Radiant Heat Panel gonna work?

Looking for a little help here on a new cage. I want to do what’s best for my BP, and I’m going back and forth over my options….

Here’s my dilemma… I plan on ordering an Animal Plastics T8 in the coming weeks and cannot for the life of me determine whether I want to try a radiant heat panel, or just use the 8.5” circle screen cutout that AP provides and use a Ceramic Heat Emitter(Maybe two cutouts if need be). I currently use a CHE on my glass 20Long aquarium and it does a great job of keeping my ambient at 80 degrees. The CHE does not affect my humidity terribly. I’m posting this because I read so much back and forth information about whether RHP’s raise tank temps, or merely provide a hotspot for the animal coming from the top of the tank versus from the bottom of the tank as an UTH.

Having a hard time believing that a RHP will do a good job of heating a T8 enclosure for me. I live in Minnesota and room temps can drop to 65 degrees, heating the room separate is not an option. I can’t believe an RHP will compensate the 15 degree difference to get to 80.

I do not want to put heavy terracotta flower pots for hides into the T8 to soak up radiant heat. Simply want to use my two RP plastic hides and a plastic water bowl. I do not want to use any types of lighting for a heat source.
I really don’t understand how RHP’s are doing great things for people that do not house their animals in an already heated room since this is all radiant, and everyone knows an radiant heat like a UTH does little to nothing to raise cage temps.

And this whole probe thing used via an RHP, basically I would think you are just measuring the surface temp of the probe, and rather not the ambient of the cage.

Who thinks a RHP would suffice for my needs above, or would you try the CHE route again? Anybody who can offer any insight into this would be greatly appreciated. If I’m wrong in my thinking or statements above please feel free to point it out, and show me how I'm wrong.

Thank you.

Personally I would find a way to use a RHP over getting the screen and CHE.

I like the option to stack another cage on top somewhere down the line. Plus it's all enclosed and clean

Send AP and the RHP company of choice an email and tell them your needs. See what they have to say.

Honestly, Everyone says it doesn't change ambient temps but I've had great success.

It gets below 70 in my room (before I got my rack). I had flexwat and rhp to maintain a 91 hot side 80 cool side.

I have been wondering this same question since I have a RB double PVC cage and my room drops to high 60s at night sometimes. Using an oil heater currently but like you I am trying to decide if RHP is cost effective power bill wise over the oil heater. I also had some mention using a fluorescent light and LEDs to heat the enclosure. I just don't know that they could give off 10+ degrees of ambient heat

If you have an insulated cage and use a heat panel ambient temps will go up. I have multiple large cages that I made with heat panels in them and all the ambient temps are where they need to be. The heat panel will heat the ground or other objects and that will heat the surrounding air, it's physics, heat is transferred it doesn't disappear. This is also dependent on if you have a relatively insulated cage, if not you will just lose heat by inadequate insulation.

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Originally Posted by joefer13

I have been wondering this same question since I have a RB double PVC cage and my room drops to high 60s at night sometimes. Using an oil heater currently but like you I am trying to decide if RHP is cost effective power bill wise over the oil heater. I also had some mention using a fluorescent light and LEDs to heat the enclosure. I just don't know that they could give off 10+ degrees of ambient heat

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LED light do not give off any real heat. Same with fluorescent bulbs, but the ballasts do get warm so it may help a bit.

I understand that a CHE is also a radiant heat, but it gets super hot. A UTH is radiant and does little to affect ambient. So how does a RHP that supposedly doesn't get hot to the touch raise ambients so greatly. I'd love to see some more input from RHP users, or anyone knowledgeable about them. Thanks.

http://images46.fotki.com/v10/photos...CC_3262-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

(Do not use a coil FL tube inside an enclosure!! This is an older photo taken out of context for illustration)

http://images58.fotki.com/v154/photo...ledtemp-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

Both flourscent lights and LED give off heat, convection heat at that, they directly heat the air. I have RHPs yes they heat objects that in turn heat the air but the mass of the object matters a great deal in my case I have light weight objects and can at best get 2-3º over rooms the light system. I easily get 10º often I have to reduce the on time to drop the ambient temps as they can become too warm. Any one whom has ever tried to change a flourscent light that has been on will tell you they get quite warm. Not halogen or tungsten hot but warm to be certain.

CHE are not radiant heat but convection. Convection heat heats air (and effects humidity as well) Radiant heat has little to no effect on air temps directly this is the same as flexwatt it too is radiant heat.

