Rhp overheating stacked enclosure

IW17 · 12-17-15, 08:37 PM

OK so I bought rbi heat panels for two cages. One 120w for my 6x2x2 and one 80w for my 4x2x2. The problem is the panel in the six footer is forcing heat through the floor of the four footer. So I bought 1x2 boards and cut 2' pieces to raise it up figuring this would allow one inch gap for airflow. Wrong. Still boiling my upper cage. I'm about to buy 6 animal plastics cages and heat panels but I'm concerned about this problem.

Anyone out there use heat panels and have a solution they can share?

bigsnakegirl785 · 12-17-15, 11:33 PM

Try a smaller panel maybe? I think 80 watts are usually suggested for 6'x2'x2's. The only reason I use 120 watts in my 6-footers are because they're 3' tall and the room stays kinda cool.

I didn't have any of these problems with my stacked wooden enclosures, but they're also wooden and had 8" of space between them. It still sorta kinda warmed the top one but not by much. Putting your hand to the top of the cages, it's quite warm, though.

IW17 · 12-20-15, 11:26 AM

I wouldn't think a smaller panel would help. The 80w would have to work harder to heat the enclosure than the larger 120w. I know people can have issues with stacked enclosures that have no gap, but I imagine there has to be a solution.

Nightflight99 · 12-20-15, 12:38 PM

Heat transfer to the upper enclosure is a common issue with a lot of directly stacked setups. Since this primarily impacts only the part of the upper enclosure that is located directly above the RHP of the lower enclosure, it essentially acts like a heat pad that is located underneath the (upper enclosure) enclosure. If you add a very low-wattage radiant heat source (to the upper enclosure) to give you proper ambient temperature, then this could give you the target conditions that you're looking for.

If this hot spot in the upper enclosure that is created by the lower one is too hot, then you may need to either replace it with a lower-wattage RHP in the lower enclosure or consider using a radiant heat source that you can mount vertically (such as on the back wall).

I usually run lower wattage RHPs in the upper enclosures of the same size. In some cases, the top enclosures do not even require any additional heat sources, but that always depends on the types of enclosures and the various heat sources that are being run in that particular stack.

pet_snake_78 · 12-20-15, 06:31 PM

I think nightflight is right, you need different wattage up the chain of height.

toddnbecka · 12-21-15, 03:11 AM

I'll be finding out for myself how that works with stacking plywood cages soon enough. I'm figuring the herpstats should regulate the temps well enough, with luck I may only need to use 1 rhp for each 2 enclosures if the heat transfer can be balanced sell enough. I will be sorting that out before putting the enclosures into actual use...

IW17 · 12-21-15, 05:56 PM

Yeah I think I'm gonna try using panels on every other cage. Most of my collection are colubrids that don't need ambient temps above 80 anyhow. I'll give this a try and test everything out first. Then I'll order panels for the rest of the enclosures if necessary.

Sublimeballs · 12-30-15, 11:45 PM

I use RHPs and absolutely love them. To avoid the heating the cage ontop issue I use shelving to space the cages enough. It's a little more bulky, but it solves the problem. Another way I've seen done is putting properly sized sheet foam isulation in between each cage in the stack. Or if you have any semi arboreal/ arboreal animals with the heat panel yours setting up I have another idea for you.

bigsnakegirl785 · 12-31-15, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sublimeballs

I use RHPs and absolutely love them. To avoid the heating the cage ontop issue I use shelving to space the cages enough. It's a little more bulky, but it solves the problem. Another way I've seen done is putting properly sized sheet foam isulation in between each cage in the stack. Or if you have any semi arboreal/ arboreal animals with the heat panel yours setting up I have another idea for you.

Would a bunch of cardboard in between work as well? Or would the heat transfer too well? I was thinking of building a shelving unit to give each cage 2"-3" of space, but I don't have much know-how to do it properly. I saw someone else make a shelving unit for their PVC cages (I think it was made of metal but may have been wood), and it ended up collapsing and they had to buy all new heating elements. I think the cages were ok, and the animals were fine.

IW17 · 12-31-15, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sublimeballs

I use RHPs and absolutely love them. To avoid the heating the cage ontop issue I use shelving to space the cages enough. It's a little more bulky, but it solves the problem. Another way I've seen done is putting properly sized sheet foam isulation in between each cage in the stack. Or if you have any semi arboreal/ arboreal animals with the heat panel yours setting up I have another idea for you.

This is what I'm doing at the moment. Using 1x2 slabs to give some airflow. However this wasn't enough. I might try 2x2 next. If that doesn't work I'll just go with heating every other enclosure. I could get away with not using a panel for my king rat snake and falsie. They would do fine with only belly heat.