RHP's

Hey everyone. I was just wondering if any of you all use radiant heat panels.

If so, wheres your probe for it at? Ive asked on another board. But this one is quite a bit more busy.

Ive thought of every different scenario. But id like to hear what everyone else does.

If it matters, my room is not heated. Its just the same as the rest of the house. Roughly 70-75.

Thanks everybody!!!!

Trevor

i know starmom does

Yea ive talked to her. I think the way she had hers set up, you need your room at a stable temperature.

Anyone?

I have radient heat panels in the cages for my carpet pythons. However, these are boaphile cages, and every boaphile cage I've had I needed to add extra heat too. I've never had problems like that with the racks, just the cages. I have the probe on the ground above the extra flexwatt (I can't recall which if that's the hot side or the cool side). The heat panels for these cages are in the "short" end of the cage, not the top.

Yeah i remember you saying that on bloodpythons. Im having to add heat to the cool side of my cages. Just enough to bump the cool side up a degree or so.

What do you mean by the short end of the cage? Not the top?

Like right now ive got my probe halfway between the floor and the RHP. Set at 82. And i get 86 on the floor. That way they cant get to the probes.

Keeps my ambients at 80.

Im just trying to get an average of what everyone does ya know? Im still new to RHP's.

Thanks for the reply Schlyne!

I have an RHP. I built my own thermostat (EECS major :D) and I use a combined humidity/temp sensor for it that sits high on the hot end of the tank.

For me, this was so that the humidity sensor was far enough from the humidity output of the humidifier (humid...) and then I played with the tolerance on my thermostat until the ambient heat was where I wanted it.

This seems to be the important part, IMHO - ensuring it is adjusted to where you want it after placement, more so than worrying about exactly where to put it, especially with RHP's, which I think do a good job of evenly heating airspace, as compared to something like a UTH.

Jim

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

What do you mean by the short end of the cage? Not the top?

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The way the cages are built and sold for the smaller heat panels, the panel is in one of the short "wall" sections. not the top. I'm not sure why boaphile does that for the smallest heat panel, but that's the way the cage was made.

So heat blows from left to right or something like that out of the panel, not top to bottom.

I use RHP's in my Boaphiles, mounted on the top. I have the thermostat probe almost in the middle of the (height) of the tank, that is the 'basking' spot for them, up on a shelf. It's set for 90 there, I use Herpstat thermostats and my ambient room temp is 74-75. The cool end stays at 79-80 and the ground temps under the RHP stay at 88-ish. They do fluctuate w/the room temps but not by much, a degree either way.

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Originally Posted by Clementine_3

I use RHP's in my Boaphiles, mounted on the top. I have the thermostat probe almost in the middle of the (height) of the tank, that is the 'basking' spot for them, up on a shelf. It's set for 90 there, I use Herpstat thermostats and my ambient room temp is 74-75. The cool end stays at 79-80 and the ground temps under the RHP stay at 88-ish. They do fluctuate w/the room temps but not by much, a degree either way.

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What size RHP? Also what size boaphile? I am considering going with RHP's instead of heating the room with an oil filled heater.

Oh dear, it does seem like I left some info out!
I have 4 Boaphile 422D's (4 x 2 x 18") and all have Pro-heat PH-3 12 x 18" 65 watt panels. The information I listed in the above post is for my Irian Jayas, we also have a Corn and Brazilian Rainbow Boa and the panels do a great job keeping correct temps for them as well.
The temps do drop a bit in the winter, but not by a lot. I usually end up putting larger water bowls in to hold the humidity, therefore, the temps.
I love the RHP's I have, if you are considering them I highly recommend them. Shoot an email to Bob, tell him your set up, room temps and what temps you need to maintain and he will hook you up with the right panel ;)

Those PH-3's are the ones i have.

Only im using mine in Animal Plastics T-10's.

I am also using mine instead of using an oil filled heater. Ive got one, and have used it. I just got sick of having my bedroom heated to 82 degrees.

A herp room would be great. But for the time being, RHP's are working great!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

Those PH-3's are the ones i have.

Only im using mine in Animal Plastics T-10's.

I am also using mine instead of using an oil filled heater. Ive got one, and have used it. I just got sick of having my bedroom heated to 82 degrees.

A herp room would be great. But for the time being, RHP's are working great!

