Down lights

[BurtonReptiles]

What's everyone views on them for tanks as heat and uv? Anyone else seen them used?

 

[Bez84]

Alot of people use them, i use them in my diamond enclosures.
Downside it they produce a ton of heat above the bulb and if you have them mounted in a ceiling with wood close above them then the will smolder the wood and if theres not enough air flow around where there installed i find they melt the wiring..
But apart from that there cheap to run, give a ton of heat and you can get them in red or blue etc..
As for uv they have a glass uv filter on them to stop any uv they produce...some people have said to break the sheild out but i wouldnt as ive had these bulbs explode and the glass shield is the only thing that stops the bulb inside from going everywhere.

 

[saximus]

Downside it they produce a ton of heat above the bulb and if you have them mounted in a ceiling with wood close above them then the will smolder the wood and if theres not enough air flow around where there installed i find they melt the wiring..

Wow I had no idea they got that hot. I suppose if you could set it up to utilise that heat as well it would be even better.
Also, I'm assuming you're talking about the 240V ones not the 12v ones that require a transformer?

 

[BurtonReptiles]

Wow I had no idea they got that hot. I suppose if you could set it up to utilise that heat as well it would be even better.
Also, I'm assuming you're talking about the 240V ones not the 12v ones that require a transformer?

I was looking at using 110w ones there so cheap at bunnings

 

[Defective]

cheaper doesn't mean better

 

[FusionMorelia]

good gear isn't cheap, and cheap gear isn't good,

 

[petesmith81]

Are you referring to the GU10 Downlights? If so the 240V ones are better. i currently use 2 x 50W in 4ft wooden enclosure for my Gillens (UV provided separately) I have them set up like pendant lights and not mounted directly to the celling of the enclosure.

As far as i knew the max wattage you can easily obtain is 50Watt, however i have seen some 75watts one on eBay from Asia

 

[Just_Plain_Nuts]

Alot of people use them, i use them in my diamond enclosures.
Downside it they produce a ton of heat above the bulb and if you have them mounted in a ceiling with wood close above them then the will smolder the wood and if theres not enough air flow around where there installed i find they melt the wiring..
But apart from that there cheap to run, give a ton of heat and you can get them in red or blue etc..
As for uv they have a glass uv filter on them to stop any uv they produce...some people have said to break the sheild out but i wouldnt as ive had these bulbs explode and the glass shield is the only thing that stops the bulb inside from going everywhere.

Basic precautions have to be taken with all lighting and heating and after much research and testing the 12V dichroic downlights have less chance of burning timber above it compared to using heat lamps of equivalent effectiveness. There are certain models that have more reflective coating on the back and therefore produce more heat forward with less heat back, the red versions do this and you can notice the difference. Also there are purpose made UV reptile dichroics out there that we use, these have no glass front cover and supposedly produce uv. There has been some debate about this and I am looking to purchase a uv meter to put this to rest once and for all. As far as them physically blowing up..I have never seen any bulb do this, I reckon the only way it would if you splashed water on it when hot.

 

[Firedrake]

How much heat would a small halogen light produce and how hot can a 275W heat lamp get? Also would a heat mat or heat lamp be better for a stimson?

 

[Laghairt]

I use them for small monitors and they work great, even a 240v 35w produce a huge amount of heat. I wouldn't use anything else now.

I also use the 12v lights with a transformer to provide more gentle heat in other parts of the enclosure.

 

[liney]

I use the 12v version downlight but have changed from the typical halogen globe to a LED globe from ebay. 9Watts gives off great lighting but virtually no heat and bugger all heat above. And you can get them in many colours if you choose.

 

[Scag]

What downlights do you recommend just for lighting. What equipment is needed transformer wise?

Thanks.

 

[saximus]

I think like Liney said you'd be best off using LED ones if it's just for lighting. You should be able to buy the whole kit with the transformer included so you don't need to buy everything individually

 

[Bez84]

Wow I had no idea they got that hot. I suppose if you could set it up to utilise that heat as well it would be even better.
Also, I'm assuming you're talking about the 240V ones not the 12v ones that require a transformer?

No im talking about the 12v ones they get hot as hell, i use the red ones in my diamond tanks they seem better and i have a fan installed next to them that sucks the heat out of the bulk head to reduce the heat build up..
Ive had two bulbs blow over the years and i dont mean the bulb explodes just everything behind the glass shield turns to dust lol.
Have never tryed the 240v models...

 

[Scag]

could someone link me to a good led kit.

 

[Just_Plain_Nuts]

bunnings have them, we use them when we dont want heat but they are pretty exe. The led 12v bulbs alone are about $32.

 

[liney]

Search 12v led lights on ebay. Thet are pretty cheap and you can buy the led bulbs from anywhere $5 up to $30. The 12v are a hell of a lot safer with the low voltage and the transformers are around $5 as well so not too badly priced. led bulbs are supposedly to last around 50,000 hours.

 

[Firedrake]

I found 6packs of the 12v LED downlights and they're not all that expensive, I just don't know how to install them or how hot they get. Do I need a proper electrician to install them?

 

[ron_peters]

can anyone tell me where they get the 240 volt ones as i can only seem to find the 50w 12v at bunnings???
thanks

 

[saximus]

I've seen the 240V ones at my local bunnings. They are just the gu10 type