Thoughts on dimmers and bright basking lights

I've been curious about how much dimming of a bulb is too much. We carefully choose our basking bulb so that it is a decent wattage and also a bright light. We fine-tune this bright light so that it is 100-105 degrees, the perfect temperature for our beardies. But how much should we dim? Dimming helps to reduce the temperature of a bulb that may be a bit too hot, but it's also dimming the light. We are trying to get a good, bright light also.

I'm curious to know people's opinions about using a dimmer. Dialing down the heat is also dialing down the brightness. How does this affect their pupil constriction and can dimming their bright basking bulb have any negative consequences?

I would like to hear from people who have acually used a dimmer, if possible. I can see the brightness incrementally diminish as I dim the bulb. To what extent is this okay? Or not okay? What are you comfortable with? And why do you feel the way you do?

Dimming the basking light only reduces the wattage the bulb is receiving. I use dimmers on my basking lights to control them all the time.

By dimming the basking light, obviously you reduce light. Good thing is, Bearded dragons detect heat with their "3rd eye" on top of their heads. So long as you have aerial heat source shining down on them, they will find it.

To increase your lighting, you should just put up another socket and put a normal 50w house bulb in it.

I use a dimmerstat one of the best things i have. There not cheap but will save me money in the long run And keeps the right temp for my bearded drangon all day long.

Just posting cuz I want to watch this thread. I've been contemplating dimmers for the new viv.

I really noticed as I was setting up the 40g breeder for my blue tongue skink that I was making the light pretty dim to get the temps low enough, which is what made me think about dimming as a reduction of brightness, and not just a reduction of heat. It's advised to get a bright basking bulb, not a sort-of bright, dim one. So it got me thinking....

Basically what I do is if a 100w Basking bulb is required. I get a 125 or 150 and then dim it down. Leaves quite a bit of room to play in heat range depending on cage decor and ambient temps. For that reason, dimming down a 150 to lets say 110 would considerably lower the light level, so that is why I add extra lighting.

I have a 75w halogen that is sligthly dimmed (it's a twist dial... maybe 85% output ?), but it's still incredibly bright. It provides a warm "desert-y" light compared to the cool glow of the Reptisun 10.0, although that illuminates the enclosure more.

I love having a dimmable fixture, way easier than messing with different bulbs.

For instance, there were only 50 and 72w halogens where I got my bulb - if I am running mine at 63w, I wouldn't have been able to find a "perfect" bulb in-store, or would have had to hunt down a 65w after trial and error.

This is what i do/have as a setup. 100w exo terra daylight basking spot hooked up to a Habistat Dimming Reptile Vivarium Thermostat. I put the probe on the cool side and it keep my basking spot at 100-110f allday. And for the night he has a ceramic heat emitter on a Habistat Pulse Proportional Thermostat set at 70f. All thats just for the right heat

As long as the bulb your dimming is slightly higher than what you need it shouldnt dim it too much. I use a 75wt zoomed bulb and dim it prob 20% down on the dial and its the perfect temperature, and I can even go down half way and its still bright enough, which will be great in the summer when its hotter in our house and I'll have to dim down a little more.

Jess":20zwspa7 said:

I LOVE my dimmer, it makes it so much easier to get good temps! I have a 50 watt Zoomed spotlight that I use with my dimmer.

I have three of these: http://www.amazon.com/Lutron-TT-300NLH-WH-Credenza-Dimmer-White/dp/B0000DI241/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1329937553&sr=8-22

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I have the same dimmers - $10 at Lowes. :mrgreen:

mike7044":2qrntdxi said:

This is what i do/have as a setup. 100w exo terra daylight basking spot hooked up to a Habistat Dimming Reptile Vivarium Thermostat. I put the probe on the cool side and it keep my basking spot at 100-110f allday. And for the night he has a ceramic heat emitter on a Habistat Pulse Proportional Thermostat set at 70f. All thats just for the right heat

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THAT'S AWESOME. I just finally found a picture of that and a good description. I like that much better than my dimmers but it is so expensive...

:silent:

ShannyBeard":1ulodlwh said:

mike7044":1ulodlwh said:

This is what i do/have as a setup. 100w exo terra daylight basking spot hooked up to a Habistat Dimming Reptile Vivarium Thermostat. I put the probe on the cool side and it keep my basking spot at 100-110f allday. And for the night he has a ceramic heat emitter on a Habistat Pulse Proportional Thermostat set at 70f. All thats just for the right heat

Click to expand...

THAT'S AWESOME. I just finally found a picture of that and a good description. I like that much better than my dimmers but it is so expensive...

:silent:

Click to expand...

Tell me about it but at least you get a five year guarantee with them... So thats Dave sorted
But i would recommend them they work really well and will save me money on my electricity bill, thats one reason why i got them.