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Ideas for saving energy

The BoidSmith

The BoidSmith

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Energy is among the biggest costs for reptile keepers, particularly for those of us that live in colder states. Even if one can afford it, we are getting to the point where it seems to be not only an economic necessity but also a moral issue (thinking holistically about the country). Taking into consideration the current economic situation it would be interesting to discuss some energy saving approaches. These can range from breeding rodents, cage design, etc. Any tips that anyone can share will be helpful and can make a personal and overall difference in the long run.

For example, is belly heating the most energy efficient means of providing heat to reptiles? Granted we have to also take into consideration the health and well being of the animals so any suggestion will have to consider that as a priority. Let’s try to have a good discussion with constructiveness at the core. If we disagree with what someone proposes let’s try to remain civil about it.

Best
 
I think things like the new 4" flexwatt use considerably less voltage to run, florescent bulbs to light the snake room, and electric space heaters with built-in thermostats for the snake room are all good things to take into consideration. You can even go as far as putting foam insulation around racks..just thinking. I recommend the energy saving bulbs for around the house, I have definitely noticed a difference in my electric bill. And from an energy stand point, belly heat all the way! Back heat requires more electric to heat ambient air.
 
I think probably heating the room would be the most energy efficient, and I know some who keep their herp rooms at 85ish. Kinda defeats the whole thermo-regulation thing but it seems to work for them.
 
I use a propane space heater to help heat my herp room. It's much cheaper than electricity and also still runs in the event of a power outage. You just have to make sure you get the kind with the oxygen sensor on it.
 
Thanks for your constructive posts! :)

Best

Dan G.
 
My room is kept at 75 constant, daytime lights come on to bring their enclosures up to daytime temps. I have a feeling my new rack will save me craploads of electricity.
 
tonychi01 said:
..just make sure you have ventilation in that room:ack2:
Click to expand...

Yes, I do. I live in an old home and there's not much insulation at the moment. Still working on that. So, there's drafts galore. But, yes, if you use a propane heater, make sure there's some ventilation and your heater has an oxygen sensor on it. :yesnod:
 
in my room its currently 70 without any heat at all. its in a basement with 2" of foam(i only used 2" because the wall is mostly subgrade) in the outside walls. i also put plastic over the glass block window over the vent.
i have 4 backheat racks running and 2 with belly heat.
i dont think im going to order anymore belly heat racks just from what ive seen i dont have any issues with the back heat in 15/30qt racks i think the real issue is with the longer no sideways tubs. does anyone have any experience with the dual side heat that animal plastics has?

i ran one of those oil filled heaters and it just killed my bill.
i thought about running a small propane heater well i cant find one small enough for a room thats 12x13(roughly) then i thought natural gas its cheaper than propane and you dont have to fill it, well i still cant find one small enough. also i breed rats and mice so i have them in the room since its been so cold outside (still stinks).
 
Very good Topic!!!

We are ALWAYS looking for ways to optimize energy both cold and hot and one of the biggest concerns we deal with is bulbs. Living in South Florida you can imagine what it's like to be running Air Conditioning and 150 watt basking lamps at the same time. We've managed to move a lot of our herps into the spare bedroom, closed the AC vent, and use a small ceramic space heater along with a small humidifier in the winter. The best thing I can recommend is low watt lightbulbs for lizards (without compromising temp) and pro products heat panels for snakes. Add up the wattage of ALL your lightbulbs and see what you come up with. Can a 60 watt be replaced by a 40 and still provide the right temps? Timers and Rheostats are another thing. Cycle your heat. Drop the temps at night as nature would do. One thing we do for the large monitors is provide a Basking bulb cycle during the day, and Walmart bought heat blankets at night. The heat blankets have a dial on them so they work great for optimizing according to ambient temp. On a really hot day we turn all the heat down, on a cold day we turn it up. The animals will never even know the ambient temperature outside their enclosures changes day to day if you do it right. It's all about keeping the balance while minimizing power usage. To give you an idea of the juggling that goes on here, this is a list of the powered devices we use in our day to day routine. (Just for the Animals)

Basking Lamps (incandescent)
Daylight Lamps (fluorescent)
Nightime Lamps (incandescent)
Ventilation fans
Heat pads
Heat panels
Heat blankets
Water Pumps

As you can see we have our hands full with power juggling
Can't tell you how many times we've thought about hooking up generators to the sugar glider and hedgehog wheels LOL

Another thing I forgot to mention is Enclosure Wall Material and how well it holds/traps heat.
A low wattage bulb goes a long way in a wood box compared to a PVC box.
 
I know this is an older thread.. but I just found it.

couple of the things Im in the process of implimenting...

on my colubrids racks... Im putting the t-stats and flexwatt on timers.... that way there is a nighttime drop... down to ambient temps of the room (so for 8 hours... no electric usage)

Im also working on getting the funds to take my 2 reptile rooms and 2 walk in closets off the main HVAC system... and set them up on their own. About a week ago... I had to turn on the AC... not because it was uncomfortable in the house.... it was HOT in the reptile room... thus I needed to cool it off.
 
We have a portable building that I set up for a herp building. I spent the extra cash and effort to insulate it well, including covering the interior walls over the insulation with thick construction grade plastic. I also modded in skylights. When the sun is up, no need for lights since its as bright inside with the door open or closed as it is outside.

We have all our heat tape on t-stats , 99% belly heat that runs less than the 1 rack that is back heated. During breeding season we turn off the cage heat for 8 hours a night. We are also working on redoing our heat tape to run lower wattage heat tape to get the results we want but not running 20 watts per foot if we don't have to.

The room is cooled by a window ac and all gaps were filled with expanding foam and room heater is set 2 degrees cooler than the ac so they don't overlap during those funky weather times of year. Any and all gaps were filled before insulating and the herp ac comes on less than the house ac units.
 
Another thing I do is plan the heat on my racks for even rows ... i.e. 10 level baby rack get 5 pieces of heat tape instead of 2 or 1 so I can unplug what I don't need.
 
My snakes get light from the window and that's it. I had lights installed when I got my cages from AP.com but I noticed when they were on my snakes went hiding. When I leave them off they tend to still hide but do come out a little more. I leave all my lights off and pretty much only turn them on for display when people come over.

Heat, I close my ac vent during the day and open it up at night. The room gets to 82F or so. (no added heat in the summer)

I replaced my AC unit with A TRAIN 21seer and have seen my bill drop. I'm also waiting on GE's Hybrid Water Heaters later this year.

http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=2901

I've done all the light bulbs, Prius 08 etc... Next I'll tap into the neighbors electric line lol! J/K
 
Remember saving money on your electric bill doesn't have to stop there. The point is to save money, by a Prius or something like it. That has saved me a lot so far. The money I save on gas can be used towards other things like more snakes!
 
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