Thoughts on Ceramic Heat Emitters?

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FluffySkink
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Thoughts on Ceramic Heat Emitters?

Postby FluffySkink » Thu Dec 28, 2017 9:00 pm

Still in the process of planning the enclosure for my future blue tongue skink. Since we get really cold winters here I was planning to use a CHE at night just to ensure it doesn't go below 16 degrees celsius at night. However while I was looking at thermostats I found one that has a setting for day and night so it will maintain one temperature during the day, and I can set it to maintain a much lower temperature at night. Because of this I was thinking about using a CHE as my only heat source instead of having an incandescent for daytime. I would be putting a strip of LED's in as well to light the enclosure during the day. Just wanted to get some opinions on this sort of set up. For those of you that use CHE's do you find they work well to create a basking spot and thermal gradient? Or do they just heat the entire enclosure. As well, since the CHE would be mounted on the warm side, for night time temps would it be best to have it set to 17 degrees? This would mean the warm side would be 17 degrees and the cool side much cooler. Also how are CHE's for heating. Do they seem to require a higher wattage compared to an incandescent?
Finally, do you think this could work or would it be better to have an incandescent on the warm side and then a CHE in the middle for night temps? I was just hoping to save some money buying only 1 thermostat instead of 2.

Additional info, I plan to have some sort of rock or slate on the warm side to help heat up the basking spot, and the enclosure will be an enclosed melamine one.
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jdheff1982
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Re: Thoughts on Ceramic Heat Emitters?

Postby jdheff1982 » Fri Dec 29, 2017 12:07 am

IF you can do it, go CHE for your heat source. For 1, they are far easier to heat manage than a standard light bulb. 2, you'll save yourself money on electricity if you use LED bulbs for your light sources in conjunction with the CHE. My setup uses 1 CHE, 1 LED flood lamp and a compact FL for UVB. The CHE used to be on a thermostat, but the previous CHE melted and shorted out the thermos (old CHE was several years old). To help reach basking temps easier, have your CHE aimed at slate tiling found at your local hardware store. It's really cheap and absorbs and reflects heat well. For example, before my thermo died, I could have it set at 95 degrees and the temp would read 105 on the slate. About the only downside to CHE is how far they transmit their heat. You can't have too much distance between CHE and basking spot. Mine sits about 10 inches above to get the 105 degree temps.

Feel free to ask more q's!
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FluffySkink
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Re: Thoughts on Ceramic Heat Emitters?

Postby FluffySkink » Fri Dec 29, 2017 4:09 am

Thank you very much for your reply! The enclosure I am planning to get will be 18 inches tall and the CHE will be inside the cage, and then I'll probably have a rock right underneath it, will this work just as well as slate? I like the natural look of a rock. Do you think perhaps I should go for a shorter enclosure? It's going to be custom made so I could. Also for night time with the CHE what temperature do you think I should be trying to maintain? Because it will be on the hot spot, so should I try to get the hot spot to 17 at night? I'm just worried this will leave the cool side too cold.
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Re: Thoughts on Ceramic Heat Emitters?

Postby jdheff1982 » Fri Dec 29, 2017 12:13 pm

Rock will work just as well as slate tiling.

Skinks don't need tall enclosures. Mine is 4 foot x 2 foot x 10 inches. I forget who makes it, but it has a screened top I set my lamps on. Might build a light box to put on top. Since seeing these multi-color LED bulbs that can be controlled via your phone, I'd like to use them. They can be colored to emulate sun glow and moon glow. Should be interesting!

It's summer there in Australia, so the night time temps shouldn't be cold. From what I have read, as long as the night time temps don't drop below 65 degrees F, there's no need for supplemental heat. During your winter, you might want supplemental heat if your home cannot maintain +65 F night temps, unless you want your skink to bromate, then let the temps drop. I've never had to use night time heat here, even during the winter.

Hope this helps!
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FluffySkink
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Re: Thoughts on Ceramic Heat Emitters?

Postby FluffySkink » Fri Dec 29, 2017 8:57 pm

I know that they don't need tall enclosures, thats why I'm going for only 18 inches. The supplemental heating in winter will be from the same CHE as it will be connected to a day/night thermostat, I'm just wondering if It will be okay to have the CHE heating the warm side to 17 degrees celsius at night to avoid brumation, or will that leave the cool end too cold?
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Re: Thoughts on Ceramic Heat Emitters?

Postby kingofnobbys » Sat Dec 30, 2017 6:48 am

FluffySkink wrote:I know that they don't need tall enclosures, thats why I'm going for only 18 inches. The supplemental heating in winter will be from the same CHE as it will be connected to a day/night thermostat, I'm just wondering if It will be okay to have the CHE heating the warm side to 17 degrees celsius at night to avoid brumation, or will that leave the cool end too cold?


My skinks have their overnight minimums never colder than 24 deg C. I don't have a call for using ceramic heat emitters in my tanks (dragons, skinks) because it's never very cold here in winter , rarely
under 10 degC overnight.
I run a 7W heat pad under my skinks' hides , for the water skinks and bluetongues , the thermostat holds the heatpads at 32-34 degC which they seem to really enjoy.

None of my dragons or skinks have ever bromated. The EBTs are nearly 8 years old now. I don't breed my pet lizards, only breed the BTs once by accident when I was starting out, Mildred dropped 6 babies at 2 years old because I made the mistake off allowing George to roam the floor with her for a short time, this stopped (too late) when I caught the pair having a naughty under the kitchen table.
FluffySkink
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Re: Thoughts on Ceramic Heat Emitters?

Postby FluffySkink » Sun Dec 31, 2017 5:18 am

After reading more about CHE's and how they work, I think I will stick to using a CHE to make sure the ambient night temperatures don't get too cold for my skink, and just use an incandescent for my basking spot. Thank you very much for the replies and input though :)

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