# Few ceramic heater questions



## Boidation (Jan 4, 2008)

Hello everyone, I bought a 150W ceramic heat emitter from amazon along with the fitting for it, however I received a 250W heat emitter (this is the emitter in question) Komodo Ceramic Heat Emitter, 150 Watt, Black: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

The problem I have is that this thing gets red hot, so much so that I touched a splint to it and it ignited. I have it in a cage inside my bredli python's vivarium but it gets crazy hot before it has even heated the tank enough for the thermostat to kick in. It is in a cage but the cage stopping the snake getting near it gets hot enough to burn the snake anyway. 

My question is, will a lower wattage emitter be better or will I have the same problem? Will a lower wattage be physically smaller or just emit less heat and will it still cause me the same problems? Do these emitters need to be outside the vivarium pointing in?

Sorry for the essay, I would greatly appreciate any help you can give. Also I have a heat mat already and have added another, but my flat is pretty cold and they don't get it warm enough in there. Also I have used reptile radiators before with my boa but they are pretty weak in my opinion and very unreliable.


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## bigd_1 (May 31, 2011)

let it get the viv up to tep and when the stat kicks in it shoud be fine what stat you got for it


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## Boidation (Jan 4, 2008)

The whole reason for this thread is that it isn't fine, it gets too hot before it starts affecting the ambient temperature. It's a habistat one and it works fine. If I get a 50W or 100W emitter will I still have this problem or will they disperse the heat more slowly and not get so red hot to the touch? Anyone know?


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## bigd_1 (May 31, 2011)

Boidation said:


> The whole reason for this thread is that it isn't fine, it gets too hot before it starts affecting the ambient temperature. It's a habistat one and it works fine. If I get a 50W or 100W emitter will I still have this problem or will they disperse the heat more slowly and not get so red hot to the touch? Anyone know?


 what stat you runing this on and have you let it get up the the ambient air temp as it will run and 100% power tole it gets up to the temp you set you stat at then if it a pulse stat it will pulse the power to it and will not run as hot


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## redbull23 (Oct 15, 2012)

get a plug in dimmer switch and turn it down save you from buying new emitter it might work


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Boidation said:


> The whole reason for this thread is that it isn't fine, it gets too hot before it starts affecting the ambient temperature. It's a habistat one and it works fine. If I get a 50W or 100W emitter will I still have this problem or will they disperse the heat more slowly and not get so red hot to the touch? Anyone know?


As bigd says it's running so hot because your thermostat probe is saying the airs not at the right temperature yet. Once it is it won't run as hot as the thermostat will be controlling it to maintain that temperature. No point buying a smaller wattage, that will just have to work harder so it'll run hot for longer. 

What type of thermostat is it you're using? Habistat is just a manufacturer.


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## Boidation (Jan 4, 2008)

Alrighty so it turns out you guys are all 100% correct! The tank is sitting at a balmy 30 degrees. Thanks for taking the time to help me out, I've just moved into a new flat and it is outrageously cold so I have been worrying about the Bredli, being from Australia! Oh and the thermostat is the cheap habistat one without the temp gauge on it that you have to tweak manually, but it is working perfectly. Once again I really appreciate it. Definitely going to get the same for my boa as two heat mats just doesn't seem to be cutting it anymore. Take care, Tom.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Boidation said:


> Alrighty so it turns out you guys are all 100% correct! The tank is sitting at a balmy 30 degrees. Thanks for taking the time to help me out, I've just moved into a new flat and it is outrageously cold so I have been worrying about the Bredli, being from Australia! Oh and the thermostat is the cheap habistat one without the temp gauge on it that you have to tweak manually, but it is working perfectly. Once again I really appreciate it. Definitely going to get the same for my boa as two heat mats just doesn't seem to be cutting it anymore. Take care, Tom.


It sounds like you might have an on/off stat. If that's the case it's not a very good way of controlling the temperature as it will simply turn the heater completely off when the desired temperature is reached and then wait for it to drop a few degrees then it'll be back on at full power and so on. 

If you do have an on/off stat I would urge you to buy a pulse stat instead. That will keep a steady temperature as it runs continuously but supplies the heater with the correct amount of power to keep the viv at the temperature you want. It should also prolong the life of the heater.


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## pinguu (Nov 13, 2013)

All my ceramics get proper hot until temp is reached then my stats (habistat pulse) just pulses power to maintain the temp. I was worried at first by them as i only started using them last month but i tell you what....when used with the appropriate stat they are amazingly accurate and i will never use anything else again. ;-)


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## bigd_1 (May 31, 2011)

so my 1st post was correct then and all was fine :bash:


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## Boidation (Jan 4, 2008)

bigd_1 said:


> so my 1st post was correct then and all was fine :bash:


So it would seem! Although these pulse stats sound like a good investment if they will save me some money on ceramic heaters that are turning on and off too often. I think come pay day I might invest in a couple.


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## Jebb (Jul 3, 2013)

Boidation said:


> So it would seem! Although these pulse stats sound like a good investment if they will save me some money on ceramic heaters that are turning on and off too often. I think come pay day I might invest in a couple.


that and also they keep the viv at a near enough constant temp, which your snake will most likely prefer, a ceramic turning off then back on full power, will have quite big jumps in temps, which as you have noticed is the reason why the ceramic gets so hot, a pulse will pulse just enough heat to the ceramic to keep the temp you set...but I think you know this now just thought I was add my 2ps worth.


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