Saving Energy with Insulation!

[fishmommy]

I have been having trouble heating my Boaphile 422D using just the 2x flexiwatt. So, before adding additional heat sources I decided to insulate the enclosure. I figured that even if I still needed to add heat I would at least save some money on electricity.

So here it is, and I can tell you it made ALL the difference in the world!



I used 2" thick pink foam insulation sheets on the bottom, top, and exposed side of the enclosure. I covered the insulation with Contac paper to protect it from accidental scrapes/gouges and make it look less freaky.
See below the top sheet as an example to see it's construction:


anyway, the heat savings is significant and it only cost me about $8 to do.
When I add another enclosure I will just stack it insulate the side, and keep the top insulation sheet on top.

[JLC]

Great idea! Looks a heck of a lot better than cardboard...LOL...and probably works even better than it looks!

[fishmommy]

thank you


It really works great. This is 2" R10 insulation.
I got a 10 degree difference right away in my cool side.
I don't even need a second heat source anymore, despite my room temp being only 70F.

[cassandra]

Funny you should post this. I had a discussion today with the guy who owns Pro Products about radiant heat panels. He suggested the same sort of styrofoamy insulation bold (although the kind with the reflective silver side) to go underneath a cage that sits on the floor, especially a carpet-over-concrete floor like we have. Makes perfect sense to help reduce the amount of heat energy lost through the floor of the cage.

[fishmommy]

yep
However, insulating the floor is not the whole story.
I did some tests with the cage on the floor with the foam under it and found that it lost more heat than the same setup elevated a foot or two.
This extra loss at floor level is most likely due to increased cold air currents at floor level. The cold floor in a warm room generates convective air currents that can really mess with your ambient cage temps.

[BD1]

This looks like a great idea for us "cage" users, I now have both my BP and Corn in AP T-10's and it is hard to keep the ambient temps up in the BP cage right now without a CHE. Only problem is humidity plummets and I have to spray the cage down a ton. I love the idea of the foam, plus it looks nice with the contact paper. Reps to you! Thanks for sharing.

[fishmommy]

I should mention that I attached the insulation to the side of the tank using wide velcro you can buy at any hardware store. This enables me to take the panel off if needed, yet holds it on really well.

I have since added a cage to the stack and put a thin insulating sheet between them. It all works great, and even helped me weather a weeklong power outage without a hitch.