Reptile Heater

[dennydeaton]

Hi everyone,

I've been working on a fermentation box which both heats and cools. I have it mostly built now, and have a dual stage temp controller hooked up to regulate the heat and cooling sources. The cooling source is a window-mount A/C unit, the heat source I'd like to use is a reptile heater. I currently have a box mounted on top of the main fermentation box which will circulate both hot and cool air down into the fermentation box through several holes I have drilled between the two boxes. The A/C part I have figured out, but I am struggling with an effective and SAFE way to generate the heat into the box. I don't want to burn my house down trying to ferment homebrew.

I ordered a 150w reptile heater off Amazon last week but it gets really hot, too hot to touch in fact. I'm definitely not going to use that, as it would catch the Polyshield insulation on fire (the circulation box is insulated too). I found a 60w reptile heater but wanted to get another opinion before ordering it. Would that be enough to heat the fermentation box but also stay cool enough not to catch something else on fire? Also, its worth noting that I am planning to use a dome/clamp to mount the reptile heater. It will not be touching anything, but will be within a few inches of wood/insulation. I have a computer fan hooked up to circulate the hot air to the fermentation box when that heat stage is triggered. The A/C flow will take care of itself as it gets blown from the A/C unit.

I've attached a photograph so you can get the idea of how it will work. Any advice or tips would be great!

P.S. There is a door, its not mounted in the photo but is sitting off to the right side. It has insulation on it as well.

 

[janivar123]

A reptile bulb will probably be werry hot no matter what
A mat or cable is designed for more or less direct contact.
So if you want to be safe thats what I would use...

 

[GulfCoastGirl]

I ordered a 150w reptile heater off Amazon last week but it gets really hot, too hot to touch in fact.

The reptile heater gets so hot because they are meant to be mounted on the underneath side of glass aquariums and the heat has to penetrate the glass. I have a couple of snakes so I use them on my tanks.


Why not just throw a heating pad in there? Most heating pads that have "LOW", "MED" & "HIGH" setting, all of which, are safe to touch temps. I think I got my heating pad at WalMart for like $15

 

[JonK331]

What about using one of those small space heaters that are meant to be used in bathrooms (tolerant to humidity) like this: http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=6OloT9zlMYzciQKSp_SHBw&ved=0CG8Q8wIwAQ

Looks like it has some nice safety features also.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

How about something like this that screws into a standard light bulb socket:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=wQppT6WxBYWCgwfN1sHZCQ&ved=0CFMQ8wIwAQ

 

[JonK331]

How about something like this that screws into a standard light bulb socket:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=wQppT6WxBYWCgwfN1sHZCQ&ved=0CFMQ8wIwAQ

That thing looks awesome, I've never seen one of those. Love that's it's also tolerant to humidity.

 

[dennydeaton]

Thank you everyone. This is all great feedback. The heating pad idea sounds like the safest bet.

@Conesus_Kid - I have the 150w version of that same ceramic heater. The 40w version may be safer as it wouldn't get as hot but its hard to say online. I was hoping someone on here might have had some experience with one of the ceramic bulbs already.

 

[janivar123]

It does say that it needs a porselain socket. http://exoticpets.about.com/od/herpresources/ss/thermalgradient_5.htm
It is also a pretty small surface for 40w heat(40w lightbulb give off less heat then this so if that feels like a comfortable temp...)

By comparison reptile heat cable are rarely more then 3w/ft
I lined my refridgerator just using duct tape to secure the cable to the walls

Guess a mat would be a bit easyer but quite a bit more expensive over here