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Well I do have a herp room of sorts, but heating it with an oil filled heater has a few disadvantages.

1. 600W vs about 195w or less for me (65Wx3 cages).
2. Hot air rises so my top tank is always hotter that the bottom one by a couple of degrees.
3. In my small room the oil filled heater is always in my way.

2kdime, mind answering some questions?
1. What is your room temp?
2. Where is your RHP mounted in the T10?
3. What are your cage temps (hot side/cool side)?

Thanks

Yeah no problem!

The heat panel is on the left hand side of the cage on the ceiling. Tight into the left side. And tight to the back wall.

Its a warm day in here today and my room thermostat is reading 76. The room dips down to as low as 72 on some nights though. And its still ok.

Ambient temps in the cages are 80 and 81.

Cool side temps are both at 80.

Warm side temps are 86.

Ive got flexwatt on both the warm and cool sides of the cages. Set at 86 on the warm side. And 80 on the cool side.

The RHP is just keeping my ambients up in the cages for the most part. When the room gets colder and the panel is running more. The floor heats up slowly and the probe under the cage for the flexwatt shuts that stuff off.

The floor stays right at about 86 to 87.

I put my RHP probe between the floor and the panel set at 82. And that keeps my ambients right. And keeps the floor right at about 86. Kinda weird! But those temps are what i want for my blood pythons.

Its just hanging down on the edge of the panel.

Also you wont be needing all the wattage out of your RHP. Mine run at about 10 to 30%, 99% of the time. So figure 10% of a 65w panel is 6.5 watts? 6.5 x 3 panels is not even 20 watts. Theyre very energy efficient.


Did i miss anything?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

Yea ive talked to her. I think the way she had hers set up, you need your room at a stable temperature.

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No, my room is not stable at all. It is my living room and not a snake room per se. My temps fluctuate all over the place especially because we live in the high desert with summer day temps of 80-90F and summer night temps of 30-40F with an ambient humidity of about 25%!! :O
The RHP bumps my ambient temps up and keeps the snakes perfect! I don't run flex watt with the RHP since they don't speak to each other very well.
My boas can get closer to the RHP or they can move away from the RHP or they can go into the coolness of the hide (like going into a little tunnel to get out of the sun!)
Let me know if I can help you or send pictures of the set up or anything else. I really like the RHP's and am considering putting them in my ball python cages as well :)

I would LOVE some pictures!!!!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

Yeah no problem!

The heat panel is on the left hand side of the cage on the ceiling. Tight into the left side. And tight to the back wall.

Its a warm day in here today and my room thermostat is reading 76. The room dips down to as low as 72 on some nights though. And its still ok.

Ambient temps in the cages are 80 and 81.

Cool side temps are both at 80.

Warm side temps are 86.

Ive got flexwatt on both the warm and cool sides of the cages. Set at 86 on the warm side. And 80 on the cool side.

The RHP is just keeping my ambients up in the cages for the most part. When the room gets colder and the panel is running more. The floor heats up slowly and the probe under the cage for the flexwatt shuts that stuff off.

The floor stays right at about 86 to 87.

I put my RHP probe between the floor and the panel set at 82. And that keeps my ambients right. And keeps the floor right at about 86. Kinda weird! But those temps are what i want for my blood pythons.

Its just hanging down on the edge of the panel.

Also you wont be needing all the wattage out of your RHP. Mine run at about 10 to 30%, 99% of the time. So figure 10% of a 65w panel is 6.5 watts? 6.5 x 3 panels is not even 20 watts. Theyre very energy efficient.


Did i miss anything?

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Wow, That is 3 thermostats per cage??? Can't afford to do that. I was hoping to get by with just the RHP. How do you think that would work?

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Originally Posted by starmom

No, my room is not stable at all. It is my living room and not a snake room per se. My temps fluctuate all over the place especially because we live in the high desert with summer day temps of 80-90F and summer night temps of 30-40F with an ambient humidity of about 25%!! :O
The RHP bumps my ambient temps up and keeps the snakes perfect! I don't run flex watt with the RHP since they don't speak to each other very well.
My boas can get closer to the RHP or they can move away from the RHP or they can go into the coolness of the hide (like going into a little tunnel to get out of the sun!)
Let me know if I can help you or send pictures of the set up or anything else. I really like the RHP's and am considering putting them in my ball python cages as well :)

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Yeah pics would be awesome. So what are the temps in your cage Hot side on top of the hide, inside the hide, and coolside/ambient?

