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Cypher69

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Ok...straight up, maths was never my strong point.

I've currently got 4 frog enclosures in my small study room & I'm debating whether to heat them individually OR simply place an oil heater in the room connected to a timer...

My question is...Is there a formula I can work out which scenario would be cheaper to run?

The room's currently averaging 17C at night without a heater on.

Cheers.
 
Ok...straight up, maths was never my strong point.

I've currently got 4 frog enclosures in my small study room & I'm debating whether to heat them individually OR simply place an oil heater in the room connected to a timer...

My question is...Is there a formula I can work out which scenario would be cheaper to run?

The room's currently averaging 17C at night without a heater on.

Cheers.
There is no one formula that will work this out for you. It will be a combination of different formulas. I would imagine that the oil heater would cost more to run because it has to heat the whole room instead of four smaller areas, that is using the assumption that both lots of heating are similar in efficiency.
 
a few years ago I had an operation in may it was a little cool but the op nocked me around and I could not warm up . so I had two oils heaters going 24/7 for about 3 weeks = biggest power bill EVER :evil:
 
With 25 years of industry experience I can confidently assure you that an oil column heater in a room will be a far more expensive exercise than any other form of heating your could use. In many cases it is a case of taking all the variables into consideration......but in the case you propose you can save yourself the time and look for a better option than an oil filled heater.

I have no idea of the requirements for frogs.....but with an overnight ambient of 17c, would a low wattage heat cod or matt on a thermostat provide the subtle heat you need?

15 - 18 watts of cord or mat, or a 50w hallogen lamp heating the area that needs a bit of a temp raise should be a far better proposition than 2.4 killowatts of oil heater heating a room - But I don't claim to know or understand the requirements of frogs.

If it comes down to 15 - 50w of heating an enclosure against heating a room the decision will be a no-brainer without going to the trouble of doing any calculations.
 
I guess I'm also taking into account the primary costs of heat mats, additional thermostats &/or heat lights....this is my 1st winter with frogs.

One enclosure I had a heat light which blew after 2 weeks, so that was an extra $15 to replace it...so I guess I'm anticipating the cost of multiple bulbs blowing over winter as well...

Plus the notion of utilising heat mats for all 4 enclosures would literally mean stripping all the enclosures down to install them...a task I don't want to consider.

The other point about using an oil heater is that the people in the room would benefit from the heat as well.
 
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Plus the notion of utilising heat mats for all 4 enclosures would literally mean stripping all the enclosures down to install them...a task I don't want to consider.

This answers your question - Looks like it is 'house heating' instead. An expensive way to do it even considering the overheads you quoted (I have seen oil heaters add over $1000 to a quarterly bill - Thats a lot of globes/mats/cords in 3 months) but if personal comfort is a considerable aim (not mentioned in your initial post) and you are unable to install more efficient forms of heating I think you have already come to your conclusion.
 
Yeah the vivs are heavily decorated with pebbles, driftwood & water features...so as not to crack the glass bottoms, I'd have to strip them down just to insert a heat mat under each of them.

I guess my conclusion for both creature & human comfort is the oil heater...

I just remember reading a post here last year where someone had a "formula" for how much it cost to run heat mats/bulbs...
 
I run 4 100w heat globes, a 40w CHE(24hrs), a 15w heat cord and 2 10uva/uvb lamps all on 12hrs a day.
They add about $60-$80 quaterly to my power bill.
An oil heater will send your bill skyrocketing running 24/7 even for only a couple of weeks...
 
depending on your set up but these are the ways I have heated the tanks in winter which doesn't require any dismantling, or what not;
1: if the tank has a water section at the bottom even 5cm a water heater can be used this will keep the water at about 28-30 depending on the setting, and also help heat the tank, plus if the frogs are cold they ill laze around in the water to keep warm
2: if you just have a water bowl in the tank you can place a heat matt under the tank under the bowl, heat matts should neverbe placed inside a tank such as frogs with so much water and humidity, just not a good mix,
3: Or if all 4 tanks are say in a row on a table or what not, a heat cord could be used under all 4 to heat them,
you have not listed what type of frogs, or what area you are in, but in my experience they should all have a day heat light, and/or a UV depending on age, I say this because anything under like 12mth should have UV to help with growing, and any sub-tropical or tropical frog, eg. green tree frog, red eyes. require temps around 28-34 depending on species, and should have a heat lamp all year round to help bump temps up in my opinion, (coming on to my 10th winter keeping frogs) (sorry for the retarded lines, im having a blonde moment and cant seem to enter, to go to a new line idk :/)
 
I just remember reading a post here last year where someone had a "formula" for how much it cost to run heat mats/bulbs...