There is no right or wrong. I personally have had zero luck with increasing ambients with a RHP (unless you put the probe under the panel then you measure the probe surface temp not air temps it must be taken from the side) light systems are far cheaper and far easier than RHPs the easy solution is to try the lights and see if it works if it doesn't buy a RHP, the cost of the lights are very low (as I am in Canada the price of the lights , both, was about the same as the tax on the RHP) It seems reasonable to start cheap and work up in this case especially as it is clear that RHP to heat air are inefficient as they are an indirect heat source. Like heating rocks to place in a pot to boil water yes it works but placing the pot on the fire is more efficient.

I am currently waiting for my T8 cages from Animal Plastics and I am going to use RHP's from Pro-Products. For some very detailed information on RHP's, give Bob a call at Pro-Products. I have talked to him a few times during my decision making process, very helpful and knowledgeable on the subject.

Here is a link to his website: http://www.pro-products.com

I am using a UTH and a lamp and my temps won't go up to the 90's. my digital probe says 83.5. Is this ok? My probe isn't on the glass anymore cause it was freaking me out saying 110 degrees. So I pulled it up and stuck it in the substrate. Super frustrating. I don't have a thermometer but I plan on getting one now. I don't think it will control the UTH? Like it isn't hot enough to penetrate the cypress. Please help!!

Rox, the thermometer won't control anything. You need a thermostat or, in a pinch, a dimmer, to control the UTH. That 110 should freak you out if your snake pushes the substrate aside and sits on the glass. Back to topic, I got an e-mail from Ali and my T8, with RHP, should be here this week!

OK, so I set up my T8 with RHP. Currently undivided, with one of the two RHPs on, temps are perfect in a cool room. I have dual Accurites and have measured temps all over the place (ambient, surface, and under 1.5 inch of reptibark) and I am more than satisfied for right now. The set up is new and I may change my mind, but for now, Im sold. FYI my thermostat probe is halfway up the back of the cage, 17" from the right wall.

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Just keep in mind that you cannot measure ambient air temp if the thermometer doing so is in direct line of sight of the panel. If it is you are just measuring the temp of the probe not the air. RHP do not directly heat air they heat things, this holds true for the probe too.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Just keep in mind that you cannot measure ambient air temp if the thermometer doing so is in direct line of sight of the panel. If it is you are just measuring the temp of the probe not the air. RHP do not directly heat air they heat things, this holds true for the probe too.

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I am by no means an expert yet, but thanks to the posts by you and some others, I'm getting there. I'll post a full write up on my set up in a few days, but I believe my RHP is keeping ambient temps at around 80 on the cool side, 2.5 feet away (lateral) from the RHP...a little warmer on the hot side. The top of the bark in the hot side temp guns at 90 and 80 on the cool side. Probes on the floor, under 1.5" of bark show 84 hot and 80 cool. This in a room in the mid 60s. These are just from a few looks at the temps. I really need to monitor things consistently, over weeks, under different conditions, to know what the heck is really going on. Oh, and I have 2 flouresents burning from 6am to 9 pm, which are probably helping. Ill find out how much by monitoring at night I'll also find out how temp swings in the room change things...dont think I'll get an 80 degree cool spot when the room is 82 in the summer. Sorry so long, but it's kind of interesting getting things dialed in. By reading your posts, you must think so too.

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Originally Posted by danojeno

I am by no means an expert yet, but thanks to the posts by you and some others, I'm getting there. I'll post a full write up on my set up in a few days, but I believe my RHP is keeping ambient temps at around 80 on the cool side, 2.5 feet away (lateral) from the RHP...a little warmer on the hot side. The top of the bark in the hot side temp guns at 90 and 80 on the cool side. Probes on the floor, under 1.5" of bark show 84 hot and 80 cool. This in a room in the mid 60s. These are just from a few looks at the temps. I really need to monitor things consistently, over weeks, under different conditions, to know what the heck is really going on. Oh, and I have 2 flouresents burning from 6am to 9 pm, which are probably helping. Ill find out how much by monitoring at night I'll also find out how temp swings in the room change things...dont think I'll get an 80 degree cool spot when the room is 82 in the summer. Sorry so long, but it's kind of interesting getting things dialed in. By reading your posts, you must think so too.

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How is the setup working now? What type of Fluorescent light do you use and where did you buy it? Or was it direct from animal plastics? I have a Proline cage coming and have the RHP from Bob at Pro-products. I was considering using an LED strip for light but my go FLO light just because there is probably a bit more heat generated. Bob was confident the RHP would do the trick and told me to put the thermostat probe on the cool side to see the temp there. I am still debating on which Herpstat I want because if I have issues I'll want the II in case I need to add more heat.