Questions about AP cages and RHPs.

[Doggtyred]

Thanks for all the replies. I have been reading other threads about RHPs because I am getting ready to place my order, but most of them keep repeating that Radiant Heat Panels do not raise the ambient temperature.

In the winter, the temperatures in the room they must stay in after quarantine can drop below the low 60s. Heating the room is not an option for multiple reasons. Considering the amount of money I am about to drop on these two enclosures, I want everything to work year-round, automatically, without any fuss. If RHPs cannot raise the ambient temperatures in the PVC cages 20+ degrees (if necessary), I need to go with something else. I don't like CHEs for multiple reasons but if I need that instead to deal with the ambient temps, I will have them put in the screen cutouts and find a way to deal with safety/humidity issues. Does anyone have any input?

Again, heating the room is not an option and the ambient temperature in the cages may at times have to be 20+ degrees higher than the rest of the room.

In my T-11 the RHP's keep the enclosure plenty warm. The Under Tank Heaters provide belly heat but nothing of substance to warming the enclosure. Perhaps you are confusing the two?

Both of my snake's primary hides are fake stone (compressed mineral, not plastic) so they absorb and radiate heat, helping warm the air. The Herpstat probes are on the substrate next to the enclosures

If for some reason the RHP's you get are inadequate, you can always use a room heater or a heat lamp to raise ambient a little higher. To say that room heat is not an option as a backup is taking a very valid option off the table. If these are non-negotiable absolutes, without flexibility, then you might need to honestly look at what you are trying to do, and if its a good idea or not to proceed as planned. No sense setting oneself up for failure.

Talk to whomever is making the RHP's you might want to use, and ask them what they recommend for the size of your enclosure, the composition of your enclosure and the ambient temperature where it will be located. The vendor can help you size appropriately. Pro Products did so for me. I used a 40 watt for each side of my enclosure. They come much bigger than that, 80 - 120 watt.. and I cant imagine one not being up to the task in the setting you are proposing, with the insulating properties of a PVC enclosure.