View Full Version : Dual UTH's?
Loucifer
01-13-13, 02:19 PM
Anybody use 2 uth's for their BP/snake enclosure? I'm trying to be rid of the darn heat lamp. I use 1 uth on his hot side. Thanx
You'll need 2 thermostats, but I almost had to do that too. as long as there's a temp gradiant, should be okay.
Loucifer
01-13-13, 02:36 PM
Cool, thanks. Just thought I'd ask 'round. I've no problem with 2 t-stats! :yes:
no problem =] ya gotta do whatcha gotta do!! =]
Loucifer
01-13-13, 02:45 PM
Haha, exactly!!! :laugh:
Is it possible to get a bigger uth that covers more of the cage but still leaves room for a temp gradient? You can also try putting one of the uth on the side of the enclsure to help raise the tempo a bit.
Loucifer
01-13-13, 03:08 PM
The uth I use is a Ultratherm 11x11". Was thinking about using the same on the cool side of my 20 gal. long. I have no way of installing a uth on the side of the enclosure, as I have sponge neoprene (scuba material) adhered for insulation.
Loucifer
01-13-13, 03:12 PM
Thank you all for the suggestions/advice! Lou & I appreciate it! :D
The problem with putting one on the cool side is you now raise the cool end temp up. You need to be able to have a temp difference so he can cool off and warm up. Why do you need to gety rid of the light? Can you change it out to a che (ceramic heat emmiter)?
The problem with putting one on the cool side is you now raise the cool end temp up. You need to be able to have a temp difference so he can cool off and warm up. Why do you need to gety rid of the light? Can you change it out to a che (ceramic heat emmiter)?
i think his point is his cool side is TOO cool. so they want to use a uth on that side to raise the temp a few degrees. I used to have to do that, but I used a red light with a dimmer. worked like a charm
You have an 11"x11" UTH on a 20 long, with insulated sides and your cool side is too cool? Sounds like you might need to cover the top of your tank better. How cold is the room?
i think his point is his cool side is TOO cool. so they want to use a uth on that side to raise the temp a few degrees.
He never said the cool side was too cold, he just said he wanted to get rid of the heat lamp (i assume is on the warm side but could be wrong)
You have an 11"x11" UTH on a 20 long, with insulated sides and your cool side is too cool? Sounds like you might need to cover the top of your tank better. How cold is the room?
I was wondering the same thing.
OP- can you post pics of the enclosure and also provide the details of it? Temps on both sides, humidity, substrate ect...?
Terranaut
01-13-13, 05:44 PM
Personaly I would just improve my setups insulation.
What I mean is if the tank is sitting on a cold floor or against a cold wall move it to somewhere that has less ability to suck the heat out of the tank. Thr tanks in my garage have double thick sheets of r4 foam insulation between them and the floor. The floor in the viv heated with a rhp 4feet off the floor is still almost 80º. The garage floor itself is 65ºish.
$20 worth of insulation is a better alternative to $150 worth of extra heat.
Loucifer
01-14-13, 01:59 AM
Hey, all. My 20 long is insulated on 3 sides with 1/8" sponge neoprene. Top is covered with plexiglass with a section cut out for heat lamp near cool side. Yes, my cool side is a bit low in temps, maybe 73 or 74.This is the reason for the heat lamp. Lamp is on a dimmer. I'm aiming for a nice 80 degree cool side to go with my 90-91* warm side. Lamp eats humidity, of course.
Lou's enclosure sits in a room which typically is 70*. I can't/won't turn the house temp up anymore than it is. $$$, ya know?!
Loucifer
01-14-13, 02:13 AM
Warm side-91. Cool side-78-80 (with lamp). Humidity floats around 50-60% with lots of misting. Like I said, lamp eats humidity, even with plexi glass top. I wish I could get pics posted, but our camera died recently. 1/4" Reptibark on warm side up to 3/4" on cool side for substrate. Also have some sphagnum moss tossed around.
Ultimately, I would love to just set the cool side at 80*, warm side at 90*, which would make the ambient somewhere around 85-ish, and be done with it. Lamps suck.:no:
Lankyrob
01-14-13, 04:41 AM
Lamps themselves dont suck :) unless you havent got a sealed enclosure. I use melamine enclosure and Ceramic heat emitters in every viv, humidity stays up in mine for 3 to 4 days at a time.
Terranaut
01-14-13, 05:09 AM
You must be measuring your temps either witha bad method or an inaccurate device. You can't have a 20º drop over a 1' of floor. Whats the air temp vrs surface temp? What do you measure with? What is the temp of the room the viv is in?
Something isn't right here.
Loucifer
01-14-13, 07:38 AM
In my experience, uth's do little or nothing for air temps. With 0 substrate I got air temps up to 75*. That was in a room set to 70*. With the IR light, my air temps stay around 80-81*.
For measuring temps I am using the RBI 201 from Reptile Basics. Nice lil IR gun!
Loucifer
01-14-13, 07:49 AM
You must be measuring your temps either witha bad method or an inaccurate device. You can't have a 20º drop over a 1' of floor. Whats the air temp vrs surface temp? What do you measure with? What is the temp of the room the viv is in?
Something isn't right here.
More like 19" of floor. A 20 Long is 30" end to end. Not a 20* drop, 15+.
I used to use a crappy Acurite, am now using an RBI 201 IR pen/gun from Reptile Basics. LOVE IT!
Room is a constant 70-73, depending what time of day it is.
With zero substrate, the air temp only got to 75* with the uth at 90-91*.
Top has acrylic sheet covering approx. 95% maybe more, not a towel or foil.
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