Mannn ive never had such a hard time at home depot. . .

[h0ndap0w3r]

so it basically starts off because i needed to get some screen to finish making my cricket tote. Well while i was there i decided to try out a halogen Flood light, since i got a lil tired of using a 100 or 75 watt incandescent bulb that put light almost everywhere but inside the tank.

So i was completely shooting in the dark and grabbed a 90watt flood 1st, i went home and thought all would be good. I put it in and turned it on. . . the temps them proceeded to shoot up past 120* in a few mins. I turned it off and went back to home depot. I then grabbed a 75 watt bulb, same kind of temps, only this time a little slower. Next one was a 60 watt, same issue just a little bit lower. . . So 3 trips to home depot and 4 bulbs later and the girl at the return stand pretty much knows my name. Last ditch effort is a 50watt halogen flood light and the temps are holding steady about 115.

I have a 3 month old beardie so these temps are close to around where i want them. i would love to have them around 105 but we'll see how this one works out.

 

[kirby]

i have one dragon that is happiest at 120. others are fine around 105.

115 is no worry.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

Yeah i wasnt to worried about it. . . it was just annoying that the temps would hit like 120+ in less then 5 mins. .. haha, but i switched to a halogen flood because it seemed like such a waste to use 100W, or 75W house hold bulb, which seemed to heat up almost everything but the tank. a flood light seems much more practical along with economic, you need less wattage, and its more precise.

 

[Combichristina]

Heh, I feel your pain. I went out and bought a halogen for Daytona only to find out she didn't like the temps and just went back to a plain old incandescent since that's what she seems to prefer. I ended up giving the halogen bulb away.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

im not sure which one yoshi likes better, except the 100W in my tank would make the temps in the entire tank rise up to high. This is why i decided to try a halogen.

we'll see how it goes, hopefully he likes it

 

[norbertbd]

If this bulb still gets a little too hot, you could try what I did. I put an inline dimmer onto the bulb that got me closets to my target temp. Then I dialed it down to where I really wanted it. It works pretty well, and the rest of the tank is still in its target range as well. I think it was maybe $8. If I need to raise the temp a little this winter, I can do that easily enough, so I probabl won't have to go to a bigger bulb.

I think I still have the other 3 bulbs here because my husband threw out the receipt. So I'm guessing I'm set for awhile, assuming I can dial down the temps enough on the bigger bulbs. I guess time will tell.

 

[NY Rocking Chairs]

Another option is to get one of the PC style cooling fans and blow air across the lamp, this helps transfer the heat away some, and the fans are silent. I use one just to help circulate air into the enclosure.

 

[kevindeeley12]

My bearded dragon likes his regular home light, just a regular 60W bulb puts off 102-103 in the basking spot.

 

[kevindeeley12]

And norbertbd, Where did you get your inline dimmer? And what's the Brand?

 

[norbertbd]

The dimmers a Leviton. My husband thinks he got it at True Value.

 

[kevindeeley12]

Hm.. we dont have a true value around here, could I find the same on at Home Depot?

 

[Jennie]

Haha, I went through that exact same thing a couple days ago. After about 3 bulbs later we ended up getting a 35W; got our temps to 113F.

 

[norbertbd]

Home Depot would probably have the same thing. You just might have to look around or ask someone.

 

[kevindeeley12]

How does the dimmer work? Do you just plug your light into it or do you need to wire something into the dimmer?

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

there selling dome fixtures with built in dimmers now. . . check around online or at a petstore. the local one by my house sells ones with dimmers. . . i think there zoomed too