Ceramic Heat Emitter

I'm building my growing boy a new wood tank.

The dimensions are going to be 36"x15"x15"
I am getting two Intellitemp heat mats- http://www.bigappleherp.com/Intellit...tile-Heat-Mats

The mats are about 8" long, so multiplying that by two and subtracting that by 36 gives me 20 inches of non heated space in the tank.

He is just getting over an RI **because my stupid roommate insisted on having the room as cold as possible** and I'm concerned that the two heat mats will not give him the proper ambient temperature.

Would it be a good idea to install a ceramic heat emitter into the tank to bump up the ambient temps? If so, how would I go about doing that in a wood tank without burning the snake, or the wood?

You could hang it inside at location so that it's not touching the wood, and then create some kind of wire mesh around it to keep the snake from coming in contact with it.

So am I assuming correctly that I would need a Emitter?

If it's extremely cold then I would say yes.... how cold is "cold"?

Like Nathan said, how cold is cold? Are you monitoring the temperatures in the tank, both warm and cool side?

How bout a radiant heat panel? I have 3 of them (in 3 cages) and they are great!! I don't even use the flex watt in those cages anymore. The RHP's do the job that the sun does and the snakes love it!

How much energy do the radiant heat panels use vs. heat tape?

Good question. I know that they are incredibly efficient because mine will run off the grid at the ranch, so that was important. I purchased mine from Reptile Basics and am really happy with it. I know that they have high BTU per watt efficiency- just don't know what it is! Also, I only need my Helix to be set at 87F.
For the specifics of your question, we ought to call Rich. I'll shoot him an email shortly.

I'm gonna pm you Rich's reply given it's length!!

Wow, thanks for that lengthy response Starmom.

I monitor my temps very closely, 91 on the warm side and 81 on the cool side. This is just in his 10 gallon where I have two UTHs. I'm just concerned about the ambient temp of a bigger tank.

How important is ambient temp is the heat spots are correct?

Ambients are very important!!
I forgot to mention that all of the information that I pm'd you came straight from Rich at Reptile Basics; he is such a great guy. I really urge you to give him a call or shoot him an email regarding your situation and his recommendations. He won't steer you wrong!

Yeah, maybe he can explain it to me in simple terms, I still have a bit of trouble reading English.

I think that what I am going to do is buy the two heat mats, build the tank, and play it by ear. If the ambient temp is too low, I'll find a way to bump it up.

Heat tape/flexwatt is made to provide belly heat or direct heat(not ambient heat).

What is good for getting the ambient temps up? Using a heat lamp is zapping my humidity and making the temps skyrocket since my houses AC doesn't work to well so the house is hot.

Radiant Heat Panel.
See reptilebasics.com