Running a day basking lamp and night lamp off a habistat day/night dimming thermo??

[newbie1979]

Hi everybody,

I'm just playing around with some lighting/heating ideas for my 1200 X 600 X 600 blue tongue enclosure at the moment... the majority of feedback i have received has said go lights rather than ceramic heat elements for the heating. That presented me with a problem - how do i use a bright basking lamp for the day yet an infra red or blue heat lamp at night. I think i have a solution but wanted your feedback on it! if my thermostat was a habistat day/night dimming thermostat with a male plug feeding the heaters theoretically i could put a double adapter on the female plug - or even a powerboard - to that i could have one point going to a 24hr night lamp (or i could even put a timer on this) - another point could go to a basking lamp via a timer - this timer could be set to be on during the day and off during the night. Does that sound feasible? Also, given my tank is 600mm high X 600mm deep should i maybe look at a mercury vapour bulb for the day time basking light?

I was thinking of going a twin 24" tube setup for the lighting - maybe an NEC T10 and a Reptisun 2.0 or a Reptisun 10.0 with a reptisun 2.0. Any thoughts?

 

[SYNeR]

Yes, you could run a double adapter on the thermostat. Have two timers, one for day globe, one for night globe. The thermostat will always be on, and the globe getting power to regulate the temperature will depend on which timer is currently on. I haven't tried this though, and I'm not an electrician so can't advise whether this is a good idea or not (not to mention I like to run things simple without having too much cable clutter, piggy-backing, etc). I wouldn't think there is any issue as long as you don't exceed the maximum load of the thermostat - which wouldn't be an issue as only the day or night would be on at once.

The most I tried was to emulate a day/night thermostat with a simple on/off thermostat. I had my bearded dragon enclosure running on a thermostat which was running on a timer. The thermostat would regulate their day temperatures, with no heat at night.. I just had to deactivate the thermostat alarm so when the thermostat switched back on in the morning, it wouldn't beep like crazy due to the low temperature.

 

[LippyM]

Hi Newbie,

Where abouts do you live? Bluetongues will love a hot spot to bask under during the day, but for night time, as long as you provide a good, deep burrowing substrate for them then you really won't need to provide heat at night. Where I live the temps get below zero at night in winter and in the house they get below 10c and I provide minimal heat at night. In fact, they get no night heat at all in winter! (Brumation is a natural thing, they need 'off time'). In spring I provide a small 7watt UTH under their hides at night.

They don't need heat 24x7. They're a tough and hardy lizard and have no problem coping with fluctuations in temp provided you give them a healhy diet, a draught free home and avoiding feeding them late at night.

Good substrates are those that they can burrow in and get nice and comfy. Ozpet, paper based cat litters like Dr Harrys, Ruddocks, Carefresh or Breeders Choice, plus aspen, straw and Critter's Crumble are all great substrates for blueys to keep warm in at night.

Good luck with your bluetongue! I think they are one of the best reptiles you can keep. They're hardy, friendly, inquisitive and intelligent. Every home should have one

 

[Red-Ink]

Hi everybody,

I'm just playing around with some lighting/heating ideas for my 1200 X 600 X 600 blue tongue enclosure at the moment... the majority of feedback i have received has said go lights rather than ceramic heat elements for the heating. That presented me with a problem - how do i use a bright basking lamp for the day yet an infra red or blue heat lamp at night. I think i have a solution but wanted your feedback on it! if my thermostat was a habistat day/night dimming thermostat with a male plug feeding the heaters theoretically i could put a double adapter on the female plug - or even a powerboard - to that i could have one point going to a 24hr night lamp (or i could even put a timer on this) - another point could go to a basking lamp via a timer - this timer could be set to be on during the day and off during the night. Does that sound feasible? Also, given my tank is 600mm high X 600mm deep should i maybe look at a mercury vapour bulb for the day time basking light?

I was thinking of going a twin 24" tube setup for the lighting - maybe an NEC T10 and a Reptisun 2.0 or a Reptisun 10.0 with a reptisun 2.0. Any thoughts?

Bluetoungue set up...
CHE connected to a thermostat controling night time temps only...
Correct wattage bulb providing correct basking site temps controlled by a timer to provide photo period (not controlled by a thermostat)...
UVB fluoro tube connected to the same timer as the basking bulb....

Mate, I think your getting a bit muddled and over complicating the set up. Leave the basking bulb on without the use of the thermostat. If you get multiple wattage bulbs just the cheap one from bunning you will get the correct basking temps just by playing around with the wattages and they can be left on all day. The thermostat connected to the CHE will ensure the enclosure doesnt get too cold at night. The UVB tube stays on with the basking light during the day...

Here's one I prepared earlier...

Hope that helps...

 

[nico77]

Yes, you could run a double adapter on the thermostat. Have two timers, one for day globe, one for night globe. The thermostat will always be on, and the globe getting power to regulate the temperature will depend on which timer is currently on. I haven't tried this though, and I'm not an electrician so can't advise whether this is a good idea or not (not to mention I like to run things simple without having too much cable clutter, piggy-backing, etc). I wouldn't think there is any issue as long as you don't exceed the maximum load of the thermostat - which wouldn't be an issue as only the day or night would be on at once.

The most I tried was to emulate a day/night thermostat with a simple on/off thermostat. I had my bearded dragon enclosure running on a thermostat which was running on a timer. The thermostat would regulate their day temperatures, with no heat at night.. I just had to deactivate the thermostat alarm so when the thermostat switched back on in the morning, it wouldn't beep like crazy due to the low temperature.

Im not 100% on this but most timers need power to operate , so if you have a timer pluged into a thermostat the timer will only work while the light is on , I have thought about having the thermostat plugged into a timer but i need to check if my thermostat holds the temp settings when turned of and back on again .

You could try having the fluros on a timer and the heat light on the thermostat that has a day/night cycle .

cheers nico

 

[SYNeR]

Should be fine if it's a digital timer with a battery, or an analog timer (which I've found to be inaccurate).
But yea, as already mentioned, it seems like an over-complicated set up.

 

[Stopthatsnake]

I was looking at doing this but i wasn't sure what impact the power dimming would have on the timer... especially the analog ones! I cant imagine it would have a big impact on the digital ones as they would only consume a small amount of power to keep track of time... maybe just monitor it over a few days and check it isnt getting out of sync if you end up trying it!

My setup is still in progress so ill have to get back on here and let you know how it goes...