Fire risk from heat bulb

[Ember909]

I'm building a vivarium out of mostly wood, but I don't know how far the heat bulb should be from the sides/roof? I was planning on making the lights hang from a wood beam running across the roof, but depending on how far down to they need to be, I might need to make the roof higher. Help would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance.

 

[Blackdog1714]

Are you using a CHE or an MVB? The heat should be high enough that at tort height it is no more than 100 degrees.

 

[Ember909]

I'm planning on a flood bulb.

 

[Tom]

I'm planning on a flood bulb.

If you hang the hooded fixtures, you only need a few inches. Other fixtures can be mounted directly to the top with no problem.

 

[Ember909]

If you hang the hooded fixtures, you only need a few inches. Other fixtures can be mounted directly to the top with no problem.

Ah, what kind of fixtures would those be?

 

[Tom]

Ah, what kind of fixtures would those be?

What do you mean? Hooded fixtures have a hood that directs the heat down ward. These can be bought at Home Depot for about $13 each. Other types would be mounted directly to the ceiling, with no hood, and you'd screw the bulb into them. Either type works. The flush mounted type allow you to have a lower enclosure, while the hanging type require a little higher ceiling to have room for them.

In this picture you can see a flush mounted type with no bulb in it. The snake species in this enclosure does not need additional heat, so I'm not using this socket:


In this pic, you can see a couple of hooded domes hanging inside:

 

[Ember909]

Thank you, that's very helpful!