increasing ambient temps: radiant electric heat or fan/ceramic?

[nevohraalnavnoj]

Hi everyone, my apartment is getting too cold ( coolside nightime dipped to 77.9 last night) so I need to up my ambient temps. (I am finding, as you all mentioned, that heat tape and UTH do a good job of heating locally but do little for ambient air temps).

Anyone have a preference over the radiant heat models which just get some coils hot and let that heat dissapate versus the ceramic element models which use a fan to blow that heat outward?

Also, I should probably move it away from the snakes habitat to avoid high fluctuations in temp, correct?

Thanks!

JonV

[JLC]

Until I got flexwatt and t-stats for both sides of my tub, I used a small space heater with a fan and adjustable settings. I set it to blow past the front of the tub (It's on a shelf about 18" off the ground), without actually blowing ON the tub itself. Tweaked the heater dials until I had the consistent ambient temps I wanted.


That's what worked for me.

[lord jackel]

I would say it depends on how large an area and how much you plan to raise it?


A blower type will send the heat to one area quickly...where a radiating heater will take a lot longer but once you get the temps up it will hold them more consistently. I heated my garage last year at first with a large blowing heater and it had hot spots and cold spots in the garage...then I moved to an oil filled heater and once the temps got up it kept them nice and warm...but if I opened the garage door and let the heat out it would take all day to reheat it.

So again it depends on the size of the room and how much you want to heat it.

[nevohraalnavnoj]

it is a small 14' by 11' bedroom so it sounds like the radiant models (once up to temp) will provide a nice consistent heat. I'll look into those. Thanks!

Was I right in thinking 77.9 degrees is too cold?? Try and get more like 80 degrees?

JonV

[lord jackel]

it is a small 14' by 11' bedroom so it sounds like the radiant models (once up to temp) will provide a nice consistent heat. I'll look into those. Thanks!

Was I right in thinking 77.9 degrees is too cold?? Try and get more like 80 degrees?

JonV

Not sure where you live but I got mine from Wal-mart for like $40 last year.

I would shoot for 82-84 ideally...but anything over 80 is good.

[CntrlF8]

it is a small 14' by 11' bedroom so it sounds like the radiant models (once up to temp) will provide a nice consistent heat. I'll look into those. Thanks!

Was I right in thinking 77.9 degrees is too cold?? Try and get more like 80 degrees?

JonV

77.9 is not a dangerous drop. Dropping below 75 on a regular basis is bad though, from what I recall from previous threads.

[BostonMacK]

What type of enclosure is your snake in?

I have the same problem seeing I live in New England and the thought of a space heater just made me nervous. I ended up going with a radiant heat panel from pro-products.com. It heats the air in the tank as apposed to just the surface area and it did the trick for ambient temps.

Here is a picture of it installed in my enclosure.

[nevohraalnavnoj]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you know the progress...

I originally bought a Lasko radiant heater (the one that looks like a baseboard) with digital display. It cost $40 and at first seemed to work well. The problem was that the thermostat is built into the main part of the unit, which itself kicks off heat. So my room was at 70, but it thought it was a toasty 78 because it was reading its own heat. I would not recommend this model.

I took it back and got a Delonghi ceramic fan and it seems to really be doing the trick. It's a little noisier, but it also has added safety features which makes me rest a little more at ease.

Thanks for your input,

JonV

[West Coast Jungle]

I would recommend an oil filled heater on a ranco t-stat. Thats what I use in the winter and it works great. They also make 400 watt oil filled heaters that are much smaller if you have a smaller area. i use the small one in my breeding room or when I only need to bump up temps a few degrees like in the summer just in case or in my breeding room which is kept cooler. Here is a pic of the oil filled around some of my racks, the Ranco t-stat is on top of the freedom breeder rack.


You can't see it in the pic but there is a ceiling fan in the room to circulate ait to keep temps even.

[nevohraalnavnoj]

are the oil filled heaters better/safer??

JonV