RHPs

[Wykyd]

I'm going to be using a RHP in the enclosure I'm in the process of building. My main question is which one I should go with. There's a few highly recommended brands out there with vastly different prices. Since this will be my first RHP, I'm looking for some input from those who have experience with them. My main concerns are the size of the panels. Pro Heat is the only one that is kinda square and doesn't cover over 3/4 of the enclosure, but the prices is WAY higher. Is it maybe better to go with two smaller panels? The brands I'm looking into are:

Pro Heat - 135 watt, 18"x24"x1" - $169.95 + $19.95 S&H
RBI -120 Watt 12.5"x32.5"x1.75" - $94.99
Boaphile - 150 Watt, 40"x11" - $105.00
Helix - 162 watts, 40"x11" - $105.00 + $12.95 S&H

[bigsnakegirl785]

You should only use one proper-sized panel, don't want to risk a fire hazard.

If you can't afford Pro Heat, then go ahead and buy a cheaper one. I have 4 RBI panels and they work quite well for me. I just got 2 of them over the winter, but I've had the other two for roughly 3 years now without a hitch.

[trailblazer295]

Pro products RHPs

[jpsteele80]

I use reptile basics and I love them, better to buy one big pannel. One thing i don't see being talked about here and not sure if your aware of but it's not just buying a heat panel. You also need a way to regulate that heat IE. a herpstat or some other device with a probe other wise it will blast full heat all the time and never shut off.

[Wykyd]

Yeah, I'm using a VE tstat for the enclosure. See enclosure thread

[pet_snake_78]

I found I didn't need a very big heat panel. With heat tape, I would get a hot spot and that is it No real effect on the ambient at all. With the heat panels, they also raise the ambient temperatures. I keep my snake room in the upper 70s most of the year so for me a 40 watt heat panel in a 48x24x12 produced a sizable 90ish degree hotspot not even on full blast plus raises even the code side by 3-4 more degrees and could easily do more if a species needed it. RBI's have worked just fine for me. I tried an 80 watt but it was way too much for an enclosure that size, couldnt hit the hotspot without overheating the entire cage. The heat rising might be an issue if there's no space between cages in the stack.

[Wykyd]

I spoke with the guy from RBI and he told me rule of thumb for sizing the panel is 1/4 to 1/3 of the total enclosure floor square footage. He recommended their 160 watt panel which is 12.5"x42.5". My main concern with that is it will cover over half the cage in length even tho it is only 1/5 of the cage floor square footage.

[jpsteele80]

I have a 6x3x2 cage for my retics and I have an 80watt panel that almost covers half the cage, gotta remember heat panels apply heat differently than a bulb or a different heat source. Its almost like a theraputic effect on the way it penetrates heat into the body plus is doesn't run constantly, once the area is heated to the desired temp it shuts of till it drops 2 degrees or so the turns back on again and so on. The length on a 160 watt is huge, how long is your cage. As long as they can get away from it to a cool side doesn't matter how big it is.

[Wykyd]

The cage is 72"Wx36"Dx24"H

[pet_snake_78]

I tend to think the 80watt would do the job unless it's a cool room (under 70-75F).

[Wykyd]

Yeah, that was the other big factor... the room is my basement (house is a bi-level). Tile floor laid over concrete. Summer is roughly 72F, winter is 68F. I'm thinking the 120 watt RBI panel will end up being the one I get, even tho the sizes still don't make much sense. The snake will never really be able to get it's entire body under the panel. I would expect the panels to be wider, but everyone keeps saying it's a shipping problem... :/ The more that I thought about it tho, the longer panel will be nice. If I keep it about 6" away from the side of the enclosure, it will cover the water about 8" helping with my humidity (right? xD).

[Wykyd]

Another thing the guy from RBI mentioned was putting a piece of slate to make my "basking spot" since the RHP will heat up the slate.

One other thing I wanted to ask was temp probe placement. I read somewhere that you want to be roughly 6" from the highest basking spot so the snake can't cover the probe. Any tips, tricks to making it almost impossible to cover? I would like to adapt something so it looks like it belongs in the enclosure while still doing it's job.

[pet_snake_78]

There are various ways of doing things but I actually use a combo of lamp dimmer and ranco t stat. The t stat measures the cool end and will shut the unit down if it gets too hot (the dimmer sticks or somehow gets messed with) with the dimmer itself I adjust it a couple of times a year to keep the basking spot just right. It's worked fine for me but my snake room is relatively stable, if you expect wild temperature swings all the time it may not suffice but if it's a basement, I would expect it to be relatively stable.

[Wykyd]

Originally Posted by pet_snake_78

There are various ways of doing things but I actually use a combo of lamp dimmer and ranco t stat. The t stat measures the cool end and will shut the unit down if it gets too hot (the dimmer sticks or somehow gets messed with) with the dimmer itself I adjust it a couple of times a year to keep the basking spot just right. It's worked fine for me but my snake room is relatively stable, if you expect wild temperature swings all the time it may not suffice but if it's a basement, I would expect it to be relatively stable.

I'm using a VE-300X2. It's a pulse style tstat with digital temp settings for day and night. It runs two setups because eventually there will be another on top. I'm actually going to use it til then in my 55g tank setup.

So, I guess it doesn't seem crazy big, I still don't like how it covers over half of the enclosure. Also, do you have to keep the entire RHP 6" from a surface or just the lens face (under the RHP)?

[Wykyd]

After searching around, I kinda answered my own question about the placement of the RHP. Still wondering about probe placement.