Best ways to keep my BP's tank warm in a cold house during winter?

My house is old, not well insulated, and we have an electric furnace. All this adds up to a large heat bill in the winter. We tend to keep our heat down at 55-58 when no one is at home and during the night, during the day when everyone is home it stays at about 60-62. My bp's are in 2 20 gallon aquariums for the time being. I plan on building a rack when I have more snakes but I don't have the time, money, or enough snakes for the time being. Anyway, I have an under-tank heater for each bp and keep a 100-watt light on for heat on each aquarium. I feel like this just doesn't provide enough heat for my snakes as the room still stays pretty cold. What would be the best way to keep the room or the tanks warm without me having to jack up the heat in my old un-insulated house and having a crazy power bill?

Well, it might not work for you since you have tanks. But my apartment also runs pretty cold - well 65-70 normally, but thats still too chilly for them. I have my rack in one of my closets, and I have a small electric space heater on a thermostat keeping the air temperature at 80. Works pretty well for me. When I used a tank I had two bulbs and a UTH and still barely kept it at 80F.

Good luck :)

The only issue I have with that is that the house is old and there are no outlets in the closets, I could run an extension cord in there if need be though. What about those ceramic heat emitter bulbs sold by Zoo med. Do you think a 150-watt ceramic heater paired with the tank heater could be enough to keep it warm enough night and day?

There is no way that your temps are right with house temps that cold with only a uth. My house stays at 68 and in these cooler months will be around 66. At that temp I have to use a uth and a 100 watt CHE for the warm side and a 60 watt bulb to keep the temps up on the cool side. This is in a 40 gallon tank with the screen mostly covered.

It sounds like you need some ceramic heaters or some heat lamps. Also covering three sides with thick paper or something to insulate it will help up raise a few degrees.

150 is going to be to much. They say what size tank they heat on the box. I would use the recommended one. They also do not use regular heat lamps. They require the write fixture so the heat doesn't back up and burn out the unit. Many people complain about then going out early. I think they are using the wrong fixture. Mine has been going strong since last June.

Thanks for the advice guys.

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Originally Posted by KMG

There is no way that your temps are right with house temps that cold with only a uth. My house stays at 68 and in these cooler months will be around 66. At that temp I have to use a uth and a 100 watt CHE for the warm side and a 60 watt bulb to keep the temps up on the cool side. This is in a 40 gallon tank with the screen mostly covered.

It sounds like you need some ceramic heaters or some heat lamps. Also covering three sides with thick paper or something to insulate it will help up raise a few degrees.

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I have an UTH with a 100-watt regular light bulb over top.

Do you think switching the 100-watt bulb for a CHE and then adding another dome with a 60-75-watt bulb would be enough to keep the snake warm during the night?

I'm sorry fhbob. I seemed to have missed the 100 watt bulb you have already.

A che directs the heat where it is pointed creating a better hot spot. While a bulb will flood heat in the whole tank, unless you are using a basking bulb because they provided directed heat like a che.

A 100 watt over a twenty gallon tank is pretty large. If it is providing a hot spot within the correct range and keeping the ambient temp correct it should be fine. If the hot spot is to hot a better option may be to use a smaller watt bulb on each side of the tank so the heat is more evenly distributed. I think a bulb is best for you and your setup.

Im really sorry I didn't read your post correctly. I'm on a tablet and sometimes scroll to far and miss a line without noticing it.

I used to have damp towels on the top of my tank for heat & Humidity, you can also glue styrofoam to the outside as insulation and paint it any color you want :), heating your room is the best solution.

Eventually I gave up on tanks and went to the rack system, so much better.

http://www.amazon.com/Sponge-Neopren...d_sim_sbs_hi_1

Cover 3 sides with this and never worry about glass insulation, again! :gj: