Closed chamber heat issues

Subersibo

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I've been having a couple of issues with my chamber. It's 6 ft long, 30" wide and about 30" tall. I have a powersun 100 on one end, a 100 watt che on a thermostat on the other end, and another fixture in the middle (75 watt capacity lamp) which I use either with a 75 watt black light night bulb or sometimes I switch out to brighten things up with a low wattage bulb (still experimenting). Daytime temps are great, basking spot is 95-97 degrees (powersun about 18" high), rest of the enclosure stays in the 80's.
Last night, my leopard tort choose to sleep on the side with the mvb which cools down at night. I noticed the temp dropped to below 80 so I put on the black light in the middle to heat up the enclosure but it dîdnt seem to help much. He usually sleeps in his hides near the che where the temp is in the low 80's. The humidity rises to above 90 at night with the mvb off and around 70% where the che is located.
If I adjust the che to go above 82 it might help heat the other end but then temps below it near the hides would be pretty high. Do I need to put another che and thermostat on the other side when the mvb turns off? I'm sure this is gonna be a problem come winter.
Another thing is I still constantly mist to keep humidity up. I have plants and water sources in different locations. I tried to put him in his hide to sleep a couple of times but he would go back to the other side repeatedly. I dunno know why he suddenly wanted to sleep in a different spot.
I apologize for the lengthy post.
Any advice? Things were so much simpler with the smaller chamber I had but yoshi is getting big.
 

Tom

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I need to run two CHE's to maintain ambient across my 8' chambers. Not surprising that you'd need to run a couple as well. Depending on your house temps two 60 watt CHE's might get the job done.

That you are able to run a 100 MVB and you need to constantly mist to maintain humidity tells me you have too much ventilation. Sounds like you are doing better than and open top, but there seems to be room for improvement. My 4x8' would overheat if I ran a 100 watt CHE. I tried it. I can only run a 65 watt flood. I get my UV from daily sunning sessions, but for and indoor only tortoise I would need to use florescent tubes for UV, so I don't over heat the chamber.
 

Subersibo

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Thanks, Tom. Ill try to fix the gaps in my enclosure. Maybe ill move the night time heat lamp to the same location as the mvb and see if that'll help with night time temps in that area.
 

Redstrike

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Like Tom said, I use multiple CHE's in my closed chambers. I have two 150 watt's on the hot end and one 100W on the cool end. My enclosure is large and houses 4 tortoises, so it needs some power! Links below in my signature.
 

Subersibo

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Thanks for the info. I've moved the black incandescent bulb beside the mvb so that spot gets warm at night also. I put it on a timer so it turns on when the mvb goes out. It was in the high 80's directly below it and 82 on the cool side. Yoshi choose to stay at that side last night again. I don't know why he doesn't want to sleep in his hide or log anymore.

Does a 75 watt che put out the same amount of heat as a 75 watt incandescent? I'm thinking ahead for winter.
 

Redstrike

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Thanks for the info. I've moved the black incandescent bulb beside the mvb so that spot gets warm at night also. I put it on a timer so it turns on when the mvb goes out. It was in the high 80's directly below it and 82 on the cool side. Yoshi choose to stay at that side last night again. I don't know why he doesn't want to sleep in his hide or log anymore.

Does a 75 watt che put out the same amount of heat as a 75 watt incandescent? I'm thinking ahead for winter.

I recommend hooking up high-wattage CHE's to thermostats. It's how I do things and it works great. Having said this, they get extremely hot so you need to take as many precautionary measures as you can to avoid fires (i.e. not having loose plastic or pond liner near them, using tin/aluminum cut outs as heat shields, fastening them down to the enclosure if you have cats that can knock them out, etc.). I feel as though a higher wattage CHE hooked up to a thermostat will run less and will keep wear-and-tear down on the thermo and the CHE.

Copy and paste the second link in my signature into our browser and you'll see how I do things.
 

Subersibo

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Where do I find the signature? Can't find it on your profile.

Moving the heat lamp to the other side (beside the mvb) of the enclosure helped a whole lot. Now the temps and humidity are right day and night throughout. I think the other side cooled off too much at night and that's where most of the humidity went.
Ill take your advice and get another thermostat.
 

kathyth

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His signature is directly under his posting, in a lighter color. ( Redstrike)
I followed his guidance and have good heat and humidity.
 

Subersibo

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Found it, thank you! I think I had a problem finding it because I was using my phone.
 

Kathy Coles

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I could not get the humidity right until I got a fogger. It is on the same timer as the light so it doesn't run at night. Now the substrate isn't wet but the air is moist. Just what worked for me in a closed chamber.
 
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