Room heaters?

Does anyone keep their herp room, heated by one of those portable metal heaters? I ask because now that I live by myself, I don't plan on turning on my heat till later on and not keeping my house very warm (around 60ish). I'd like to keep my herp room around 80 if possible, but I am scared if I use one of those metal heaters that it may cause a fire.

I'm looking at one of these:
http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Ma...atalogId=10053

or one of these:
http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Ma...atalogId=10053




Any and all info and tips on keeping my herp room, warm.. I'm ALL ears!

No way I'd use the first one for anything other than temporary room heating. They are fire hazards.

The second....I dunno. It seems cheap to be honest.

No way you always here about bad things. I think those space heaters are crap, and would not use one ever..

In my rat barn I used one just like this,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16896808038

It has safety features in case it over heats. Worked great and heated a 16x16 easy.

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Originally Posted by Clear

In my rat barn I used one just like this,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16896808038

It has safety features in case it over heats. Worked great and heated a 16x16 easy.

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Thanks. Did you run it for hours on end or just here and there?

It stayed on set at 75F 24/7 for months on end.

I'm interested in this question also.
I just purchased this one http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ct_id=10746935 so far so good, it oscillates and has a built in thermostat that shuts it off.

I am curious about this question too. I believe I seen the "Oil-Filled Radiator" style heaters in BHB's rooms (while watching snakebytes) and in Adam Wysocki's rooms (in his video's)...

i would only use it in a room that is closely monitored, you hear of those things causing fires every winter. i wonder if you could wire a t-stat to it though?

I use an oil filled heater. Once the colder weather sets in (like now) it's on pretty much 24/7. I do plan on getting a new one soon as I would like to replace each winter.

I use a heater in my snake room. The room is in the basement which tends to stay cool of course. The heater has been turned on since the end of July and never gets turned off. It works well and does it's job. I'm thankful for it.

I have 2 of the oil filled radiant heaters and they work great. They wont burn your house down either.

I use a window unit that also has a heater built in it. Wish it was like a central air with digital thermostat where it would switch back and forth between heat and cold by itself but other than that I'm very happy with it and no real fear of fire. I've used space heaters in the distant past and they ran the electric bill through the roof plus I was always nervous about them. That was a long time ago though.

This is what I use to heat my herp room, reliable and safe.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=7768653

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Originally Posted by Deborah

This is what I use to heat my herp room, reliable and safe.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=7768653

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It's funny that you posted that Deb because I was just looking at this one from there:http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ndingMethod=rr
I am just super paranoid about house fires since one of my houses already burned down and put me in the hospital for so long.

I use an oil filled radiator heater plugged into a Ranco thermostat set to 83 degrees. It ends up being on at least 12 hours a day during the winter as the house goes down to 63 while I'm at work. The built in thermostats on these have a reputation of being cheaply built and likely to fail. Whether it's actually true or it happened to one person and everyone just jumped on the blame wagon, I don't know. Better safe than sorry is the way I look at it.

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Originally Posted by Boanerges

It's funny that you posted that Deb because I was just looking at this one from there:http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ndingMethod=rr
I am just super paranoid about house fires since one of my houses already burned down and put me in the hospital for so long.

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I have been running the same heater from end of september beginning of october to end of april each year for the past 3 years and I never had any problem or worry.

I am a bit paranoid about house fire as well which lead me to that type of heater as I believe they are the safest on the market.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

I have been running the same heater from end of september beginning of october to end of april each year for the past 3 years and I never had any problem or worry.

I am a bit paranoid about house fire as well which lead me to that type of heater as I believe they are the safest on the market.

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Did you do ok with only one? Cause my snakeroom is about an 8x12 I might need 2.

With the oiled filled heaters are you concerned about fumes?

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

I use an oil filled radiator heater plugged into a Ranco thermostat set to 83 degrees. It ends up being on at least 12 hours a day during the winter as the house goes down to 63 while I'm at work. The built in thermostats on these have a reputation of being cheaply built and likely to fail. Whether it's actually true or it happened to one person and everyone just jumped on the blame wagon, I don't know. Better safe than sorry is the way I look at it.

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I was wondering if you could and if anyone hooked theirs up to a thermostat :gj:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

I have been running the same heater from end of september beginning of october to end of april each year for the past 3 years and I never had any problem or worry.

I am a bit paranoid about house fire as well which lead me to that type of heater as I believe they are the safest on the market.

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Thanks Deb that does actually make me feel better :gj:

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Originally Posted by Clear

With the oiled filled heaters are you concerned about fumes?

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They are filled with mineral oil so I wouldn't think they smell but I don't really know...

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Originally Posted by Emilio

Did you do ok with only one? Cause my snakeroom is about an 8x12 I might need 2.

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I use 2 of them but my room is 400 sq feet it is the basement (so perfect in the summer but very cold in the winter) and the basement is not connected to our AC/Heating unit system either.

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Originally Posted by Clear

With the oiled filled heaters are you concerned about fumes?

