Winter weather is on its way, and I have some questions.

[saisaac]

It seems that every year as temperatures plummet I consider more efficient ways to heat my enclosure especially since I have not let my reptiles brumate. I have been seriously looking into options. I am planning on building a much larger enclosure for Chewy once I know if I will be staying in my current house permanently or if I will be moving to a different home in the countryside further down the road. I really do not want to build an great enclosure that has to be left behind or dismantled in order to be moved. I will be building the new enclosure with a double walled design that way I can insulate the enclosure to retain more heat and thus cut energy use.

In the meantime, I have been trying to gather information about more efficient and suitable heating sources. Right now I have been playing around with halogen flood bulbs and a 100watt CHE. The room the enclosure is in has started to drop into the upper 60s at night so I am thinking I am going to have to provide 24/7 heat. So I am thinking about investing a little into his current enclosure with the hopes of being able to use whatever unit I get now in the larger enclosure in the future (maybe buy something that is overkill for a 4x2x2 and run it on a low capacity for now). I have read information here and there about different options such as Radiant Heat Pannels, Undertank heaters (probably not suitable given blueys are diurnal), Ceramic Heat Emitters, Heat Tubes, heating tape, etc. I know that flood bulbs are by far the most popular form of heating, but they are also the least efficient and require the most replacement.

What I was wondering was what people who live in colder areas have found to be best suited for year round heating. Have you found any particular brands of your prefered device to be more efficient or better performing in particular ways?

[Toria Dawn]

This will be my first full winter with Roy and its already gotten cold in my house (it was -24•C outside the other day). I have been using a moonlight bulb I had extra from my nocturnal geckos during the night for him. This has helped stabilize his temperatures a bit, as in it doesn't take as much heat power to heat his tank in the morning. Since I started doing this he has been much more active during the day.

If you're making a bigger tank maybe just for winter use an extra heat lamp?? I don't find they add much to my electrical bill but it keeps my temperatures proper. (Since my regular lights are on a timer, I'm manually using the moonlight lamp and sometimes keep it on a bit longer/turn it on earlier when it's crazy cold outside). You could also try a thermostat to make sure it doesn't get too warm.

[donkeybuff]

Wow Canada gets cold! Here in sunny California, the lowest daytime temperatures we will experience are around 50 Farenheit or +10 Celsius.

[Dakota]

Absolutely lowest here was 57 I think.. usually it stays about 68-70.. so far.

[Toria Dawn]

Haha thanks rub it in guys! It was nice today, a pleasant high of 32•F.

[saisaac]

The thermometer reads 20 F outside here right now.

For now I am just using a 100 watt CHE on a dimmer in the dead middle of his tank to get stable temperatures and then using a flood over his basking spot during the day to get the required basking and hot side temperatures.