Fake fireplace for heatinf snake room?

[tuffstuff07]

I have a fake fireplace heater my sister in law bought from lowes for our garage when we had the pool table in it.

Since I have this could I use this or is it better to get one of the oil filled Electrics? I was just thinking since I had this laying round I could use it. It's rated below 1500 watts so I should be able to put a ranco on it too.

[Jessica Loesch]

I don't think those heat as well as the oil heaters. But I could be wrong.

[tuffstuff07]

Forgot to link it.

http://www.lowes.com:80/pd_328249-47...7C1&facetInfo=

[jmitch]

I put a small table top heater in my spare bedroom and shut the door. It is eletric no oil and it works great.

[TheWinWizard]

I don't see why it wouldn't work.

[AZ_Equine]

I have never had one but I would think it might bring down the humidity in the room more than an oil heater would. And I would think they would be more expensive to run.
I have always wanted one for our living room. I miss having a real wood stove but would be nice to have a fake one just for looks.

[Sobolco]

Ive done it, you need a big lawn spray jug to combat the humidity.

[adamjeffery]

any heat will work. so its not a question if it will work but rather is it best or even ok to use.
you could start a fire in the middle of the room, but its not a good idea...lol
now for a serious response. i would ask these questions.
my biggest concern would be "IF" your snake or snakes were to get out could the snake get into it and get burned?
is it going to drop humidity really low?(mine drops anyway living in the north east)
is it easily and accurately controllable?
is it safe to run all the time?
if power goes out, and tehm comes back on do the settings stay and it comes back on or does it reset and stay shut down, do the settings reset and it comes back on full blast?
can you add a thermostat to it?
if it gets tipped over does it shut off?

these are all questions i would ask when looking.
in a pinch i would say yes its ok, but with out knowing anything else about it i would say get an oil filled and run a thermostat on it.
adam jeffery

[kitedemon]

At one time I tried a forced air heater. It worked but as it came on and off the temps swung quite dramatically as it heats so quickly. I found that running it on a low low setting and not shutting it off at all worked better than on off settings. I did not try with a T-stat but I would guess and it is a guess it would behave oddly I don't know if you can connect a rheostat to it but that might work better and reduce the power from the lowest settings. I am skeptical that a rheostat would not cause oddness with the fans or not.

Any and every heater poses a danger to an escaped snake. They all get too hot enough to burn.

Everyone harps about humidity, if it is a problem get a humidifier. The one I have is an evaporative type that I run on the lowest settings and it delivers 55-65% to the room in a house that is averaging 32% at the moment. I need to fill it every 3 days or so. (big tank) Humid hides also will solve humidity problems but for multiple snakes doing the room is easier.

[adamjeffery]

every heater can cause burns if the snake can get close enough to the element. the unit i use an escaped snake cannot get within 6 inches of the element. hot to the touch still but not nearly as bad as if you touched the element itself.
humidity is a concern and always will be. and yes you can buy more equiptment to counteract it if you wish...thats perfectly fine and advisable. but if you can lessen the amount removed by the type of heater you want to use then thats even better.
many oil filled heaters can run on an external thermostat, not all. depends on the unit controls that come on it. it does take some electrical knowledge to add on as it has to be hardwired. there are write ups out there. forced air does heat up too much too fast as you stated. its best to have a low and consistent heat.
adam jeffery