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3 years runing 24/7 during the months I mentioned previously and ZERO fumes. :gj:

Thanks Deb! I was looking at one at HomeDepot last night:

http://www.homedepot.com/Appliances-...atalogId=10053

I'm going to go get one today after work. I think I may hook it up to a thermostat just in case, it's built in one fails. I've seen and known to many people who have had fires during the cold seasons. So I'm SUPER paranoid.

I use an oil-filled radiator in my snake room and have never had any issues. I have been using it for over a year now.

Oil-filled heaters do a great job, I agree. I first read about them here on Ball-Pythons.net, and have used a lower-priced Delonghi model for more than a year. It produces consistent, quiet, odorless, safer heat. And because there's no external fan, there's no vibration or blowing air cycling on and off.

Thanks, BP.net---another great suggestion.

-Star

I picked one up this evening. Set it up and gave it a try. MY house was exactly at 60. 45 minutes later, my herp room is a nice toasty 78 degrees.

I went to Walmart today and bought a 600/900/1500 watt oil filled electric heater for $39.95. My reptile room heater bit the dust late in the Spring and I never replaced it until now.

You guys rock! I've been wondering this same thing with winter coming up...

Lilly, I really like that one you picked up from HD!

I personally usea oil filled one in my snake room it kept on 24/7 asll year long I do this to help maintain an more even temp. since it shuts off when it get ot the proper temp it no biggie. ( the young ball pythong think it something ot attack cause they strike at it some times. )

I never had aproblem with it and i only use it on the low setting anyhow. I am gonig ot make apc fan off a old cell phone power cord toand set that on the bottom to help heat he air a little faster lol..

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Originally Posted by Boanerges

I was wondering if you could and if anyone hooked theirs up to a thermostat :gj:

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Just to expand on this, be sure to hook it up to an on/off type thermostat, such as the Ranco or Johnson. Proportional thermostats won't work properly.

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

Just to expand on this, be sure to hook it up to an on/off type thermostat, such as the Ranco or Johnson. Proportional thermostats won't work properly.

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Thanks!!! I appreciate that!!! Just out of curiosity how came they wont work with a herpstat or helix?

Oil filled radiators are very safe to use. And i have one for when the weather gets EXTREMELY cold.

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

Just to expand on this, be sure to hook it up to an on/off type thermostat, such as the Ranco or Johnson. Proportional thermostats won't work properly.

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to expand futher make sure the wattage of the heater doesn't exceed the wattage of the thermostat.most oil filled heaters have three settings 600,900 and 1500 watts.running your heater at 1500 watts on a stat rated for 1500 watts is not a good idea.

BTW has anybody checked with there insurance co. to see if add on heaters voids fire coverage? just wondering.

room heater's are a fire hazard I wouldn't use it at all

lance

The ranco/johnson control on/off thermostats are relay based and built for the high wattage of a room heater. The relays produce no heat themselves and room heat doesn't need to be so precise in most cases. Most proportional thermostats uses a triac to switch the power on/off which dissapates some heat proportional to the amount of power being drawn through it which is why the wattage ratings are typically lower and also why higher wattage devices like our Herpstat II and Pro have internal fans to cool the device. So for room heaters you want a relay based thermostat (save you some $ too :D )

I ended up buying one of those Kenwood-branded Delonghi oil radiators from Home Depot for about $40. I'm still a little nervous leaving it on all day and night, but even when it is heating at full tilt, the radiator itself only gets warm to the touch, not hot, so there's probably not anything to worry about.

It does a fantastic job, though. My wife and I live in a nearly 100 year old home that is incredibly drafty, and even on low power setting it manages to keep the room at a nice consistent 78f, which allows me to kick my home thermostat down to 68-70 during the day when we are gone. So far the built in thermostat is working well enough, but I will probably put a more heavy-duty thermostat on it if I decide to use it for more than this season.

So far, though, it's been one of the best purchases I have made.

Oil filled heaters on Double Ranco's ALL day long.

I also use window units during the summer on Double Rancos to keep the room cool.

Make sure you get one with an ANALOG thermostat as well since the digital ones wont reset when your thermostat shuts it off and back on.

What sort of impact on the energy bill do heaters like this cause?

I use the Delonghi (sp?) oil filed radiant heaters. They are VERY safe, make no fumes(right after you plug in a new one, it might have a little odor from packing stuff, don't worry about it). Use them with a good thermostat as stated by others, and you should really love it.

They are extremely good at heating a space, even a larger room than they are technically rated for. Very energy efficient as well. And very safe.

They do need a thermostat, and you should also check that the PLUG doesn't heat up. On rare occasions the plug can be faulty and heat up. Plug yours in, wait a few hours, and feel the plug. The heater itself has a temputure control also, and usually I can leave mine on LOW, set fairly low on the dial, and it heats the entire room quickly.

You can also put a small fan in the room somewhere(not blowing on the heater!!), to help keep even temps throughout the room.