How to raise ambient temps?

Currently having a problem with it getting colder where I live. How can I get the ambient temps up? Is this where flexwatt is a good idea? Have one UTH on each setup for the hot spot at the moment.

House heater or furnace? If not, a good space heater can really increase ambient temps in a room.

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Originally Posted by Camarokidz28

Currently having a problem with it getting colder where I live. How can I get the ambient temps up? Is this where flexwatt is a good idea? Have one UTH on each setup for the hot spot at the moment.

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I'm in MI so its chilly here and I keep my house at 70 so I know what you're going through. What I've found that works well is using my smaller UTH on top of my plastic rubbermaid lid (I have the air holes on the sides of the set up... I have a large UTH underneath my tub for belly heat). My humidity is also extremely high so since I can afford to lose some, I've added a red bulb to increase my ambient temps because they were so low. With the combo of the UTH on top and the red bulb, my ambient stays around 80-82 and my humidity is around 60.

Thinking flexwatt or adding another UTH to each tank, but don't want to start throwing money at it unless it'll work.

House heater/furnace is not an option.

Small space heaters can heat a whole room very efficiently. And one of those would probably be cheaper than additional flexwatt or heat pads and the thermostat(s) it would take to control them.

I have no idea what your set-ups are like, so it's hard to suggest anything too specific beyond a space heater.

EDIT: I will add one more thought: I also have a chilly room that my small rack is in. I keep a blanket draped over it on the colder days to keep the warmth in. It helps keep the ambient temps up without any additional supplemental heating.

Currently one 20gal tank and a 41qt tub, tried moving them into the closet hoping it would help but it hasn't accomplished much.

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Originally Posted by Camarokidz28

Currently one 20gal tank and a 41qt tub, tried moving them into the closet hoping it would help but it hasn't accomplished much.

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With two such completely different enclosures, you'd need two different heat sources and two different thermostats to control them.

You could try the blanket idea I mentioned (not sure if you saw the edit I added to my post above)....and if that doesn't work, I'd highly recommend the space heater. We just got some for our basement, that gets really cold on bitter days....and I was shocked at how one tiny little heater can warm up that huge space. (The other heater went into my daughter's bedroom, which is a separate space in the basement)

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Originally Posted by JLC

With two such completely different enclosures, you'd need two different heat sources and two different thermostats to control them.

You could try the blanket idea I mentioned (not sure if you saw the edit I added to my post above)....and if that doesn't work, I'd highly recommend the space heater. We just got some for our basement, that gets really cold on bitter days....and I was shocked at how one tiny little heater can warm up that huge space. (The other heater went into my daughter's bedroom, which is a separate space in the basement)

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Thanks for the reply.

This is one reason I'm probably going to ditch the tank and get another tub setup.

If your switching to tubs just build a rack out of a sheet of melamine. It will only cost like 40 bucks and you can use the heat pads and thermostat you already using.
You can line the side wall of the enclosed rack with either heat cable or flexwatt to help keep the ambient temp constant.

Only thing about space heaters are they are cheap (like 30 bucks) BUT they use 1500 watts of electricity.

one thing about space heaters is that they can really dry the room out too so watch your humidity levels especially around shed time.

I have an oil-filled radiator heater (~$30) that doesn't dry the room out as much as a blowing space heater and it's better on electricity than the blowers too.

I bought a little ceramic fan heater thing at CVS for $15 and it warms up a room QUICK!! It has an auto-shut off too so less worry of fire hazard. In a mid size bedroom it will keep ambient temps around 83 with the house thermostat set to 70

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Originally Posted by MitsuMike

If your switching to tubs just build a rack out of a sheet of melamine. It will only cost like 40 bucks and you can use the heat pads and thermostat you already using.
You can line the side wall of the enclosed rack with either heat cable or flexwatt to help keep the ambient temp constant.

Only thing about space heaters are they are cheap (like 30 bucks) BUT they use 1500 watts of electricity.

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Exactly what I was thinking, but have yet to use or see flexwatt in person. I'm guessing you line the sides with flexwatt, and wire them together into a plug, and run a separate thermostat on it?

Looking at the site, flexwatt wiring seemed complicated, but at the same time seems really simple. How hard is it to setup flexwatt and what all do you need?

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Originally Posted by Camarokidz28

Exactly what I was thinking, but have yet to use or see flexwatt in person. I'm guessing you line the sides with flexwatt, and wire them together into a plug, and run a separate thermostat on it?

Looking at the site, flexwatt wiring seemed complicated, but at the same time seems really simple. How hard is it to setup flexwatt and what all do you need?

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reptile basics will pre-wire it for you.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/flexwatt-heat-tape/