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Originally Posted by td30

Wow, That is 3 thermostats per cage??? Can't afford to do that. I was hoping to get by with just the RHP. How do you think that would work?

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This is actually what we were planning on doing for our display cages that we're building right now. They're built from 3/4" wood, so flexwatt is out of the question. Call me paranoid, but I'm not particularly comfortable with the idea of flexwatt being sandwiched against a piece of wood. Radiant heat panels are just so much easier to hide than a heat lamp ;)

I would LOVE some pictures!!!!!!

I use a Herpstat Pro. Which has 4 probes. Its 4 proportional thermostats in 1.

For the RHP's they both get theyre own probe. Then the hot side flexwatt is wired so both cages have just 1 plug (parallel). Same as the cool side.

And then i just put the other 2 probes on one of the cages. It controls that piece of flexwatt. And since its wired into the other, it heats that one up too.

Most times the RHP is fine stand alone. I just keep the flexwatt on the bottom of the cages to keep it from getting too cool. Just for peace of mind. They hardly ever turn on.

Here's some pictures:

This one shows the probe to the left of the stupid flash glare:
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...0/DSCN5767.jpg

This is the picture of the 80 watt RHP in my 2x3x1 RBI cage:
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...0/DSCN5766.jpg

Don't know what this is showing cause the darn thumbnail is so little!!
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...0/DSCN5762.jpg

Here's Zelda scooted away from the RHP but still occupying the middle level:
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...0/DSCN5763.jpg

The temps are all over the place anywhere in the cage that I spot with the temp gun. No lower than 75F and up to 92F. Remember, these are my boas; not my balls :P

What do you have to set your thermostat at?

Looks like a sweet setup! Pampered little boa!!

Thanks for the pictures!!!

I have one Helix running all three cages and it is set at 88F
Pampered boas? You betcha!!
Those girls have teeth!!!! :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by starmom

Here's some pictures:

This is the picture of the 80 watt RHP in my 2x3x1 RBI cage:
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...0/DSCN5766.jpg

The temps are all over the place anywhere in the cage that I spot with the temp gun. No lower than 75F and up to 92F. Remember, these are my boas; not my balls :P

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So you have 2/3 of your cage covered by RHP? I guess I was hoping for a little more defined temp gradient than "temps are all over the place anywhere in the cage". I don't mean to criticize your setup though...it looks very nice and I sure it works equally as nice. Just trying to figure out what is best for me.

Here's the measurements of the RHP's I purchased from Rich at RBI: 12.5"x22.5x1.75. I needed to go with the 80 watt ones due to the weather conditions here in central Oregon. Someone living in a more moderate zone would purchase the smaller one. When I get the AP T20's, I'll go with the next size up.
Temps: Ambient= 83F; under the hide= 83.8; on the middle level toward the heat panel= 89.9; on the middle level away from the heat panel= 81.9; on the floor= 77.1-87.9 depending where I shoot the gun in relation to the heat panel.
You're making me work!!!! :8:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by starmom

Here's the measurements of the RHP's I purchased from Rich at RBI: 12.5"x22.5x1.75. I needed to go with the 80 watt ones due to the weather conditions here in central Oregon. Someone living in a more moderate zone would purchase the smaller one. When I get the AP T20's, I'll go with the next size up.
Temps: Ambient= 83F; under the hide= 83.8; on the middle level toward the heat panel= 89.9; on the middle level away from the heat panel= 81.9; on the floor= 77.1-87.9 depending where I shoot the gun in relation to the heat panel.
You're making me work!!!! :8:

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Well thank you so much for the help. I think I will up going with a RHP. It makes perfect sense to me now. Instead of a hot side and a cold side, they can climb or enter a hide to find the temp that they want to be at.:gj:

Totally correct.
This is why I'm so loving the RHP's: They mimic the sun and allow for a much more diverse temp gradient for the snake to really choose what will be most beneficial to them at any given time during their day or night.
This is also the reason why I want to change over the balls who are in cages and why I am working hard to get all of my balls into cages (the ones who are big enough!)
I LOVE RHP's!!!!!!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by starmom

Totally correct.
This is why I'm so loving the RHP's: They mimic the sun and allow for a much more diverse temp gradient for the snake to really choose what will be most beneficial to them at any given time during their day or night.
This is also the reason why I want to change over the balls who are in cages and why I am working hard to get all of my balls into cages (the ones who are big enough!)
I LOVE RHP's!!!!!!!!

