Too hot for beardie on cool side?

[SoleSky]

Hello All,

I'm really concerned that my viv is keeping in too much heat. Today it was 88 degrees outside and it got really warm inside. It is currently 88 degrees in my room and in the enclosure it was about 90. I turned off his lamps for the day because it was just too hot. Basking was 105 but the cool side was 90!

I live on the 3rd floor of an apt complex and it gets quite hot up here. I can't always have the air conditioner on because if I turn it on it will just keep running all day non-stop and sometimes I am not here to turn it off and back on again.

I have a crossfire style viv and did everything I could to clear off the top, pop off some of the vents and now I am looking into building screen inserts for the viv. I am at a loss for what to do. I really don't want him to roast.

Odd thing is is that he has been sitting under a log on the hot side instead of the cool side and he also wasn't thermoregulating. I took him out and gave him a long soak and he was pretty active but when I put him back he went to sleep under the hot side log again. IDK what to do.

 

[CooperDragon]

90 isn't awful but it would be better to get it down around 80 on the cool side. One thought is to add a computer case fan to the vent to increase airflow through the tank. If that doesn't help, can you put your AC on a timer so it runs for a couple of hours during the day?

 

[SoleSky]

I thought about buying a timer like the one I have for his lights but the outlet is industrial looking so I'm not sure that would work. The air conditioner itself, unfortunately, has no timer. I will see if I can buy some sort of adapter so that I can plug the AC into the timer. That would be ideal. Thanks for the tip. It is 84 in there today so fingers crossed it won't get too hot today until I can figure out a solution.

 

[SoleSky]

Looks like this for reference:

http://users.cis.fiu.edu/~tho01/psg/plug/nema-5-20P-drawing.gif

 

[Kryton]

Just FYI,that style receptacle is strictly 20 amp and probably a dedicated circiut. It was made that way so you just couldnt plug any extension cord into it. Most extension cords are 15 amp and if there was a short your cord could catch fire before the circiut breaker would trip. Im not sure if your going to find a timer for that at your local hardware store but could be wrong.
Hope it all works out.

 

[CooperDragon]

You may need a heavy duty appliance timer that is compatible with a Nema 5-20p outlet. It may be easier to hook a computer case fan to the vent first and see if that helps.

 

[SoleSky]

Yeah, I think I will try that. Today it wasn't too bad but I'm mostly worried about the summer. I am working on making screen inserts for plexi panels on the front, that way itll be able to vent.