heat projector experience?

[midwestmom]

Anyone have hands on experience with a Mega-Ray heat projector?
I am trying to avoid a CHE
I am posting this in this forum because I think it has more viewers, but I am looking to provide supplemental heat to a small gecko terrarium (12x12x18).

Can I use a heat projector with a thermostat?
Do I just use a regular ceramic clamp fixture?
Can I put this on the screen top or do I need a lamp stand?

Thanks for sharing your experience with a heat projector!

midwestmom

 

[CooperDragon]

I've been expecting mine any day now (ordered last Tuesday). I plan to put it in a dome fixture with a ceramic base and hang it from a lamp stand and hook it into my thermostat for overnight heat. As soon as I receive it and have a chance to test it out I'll let you know what I find. As I mentioned in your other thread, they do look quite promising so I'm looking forward to trying one.

 

[CooperDragon]

I found out what the delay has been. Apparently Bob took a nasty spill around the house and injured himself pretty badly. He's been bed bound so things have backed up a little which is totally understandable. I hope he is able to recover quickly without complications. I will post my thoughts when the projector bulb arrives.

 

[midwestmom]

CooperDragon, thank you for the update! Do hope Bob is okay! Look forward to hearing your review, so please do post it!
Thank you, CooperDragon for remembering our heat projector conversation!
Midwestmom

 

[CooperDragon]

I received the MegaRay heat projector while I was away. I set that up in a dome fixture and programmed it on the second outlet of the Herpstat so it will dim as needed. It's keeping the cool side at 75 min during the day (so it's off) and will keep the cool side at 73 overnight. It's a small/relatively narrow bulb compared to the basking lights. It has a mesh cover where a lens would go to protect access to the filament. It heats up but it just feels a bit hot to the touch. Not going to cause a burn as advertised. The dome fixture heats up a bit but most of the heat is sent downward. I'll have to take some closer readings and adjust the height tonight when it's the only bulb running. I'm not quite sure what the spread/diameter of the projected heat is yet. So far so good though.

 

[midwestmom]

Thanks for your take so far! Look forward to any updates!
Thanks CooperDragon!

 

[CooperDragon]

It worked quite well during the first night. I have it mounted at about 20'' above the floor of the tank and it was putting down high 80s/low 90s directly under the bulb when it was at 55% output on the thermostat. I was able to touch the fixture and it was warm but not hot. The beam appears to be very concentrated as the temps dropped off quickly to the sides under the light. While there was one area a few inches wide that was around 90 on the floor of the tank. 6'' or so to the side it was in the high 70s. If you want to keep a wide area at high temperatures you may need a few of them side by side but if you want an overnight gradient on one side of the tank it seems to work well. Over the weekend I'll take it out and take some measurements with it and let it run at full power and see how it performs.

 

[CooperDragon]

I've done a little bit more testing with the lamp now. I had it out and set it over one of my spare tiles 18x18''. I set the light 18'' above the center of the tile. After an hour, I measured 93 right under the light, 78 6'' to the side, and 71 12'' to the side. Room temperature is about 65 at the moment. The ceramic base of the fixture is 142. This shows that there is a very intense beam right under the light, but it's fairly concentrated and drops off to the sides quickly. I'm going to raise the light to 24'' and give it another hour and see what that does to the temps. When I have it connected to my enclosure, it sits 22'' up and it's controlled by a programmable thermostat to maintain a constant temperature range.

 

[CooperDragon]

At 24'' up I'm now reading 85 right under the bulb, 78 6'' out, and 72 12'' out. It looks like the intensity of the bulb is lessened in the center at a higher distance, but the heat at the same radius is the same. That shows that it can be effective as an overnight bulb over a decent amount of area (1/2 the length of my tank in this test) when it's mounted fairly high up. When it's close in, the intensity of the inner cone is a bit much for overnight heating.

 

[midwestmom]

CooperDragon, thank you for this helpful "breakdown" on how the heat projector works. Sounds like it really needs to be mounted high to keep it from being just a spot heater
Cant remember if you mentioned trying it with a thermostat? Also, curious to know how quick you feel the heat projector heats up and cools down?
Thank again- great work!
Midwestmom

 

[CooperDragon]

Yes, I have it hooked to a programmable thermostat along with my basking light. They are set by a probe thermometer reading - one on each end of the tank - and set to keep each side within a range depending on time of day. It works well on the thermostat but I have it set to pulse. I found that it buzzed a bit when in dimming mode. When the projector kicks in, it heats up very quickly. I'd say it's up to full output within maybe 10 minutes or so (but I didn't test that specifically). Comparable to a CHE.

When I did the testing listed above, it was plugged directly into the wall outlet and running at 100%.