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Well I'm not so sure about RHP's for BP's. They will choose to be cold in their hide rather than come out for heat. Maybe the warm side hide would be warm enough though. Hmmm

Starmom, Given that your RHP is so big in comparison to your cage, does your thermostat show the % power output? I am wondering how much of the 80W you are actually using.

There is that little red light that kind of blinkers a little bit when the panels are heating up. I haven't noticed it doing it very much. I will need to say, however, that RBI cages are the bomb-diggity for stabilizing temps and holding in heat and humidity :D

I have a Helix hooked up to them so there is no stats for usage. Hmmm, I also have a Herpstat II; I'll RTFM and see if that unit tells this information!

Regarding ball pythons: I figure that their sleeping burrows are cooler than outside temps (given that they are away from the sun) and then they come out at night to hunt and dance under the moon (or whatever ;)) It is my thought that the RHP warms as the sun and the hide cools as the burrow does.

My snakes come out at night, and while I have never caught them dancing under the moon, they do hang out outside of their hides. I'm uncertain as to what a difference might be and am willing to entertain the notion that flex watt might not be the only good thing.

A conversation regarding RHP's and ball pythons would be educational, but at this point, I have none under the RHP. That will happen when my boas move up to their larger digs and the balls move into the RHP cages.... Stay tuned ;)

Yes, I believe the herpstat II will show power output. If I had to guess, I'll bet it is very little. The fact that the light is not on very often would also indicate this. Maybe I can get away with the 40W panel.

I use an RHP with my ball python but I do combine it with a UTH for the hot side (44 gallon enclosure).

RHP takes about 1/3 of my ceiling space, heats ambient warm end temp to 83-85F. UTH is small (made for a 20 gallon tank) on a separate probe, keeps his warm hide at upper 80's to 90F max.

My energy usage is quite low, even with two heaters - my RHP does a good job, and is off about twice as much as it is on during the summer.

It's real job is in winter (northern midwest), but it does a great job keeping frank's tank toasty without hosing too much power.

These things are wonderful on power efficiency, I like having the UTH since Bp's are so ground-based (although my snake does climb surprisingly often).

Thanks for the reply!


Where do you place your probe at?

I did forget to say that i agree on the energy conservativeness.

I figured they would use more energy than they do. Once they get the environment heated up, they hardly ever go past 10% power on the Herpstat.

Not sure if this link will work, but I use a pro-products RHP for my BP cage and it is great. I did a review of it with pictures here:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=26

Hey BD1,

What kind of temp swings are you getting on your warm end? Is your room heated?

Ive done mine like that before. And the hot side would skyrocket anytime i opened the door to the cages. It has to reheat the whole cage so to speak.

I think with the probe under the panel. It will keep the floor a little more even. And then the cool end will regulate itself back gradually.

Thanks for the reply!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

Thanks for the reply!


Where do you place your probe at?

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Sure, the probe for the RHP is on the left wall on the hot side, mid-to-top range as far as height (like 3/4 way up).

I have a plywood tank with an aluminum false bottom. Under this is a 2" gap, and it goes, from top to bottom,

Aluminum : Probe : Bit of insulation : UTH

(there is plenty of room, it is not sandwiched.

I wondered how having the probe a little closer to the panel would work.

Does it keep your temps pretty stable? You just have it fastened to the wall?

Thanks for the reply!!

I wondered how having the probe a little closer to the panel would work.

Does it keep your temps pretty stable? You just have it fastened to the wall?

Thanks for the reply!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

I wondered how having the probe a little closer to the panel would work.

Does it keep your temps pretty stable? You just have it fastened to the wall?

Thanks for the reply!!

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I'm not sure about the others on this forum, but my panel is significantly warmer (though not really _hot_) directly on the panel itself. After about maybe an inch or so underneath it, it is whatever temperature relatively consistently the rest of the way down.

Yeah, it is pretty stable. I think this has more to do with carefully setting your thermostat than probe placement.

My ambient temps are around 83-85F, and high 80's-90F above the UTH, consistently. Fluctuation isn't much more than a degree, but I did play with the thermostat and humidistat for a while to get everything correct.