I have been trying to maintain my Tents temperature during dark hr.‘s with a small space heater,
I read about a chicken coop heater and ordered one came today, plugged in and hanging I really like this, and the 2 settings
That’s pretty neat, I wonder if dept stores around here have watt meters or whatever it’s called.
I’m gonna try a oil-filled radiator heater next winter so I can keep my tent in the attic. They don’t feel too hot to touch so doesn’t worry me. What’s that 1273W on max?
yes thats the small heater I was using last year the device to plug into was an amazon purchase, Almost bout a solar system because of my not understanding how much draw they have. Example if my 650R at full power and my XL300 draw less than 1000wts so one little heater put’s my lighting system to shame, had to see it to understand it.
that’s a lot of power man. More power than bush as we used to say. @12c/kwH and on half the time, 1.273x12 x $$ I guess it’d also cost 1.83 a day (CDN)
Thats what was confusing to me last winter I went from 160 electric bill to 480 the next month, had some heaters running plus everything else. I did find the little heater that I first posted that at I think it was 350wt and on my Inkbird temp controller only ran when it was needed and was more efficient on that then the built in thermostat
480!! ouch. No wonder youre looking closely at it. I’d panic haha… but doesnt it make such a difference when it’s only on a few hours a day vs half the day.
What is lights on temp vs lights out temp? I know my grow suffers a little because i refuse to spend this kind pf money to maintain ideals, but there is definitely some give and take.
The most popular name-brand one is called “Kill A Watt Meter” the local Ace Hardware stores around me sell them, but Amazon is where I got mine as it was cheaper…
One thing to note about electric heaters in a keep it simple regard, there is a very linear correlation between wattage vs heat output when comparing fanless to fanless, fans can play with that correlation a bit… That said, there is also near linear correlation between degree of rise, wattage and time it takes to rise that degree, assuming the device is able to overcome the ambient forces that are trying to lower the temp well enough exhausting will play a huge factor if input air is too cool… So again keeping it simple, a 500W heater will take twice as long as a 1000W heater to raise 1degree, but electricity usage is nearly the same between them to rise that 1 degree, cycle time will be 2:1… The big issue is when the ambient temp drop due to things like exhaust are above or near what the heater can overcome… In that case that 500W heater might take hours trying to raise 1 degree or never make it, while the 1000W will do it in short, you need to find that sweet spot or just aim high…
I have a homemade egg incubator that I made, it’s setup to use incandescent bulbs as the heat source, a 20W bulb will actually get it to temp, but recovery is slow, I used to run it with a single 60W bulb and it was golden, I have also run it with 75W bulbs and even 100W bulbs, now I run it with two 40W bulbs as it provides a backup if a bulb blows… The point of this is that I measured the daily wattage use with these bulbs, they were all basically the same the only difference was how long each wattage bulb had to stay on each time it cycled and how fast it recovered when opened… You need to find that threshold of what is needed and go above it, going too high above can actually create uneven heat without a lot of air movement…
Right now I’m actually tossing around heating ideas, as I’m breeding Dubia and Madagascar cockroaches for reptile food, they do best at 85 degrees F, so I’m exploring putting them in a tent with a small heater, under tank heaters or whatever…
that’s unusual, and you treat your reptiles good then. good info cuz’!
I agree with what @mingleme says but what i have doe is use a different Thermostat i feel it regulates my temp better now im only trying to maintain no lower than 63 degrees, my lights and restrictions on exhaust im able to maintain 81-82 canopy temp. Still just trying to help and survive. My biggest thing was not physically seeing the differences in them right now not when bill comes, trying to not be like Saving Grace. Lol
Do you make your own cords? Looks like it. I mean, nice job, not saying it looks shoddy
I had a 100ft construction cord that worked for 3 cords learned about light guage cords lesson number 365.4
that’s unusual, and you treat your reptiles good then. good info cuz’!
Reptiles have to eat, and the PETA types have driven almost every pet store out of the area, the only ones left are the big corporate ones and they charge corporate prices for bugs if they have anything thing at all… There isn’t a pet store left in the area that sells feeder mice or rats for my snakes anymore or bugs in bulk… The PETA types finally got to the last one, they used to sell feeder rodents and bulk bugs out of the back room trying to avoid conflict, but they sold dogs and cats, so the PETA types got a local ordinance passed that forbid the sale of dogs and cats at pet stores, so they packed up and left town…
I might try and kill two birds with one stone, venting a grow tent into a bug growing tent might actually keep the temps up enough, something to consider…
thats some great information
I also run a small heater in my closet during lights out. The closet is actually part of a garage buildout and has a common wall with the rest of the garage and a poured concrete exterior wall (framed and insulated). It will drop into the 60s during lights out. Too cold for me so I run the heater on a push / pull pin mechanical timer. I run it for 15 minutes then off 30. repeat The extra heat and the addition of an evaporative humidifier has improved its rate of growth.
