2 75 watt bulbs instead of 1 150?

[CourtneyAndCarl]

Hi all! I used to frequent the forums a couple years ago when I first got my Hermann's tortoise but haven't been back in a LOOONG time. Hope to see some familiar faces!

ANYWAYS, I upgraded my two 3 year old Hermann's tortoise from a 40 gallon breeder to a large "christmas tree" storage container a few days ago, and am having trouble getting all the heating aspects just right.

What has been especially difficult is finding a way to get the lamps on the enclosure to begin with, but I have two lamp stands being shipped in the next few days! The enclosure is about 52 inches long. With a 30 inch strip light fixture for UVB, finding a place for the heat lamps is also a challenge.

The enclosure gets pretty cold at night so I keep one heat lamp on 24/7. Right now I have a 150 watt lamp on one side for day basking, and a 75 watt night bulb the on the other side 24/7. It is not ideal because the "warm side" switches between day and night. I was thinking about remedying this by getting a dual lamp fixture. My idea is to put a 75 watt day bulb and a 75 watt night bulb in, leaving the night bulb on 24/7 and just turning the day bulb on during the day. Then I could put a 75 watt day bulb on the other side and also turn it off at night. What I am wondering is, obviously 75 watts plus 75 watts is 150 watts of power, but is the heat provided by two lower watt bulbs going to be comparable to the heat from one higher power bulb?

Sorry for the lengthy explanation for a pretty basic question and thanks in advance for any answers!

 

[Len B]

The other day I was checking the temperature difference of 25 watt incandescent black light bulbs and 75 watt incandescent black light bulbs. I was surprised to find that the 25 watt maxed out at 111 F and the 75 watt was over 315 F, I turned the 75 watt off at that point because it was getting to hot for what I wanted to use it for, so I really don't know if that was the max temp or how high it might go.-- Anyway by my little test with black light bulbs the 2 smaller watt bulbs will not provide the higher heat of one larger wattage bulb.-- The 25 watt bulb was a Philips and the 75 watt was a Wal Mart brand that I bought a few years ago when they cost a dollar which are different than 75 watt bulbs that they sell today. I don't know if the manufacturer would make a difference or not on how hot a bulb might get.

 

[leigti]

Do you have a picture of the enclosure, it might help people understand better. A 150 W bulb is going to make it very hot in one area, but I don't know how that would translate to the rest of the enclosure. I would have to do a little experiment and get out the temperature gun. I put 125 W chicken brooder bulb in my enclosure, and it provides a great deal of heat. So I think 150 W would be very warm.

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

Thanks all, I will get everyone a picture once it's all set up the way I want it too. My lamp stands haven't arrived yet so I had to get creative with my lighting until they get here