need help to lower heating bill

I have a outdoor winter house being built it has insulation on top and sides it has part clear roof and two windows on west and east walls. It has bull / goat wire panel on the floor. I need to heat it. It will be 8x6 and five foot tall. What is the best way to heat this all will be sealed and I will be able to lock them in on the real cold days. I have heard many ways to heat but I want the best way. Last year my light bill was to high. 1400.00 and can't have that again this year.

I never lock my tortoises in on cold days. They go out, realize it's cold, then go back inside. They're much happier to stay in when they think it was their idea.

I use a pig blanket on the floor and a 250 watt brooder bulb hanging from the ceiling. The bulb is about 3' up from the floor and it heats the inside of the shed very nicely.

Some people use the infra red heat panels. Some use the electric oil-filled radiators.

Given that heat rises and you have no use for the upper part of the shed, can you build a "shelf" and make it lower? So your heat is more trapped? I am thinking 2x4's attached around the perimeter inside with a heavy plywood "top". You can even line the inside part with metal sheeting to radiate the heat. I have envisioned doing this down the line, making the "shelf" on hinges to lift and clean, then adding shelving above for storage. You can even make it in such a way so the "shelf" is up during the summer months to aid in more air circulation, then down during winter so you are only heating what is needed vs. the entire open space.

Mind you, I have not done this, this is just one of my many "3am thoughts" I have had the past two years...

I use the oil filled heater on a thermostat. The thermostat is only about a foot or less above the ground, don't forget, the torts are very low. Then each tort has a basking light for the day and a Che for night. I also have a ceiling fan to push the heat back down to tort level. My electric bill is around 60-80 more in winter with this.

I, too, use an oil filled, electric, radiator type heater to heat mine. It's typically hooked up to a thermostat and I have a wireless remote thermometer that I can read from my sitting spot on the couch inside. I've got an old computer fan blowing inside to help move the air as well.
Recently I was involved in a really good car accident and was away from the house here for about 5 weeks. At some point during all this my heater was unplugged and me not being here to monitor it was an issue. We had hot daytime temps but our nights were still too cold for these guys. Not being here was an issue for me because I couldn't fix any of the heater issues.
The point to all this is that you can them warm outside and not worry about the electric bill, but, you need to be there ready to fix things if something unexpected happens. Now I hear word of mouth that two of my tortoises have U.R.I. this is new as well. Here is a picture from two years ago.

Oil filled radiant heaters are the most effective in this situation. Insulation and sealing is key. Nothing will work without that.

Where are you?

Tom said:

Insulation and sealing is key.

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Very good point that I'd forgotten. After I used caulking on the corners and gaps in the insulation, I covered them all with duct tape to help remove the chance air would exchange as well as possible.

I too have a thermometer that I can read from my house. Makes it nice to know they are warm, while sitting in your own warm house. Cameras also help too. The well insulated is important. Windows are nice but a lot of heat is lost thru them. I put plastic over mine for winter.

Is that $1,400 a month? (Electric bill)

ZEROPILOT said:

Is that $1,400 a month? (Electric bill)

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I know, right????