Planning a Heated Box.

[T33's Torts]

Okay so today I'm attempting to get a draft of a potential heated box. I live in SoCal so it would be more of an overnight type thing, not a 3 month long enclosure.

So here's what I've got so far:
Height- 3'
Length- 5'
Width- 2'

Heating-
-Osbourne 2'x 1.5' heat pad on left side
-CHE (unsure of wattage, any suggestions?)

Lined with orchard hay.. is that a fire hazard?

Also the lid is planned to be hinged.

Oh and there's a little vent on one wall for air circulation.. Is that necessary?

The door is just like the one off Tom's last box model. Its 20" wide and 14" tall.

This is a super simple sketch so far so I'm open to ideas.

Thanks in advance,
Tiffany.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Are you planning to insulate the box? I copied Tom's insulated box and it really is efficient.

I'd suggest you change the dimensions slightly..
I'd prefer 2' tall. Taller than that is just wasted heated space.
I'd also go for 3' wide. If your outer dimension is only 2', by the time you insulate it you'll lose quite a few inches and a grown Sulcata may not be able to turn around inside.

I think a vent is unnecessary. Maybe others find it useful??

Depending on the heat mat you use, you might not be able to use any substrate in the box. I personally use the mini oil filled radiator and love it. As long as that is sectioned of you can keep hay in the box.

Happy building. Share with us your progress

 

[T33's Torts]

Thank you! I'm trying to figure out where in the yard i could safely run wires. Maybe that won't be nessesary!

---

Oh, and yes. But I'm not exactly sure how to insulate such a large box.

 

[Dizisdalife]

I would not use a CHE for the overhead heat. It is too much of a concentrated heat. A Radiant Heating Panel would be a better choice. Heat is distributed more evenly. These may not be as effective in a 3 foot high space, so you may want to make the box about 2 feet high instead. If you are going to use a CHE then I would mount it on a side wall rather than hang it straight down.

A vent for air circulation will make it harder to keep warm on those cool nights. If the day time heat builds up you can open the door and lift the lid a little to let the heat out.

My first night box was 2 feet wide. It lasted a little over one year. My sulcata grew from 10" to almost 18" and was having trouble turning around in the box. Oh, he could manage, but it was just not "comfortable". My new box is 4' wide and I think that will work for quite a few years.

5 feet is a good length. 4 feet would work fine and make efficient use of the building materials. It would also be less volume to heat, if that makes a difference. My night box is 6 feet long.

Good luck with your project. I had fun building mine.

 

[T33's Torts]

Ah-ha! So now I'm thinking that perhaps I can do something like this:
________
| CHE )
| .........)
| ) ) ) )
|


Basically use bricks to surround the CHE that is on the floor.

 

[Dizisdalife]

Not sure what you are trying to depict there. Here are a couple of threads that helped me understand what is necessary to insulate and heat a night box for use in Southern California. Reading the threads will give you information on materials and construction used. They are Tom's design and have been quite successful for him and for several others of us that have borrowed his ideas to build our own tortoise shelters.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-20527.html
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66867.html

 

[T33's Torts]

Haha, yeah my symbol images aren't the best. I'm familiar with Tom's design and have tweaked my sketch. Thanks.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Both Joe and I used Tom's insulated box as examples. They really do work great

Mine measures: 2' tall, 2' wide and 4' long. The leopards don't use it yet but by the time they do, I'm sure this size wont last long.

Insulating is actually pretty easy to do.

 

[Dizisdalife]

Heather's adaptation looks a lot prettier than mine. It does work though, and Chuck uses it every night.

 

[T33's Torts]

Quite pretty it is! Chuck is better looking though

 

[argus333]

mine is 5 ft x 4ft i heat it with the the oil filed heater, it was $75 and works great way better then any c h e or pig blanket or panel. and is less on the electric.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Re: RE: Planning a Heated Box.

mine is 5 ft x 4ft i heat it with the the oil filed heater, it was $75 and works great way better then any c h e or pig blanket or panel. and is less on the electric.

Is your oil filled heater standard sized? I use the mini and it cost less than $40.

 

[T33's Torts]

I think I'm going to use the $00 method and use the CHE that is in my garage.

 

[Tom]

Okay so today I'm attempting to get a draft of a potential heated box. I live in SoCal so it would be more of an overnight type thing, not a 3 month long enclosure.

So here's what I've got so far:
Height- 3'
Length- 5'
Width- 2'

Heating-
-Osbourne 2'x 1.5' heat pad on left side
-CHE (unsure of wattage, any suggestions?)

Lined with orchard hay.. is that a fire hazard?

Also the lid is planned to be hinged.

Oh and there's a little vent on one wall for air circulation.. Is that necessary?

The door is just like the one off Tom's last box model. Its 20" wide and 14" tall.

This is a super simple sketch so far so I'm open to ideas.

Thanks in advance,
Tiffany.

Is this for a single sulcata? Lumber comes in 8' long lengths and plywood is in 4x8' sheets. It will be most efficient to build using numbers based on these measurements. If you cut a piece of plywood in half lengthwise it will be 24" and then you'll have 16' of 24" tall ply wood from each sheet. If you make it 3' tall and 5' long you will have to buy 10 sheets of plywood instead of 4. You'll have to buy double the 2x4s too. I suggest a 4x4x2' box instead. This is plenty big enough for even a large male sulcata.

Can't use hay with a pig blanket. Yes, its a fire hazard.

A vent will let all your warm air out.

This box will not work without the insulation. It must be insulated and double walled. I recommend you seal it with silicone caulking too.

Here is what it will look like but with a larger door for the larger species.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-86632.html

Hope this helps.

 

[T33's Torts]

That REALLY helped Tom! I've changed my dimensions to 4'x 4'x 2' and plan to double wall the panels and then put then together so it looks like its one solid wall I drew some diagrams.
I did them all in under 5 minutes so sorry if its inaccurate in proportion.

Sizes-


Door-


Hinges, cord escape-


Heat-


*** the CHE will be behind a much HIGHER wall

---

Uhh... Picture issues...

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Don't forget to use a thermostat for the heat source. If you insulate it properly, it will retain heat very well. The heat source will only click on occasionally, as needed.

Home depot sells vinyl material on a roll. A 27" x 12" piece is only $2.97. I've used this stuff to make over lapping door flaps on all 3 of my tort houses.

 

[T33's Torts]

Like a thermostat that connects to the CHE? Could you find me an example? I dont know how one could connect to the bulb thing. I'm shopping for electronics on Amazon, could I find one there?

 

[Levi the Leopard]

If you look at my Leopard Night Box thread (I think that's what it's called) you'll see how mine is set up.

You plug the CHE into the thermostat and plug the thermostat into the outlet. The thermostat has a thermometer probe you put in the tort box away from the heat source. I use the digital thermostat by Hydrofarm. I set the temperature to 80F and it's all set. The probe will read the temps. If it's lower than 80, it turns on the heat source. Once the temp reaches 80 it turns the heat source off. It's perfect. Again, if the box is properly insulated it will retain the heat and the heat source will only occasionally click on.

I'm not sure if a CHE is strong enough to heat a 4x4x2' box though. ??

 

[T33's Torts]

I think my good old CHE will heat the box. If not, there will be a cooler side which wont be a problem. My insulation is going to be awesome, so it should work. I dont want things burning or catching on fire.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Hey, the only way to know is to set it up and find out