Simply , ((wattage of heat source/1000) X hours of usage) X cents per KWh . This will only give you an idea because you do not really know how long each heat source will be on to get to the desired temperature as there are too many variables.
 
depending on your set up but these are the ways I have heated the tanks in winter which doesn't require any dismantling, or what not;
1: if the tank has a water section at the bottom even 5cm a water heater can be used this will keep the water at about 28-30 depending on the setting, and also help heat the tank, plus if the frogs are cold they ill laze around in the water to keep warm
2: if you just have a water bowl in the tank you can place a heat matt under the tank under the bowl, heat matts should neverbe placed inside a tank such as frogs with so much water and humidity, just not a good mix,
3: Or if all 4 tanks are say in a row on a table or what not, a heat cord could be used under all 4 to heat them,
you have not listed what type of frogs, or what area you are in, but in my experience they should all have a day heat light, and/or a UV depending on age, I say this because anything under like 12mth should have UV to help with growing, and any sub-tropical or tropical frog, eg. green tree frog, red eyes. require temps around 28-34 depending on species, and should have a heat lamp all year round to help bump temps up in my opinion, (coming on to my 10th winter keeping frogs) (sorry for the retarded lines, im having a blonde moment and cant seem to enter, to go to a new line idk :/)
A water heater, if you mean the mainstream glass ones, is definatey NO good in this situation. they must be fully submerged, and clear of all substrate, and limbed, climby creatures. If they are mesh top cages, globes or ceramics will be your easiest and best bet. Waaaaaaay cheaper.
 
Simply , ((wattage of heat source/1000) X hours of usage) X cents per KWh . This will only give you an idea because you do not really know how long each heat source will be on to get to the desired temperature as there are too many variables.

It will give you the maximum cost for what ever heat source you are using.

If you look on the oil heater it will tell you its wattage (usually about 2000W). The price of electricity in WA is about 25cents. So, at full power the heater will cost $12 a day. Four heat cords @ 15W will cost you about 36cents a day. The heat cords are about $80 all up, so after a week with the heaters going flat out the oil heater will cost you $84 and the heat cord will cost $82.5 including purchase price.

I think you would be silly to consider the oil heater. Yeah, it may be able to keep the rest of the room warm too, but so will setting it on fire, which would cost less than $5 dollars in case you are interested.
 
if the heater can not be fully submerged you need more water to start with as a mear few cms wil not cover it, and isn't good for the frogs either. I have used them for over 4 years the same ones, they are shatter proof so if the water evaporates over night and in the morning the top is uncovers it is not going to explode. I have always just cleared a spot in the substrate for the heater and the frogs have never had an issue with the heaters either.
A water heater, if you mean the mainstream glass ones, is definatey NO good in this situation. they must be fully submerged, and clear of all substrate, and limbed, climby creatures. If they are mesh top cages, globes or ceramics will be your easiest and best bet. Waaaaaaay cheaper.
and agreed frogs need/want to be able to totally submerge them selves particularly when they shed.
If you cant submerge an aquarium heater I'd say you need more water. By far the cheapest way as they heat at a rate of 1w per litre
 

you have not listed what type of frogs, or what area you are in, but in my experience they should all have a day heat light, and/or a UV depending on age, I say this because anything under like 12mth should have UV to help with growing, and any sub-tropical or tropical frog, eg. green tree frog, red eyes. require temps around 28-34 depending on species, and should have a heat lamp all year round to help bump temps up in my opinion, (coming on to my 10th winter keeping frogs) (sorry for the retarded lines, im having a blonde moment and cant seem to enter, to go to a new line idk :/)

Thank you for your input & share of personal experience.
I've currently got 6 GTFs, 4 Red Eyes & 1 Peroni all less than 12 months old & I'm situated in Sydney.
From my extensive reading/research of various frog forums & 2 Aust frog-keeping books-all simply state that as long as temps don't drop below 10C for long periods of time, heating is not required.
However 2 of my enclosures have sufficient bodies of water that I have included water heaters in them.

The GTF enclosure is 3ft long with a small heat mat & 1/3 partitioned for water & the frogs have been staying in the warm water more or less 24/7...I'm worried they may develop fungal infections with the amount of time they spend in the water so I am inclined to install a heat light on the land side of the enclosure.

Another smaller enclosure has only a water heater....the downside to using water heaters in small bodies of water is the constant amount of evaporation, especially when the water's heated to 28C. I'm constantly topping up water several times a week otherwise the powerheads (filters & water fall) stop working.

I've only started utilising the oil heater for 3 days now. The oil heater's on a timer that runs from 7pm to 6am.
However I am having 2nd thoughts about the use of the oil heater & may fall back on individual heat lights for each enclosure.

Thanks again everyone for your valuable input.
 
the frogs have been staying in the warm water more or less 24/7...I'm worried they may develop fungal infections with the amount of time they spend in the water so I am inclined to install a heat light on the land side of the enclosure.

Another smaller enclosure has only a water heater....the downside to using water heaters in small bodies of water is the constant amount of evaporation, especially when the water's heated to 28C. I'm constantly topping up water several times a week otherwise the powerheads (filters & water fall) stop working.
.

fungal infection that made me laugh, that's what frogs do, that's their natural behaviour haha I would be more worried if they weren't in the water. and topping up the water is just a part of it, join the club I have 3 tanks that I top upevery 3rd day hah :)
 
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