pretty good, but state no UV.

When it comes to UV im confused. I know they dont emit UVB, but i was fairly sure all lights emit UVA?


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## Arcadiajohn

Some lamps produce very small amounts of UVA but this isn't usually enough to active reptile tetrachromacy. They do not produce UVB at all which is essential to start and complete the D3 cycle.

If you want an incandescent source of light, heat and UV then a UV producing mercury vapour lamp is currently your best best, we make the D3 basking lamp as an example.

These are not stat controllable obviously so the best way to provide heat, light and UV is to use a stat controlled halogen for heat and light and the Arcadia true High output T5 system for your photogradient and basking UV.

All the tech details are on the website. Check out the interactive lighting guide!

John 





AOTP said:


> I see, yeah we fit gu10 as well but agains they mostly reflect heat backwards.
> 
> Ive looked at the arcadia ones online they appear pretty good, but state no UV.
> 
> When it comes to UV im confused. I know they dont emit UVB, but i was fairly sure all lights emit UVA?


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## AOTP

Ive just had a look at the website, either im blind or its not there (Arentine Tegu) 

Anyway I had a look at the bosc recomendations and see it reccomends a D3+T5 at 100 watt + 50 watt.

Wont this produce too much heat, as halogens produce more than a standard bulb having essentially 200 watts of heat would push the bask spot to crazy levels. I use a 75watt bask bulb right now to create 140f surface temp. I thought perhaps the reccomendations would change if i clicked on the smaller tank size but it just changes to fire skink setup. . . :bash: *confused*


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## bigd_1

must say it's got me a little confused two when looking at the tree monitor setup :blush:


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## _simon_

I'm afraid your guides baffle me as well John. Rather than a graphic it might be simpler (for some of us) to just say for X reptile we recommend Y: type/wattage/% bulb and the recommended distance for the UV is x" etc


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## AOTP

_simon_ said:


> I'm afraid your guides baffle me as well John. Rather than a graphic it might be simpler (for some of us) to just say for X reptile we recommend Y: type/wattage/% bulb and the recommended distance for the UV is x" etc


This ^

The graphic showing how far the UV goes on the D3 bulb page is good, it helps me choose which bulb based on how much basking area I want covered, but more detail on the UV gradients would be nice, is 1-2 the sweet spot? Is 5-6 too much etc? 

I understand some people use dimmer thermostats for their reptiles, but many of us Bosc keepers do not as the thermos dont register very high, and cannot really control surface temp. If the bulb is at the right height and wattage in a room which sees very little temperature fluctuation a thermostat is an added luxury if it even is suitable at all. 

Overall I like the website but more information would be great. :2thumb:

EDIT: Also how much UV % does this bulb put out? Arcadia D3 Basking bulb 100w / 160w? It shows a piccy of a beardy so does that mean its 12% suitable for desert types? And how long does the UV output last? For most bulbs it is 6-8 months, but your bulb says life of around 250 days, if i have it on 12 hour cycles will it put out UV for 500 days? If it does il go buy some and solve all my issues with one badass bulb!

I want an all in one bulb for my bosc and Tegu vivariums
*
*


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## AOTP

BUMP, Would love an Arcadia response on this before I sell out £50 for one of these. . .


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## Arcadiajohn

I'm supposed to be on my summer vacation,

But here goes.

You can't accurately work out a % for M.V lamps! Thet don't work like that. You can use the diagram to work out the height that it needs fitting at to get the index required. For a Bosc an index of 4-6 at basking is fine for tegs 3-5 but M.V should also be used with a wider emmision zone as the footprint if M.V is quite small. So the ideal partner is D3+ T5. You will probable need the 160w lamp to be honest.

The lamp is guaranteed to 12 months from date of purchase,

Good luck

John


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## AOTP

Holidays are overrated :whistling2:

I thought the 160w seemed good, as if i suspend it 30cm above my bask area, it gives around a meter diameter of UV in varying index's and would make a nice "Sun" spot, then if temps are not enough I can supplement with further halogens. And keep the rest of the viv shaded with plenty of hides in the cool end.

Thanks John


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