Fixtures causing different temps?

[midmichicer]

I have a few different types if fixtures. The majority are black with white on the inside, one all silver one, and another that is black with the silver on the inside. The point is, I never knew three exact same sized fixtures, and the same bulb can cause way different temps.

I have Charlie in a 20L and it takes a 75w household bulb in the fixture that is black with the white inside to get a space 8" away to 105°. However, it only takes a 40w in the silver ones to get to 105°. I am figuring this is to do with the reflection and whether or not the heat is absorbed into the fixture.

I know what kind of fixture I will be looking for now on.

 

[Loganator]

Good to know! Thanks for pointing this out, Midmichicer. I never thought to try my bulbs in the other fixtures. I have 3 dome fixtures (MVB, heat emitter and xtra regular household bulb), all the same size, 2 with silver inside and 1 with white inside. I'm going to play around with my bulbs in the different fixtures to see if I can improve my setup

 

[midmichicer]

You're welcome. I figure the less wattage, the less money we are paying!

 

[Loganator]

You're right! In only 20 minutes, I am already getting a higher temp after switching my household bulb from the white-lined dome to the silver-lined dome. I will most likely be able to reduce the wattage, reducing $$. Yippee.

 

[dvillar9301]

Dude! I never thought of that! I thought it would only help raise it 5 degrees or sumthin! lol

 

[midmichicer]

oh no. I took Charlie out for a bath for about 20 min. Put the 75w in the silver lined fixture, I came back to 128°. I had to actually lower the basking spot with the 40w. I am messing with it right now. Charlie is getting some loving from his momma.

 

[randommonks]

Interesting. My fixture has a white backing. Think if I find some way to line it with aluminum foil I can lower the wattage as well? That one 75W basking bulb uses more electricity than the other lights in my room combined (energy efficient bulbs).

 

[midmichicer]

I thought about doing that with foil, but don't know how safe it would be. Walmart sells the all silver ones for about $6. They do not have the ceramic top, but if you are only using a 40w household bulb there is no need for high temp rating. The savings in electricity would pay for the fixture over a little time.

 

[randommonks]

True. I just can't believe I spent $25 on the fixture from Petsmart. I guess I can use that to keep a heat source over the roaches. What wattage do you use for the roaches?

 

[midmichicer]

60w che.

 

[AHBD]

That's a great tip about the aluminum fixtures, they throw far more heat. Almost all of mine are aluminum, and you can find the aluminum ones with a ceramic socket at Lowe's, Home Depot, some Agway's and Tractor Supply. They usually come in 2 sizes as well . Just experiment with the bulbs + temps. I use them for mercury vapor bulbs as well.

 

[midmichicer]

I just can't get over how much my temps jumped up. How must energy I have been wasting over the years. Its insane.

 

[randommonks]

Lol I went over my old electric bills and compared months side by side since I got Darwin. There was about a $40 jump between last year and this year for May-August, but September only jumped $4. Probably the excessive 100F weather we've been having more than Darwin's lights, but definitely looking to save on energy wherever I can.

 

[midmichicer]

I now have all reflector dorms on my beardies enclosures. I was using a 75w zoo med basking bulb for Summer and Autumn, now have a 60w household bulb and temps are close to the same. I now have 5 new zoo med bulbs under their tanks. Time to eBay it up.

 

[NVBeardies]

This thread intrigued me to do some testing with my old fixtures vs different fixtures. I was using the old flukers white lined domes with 75w reveal bulbs, so I went and bought some of the new zoomed deep dish domes that are aluminium lined as well as new bulbs 40w-60w.
Did a direct fixture swap and use the 75w and basking temps went up 8f from 104f-112f, cage temp raised up 2f from 80.8f to 82.8f
Swapped in the 60w bulbs and temps went down 1f on basking and cool side.
The 40w bulbs brought basking down to 106f and coolside down to 78f. Basking spot,cool side, and room temp where untouched to get consistent results. Test was done on a 40g breeder tank with shelf liner as substrate and a river rock for basking, allowing 1.5hr warm up time for each bulb.

Soooo Looks like I can save a little money or get more tanks lol