Incubator too hot!!

Hey guys. I just finished my first incubator. It has a 5v fan for air and 25w bulb to heat it. After leaving it on for a couple of hours I found that the humidity is ok but the temp seems to be about 110 degrees. I have 4 ventilation holes on the opposite sides so 8 holes total. What can I do to bring the temp to where it needs to be? Any suggestions would help a lot
Thanks

Switch to a lower wattage bulb maybe?

Well ideally you would use a thermostat to regulate temps... But, since you are doing it this way, punch more holes until the temp is right, you can always tape over them and hold the ambient temps in the house steady or else the temps in the incubator will not hold steady... It's a balancing act...

Also get a decent laboratory glass or digital thermometer or better two, chances are that one you have in there is easily off a degree or two or worse...

I'm speaking from an engineering perspective here and not from experience building my own.

If you place extra holes you have more opportunity to have humidity escape so depending on how humid it is where you are keeping the incubator it may make you need to have more water surface area.

Someone mentioned a lower wattage bulb but there aren't many different levels out there between 25 and 15 depending on where you live.

What I'd suggest is using something like an in-line dimmer switch (link to example below). You follow the instructions and place these on your electrical cord. This allows you to control how much electricity makes it to the light. This also would allow you to control for the lock down period when you lower the temp a bit as well as if you choose to incubate things other than just chickens. They are available at most local hardware stores and even some grocery stores and are not too expensive (though much more expensive than making holes)

Let us know what you do and how it works!
Good luck


http://www.truevalue.com/product/El...-White-Cord-Dimmer/pc/4/c/58/sc/497/11672.uts

The dimmer is ok if you have a stable environment, but a thermostat would allow for a bit more play in the ambient temperature. This too without experience of building my own incubator. @Sally Sunshine had a pretty good article on homemade incubators somewhere, even with suggestions on what thermostat to use and maybe some wiring diagrams.

Sally Sunshine said:

CABINET COOLER INCUBATOR ~​

CoolerBATOR ​

~​

Click to expand...

Thank you Sally, I apologize for bothering you, and as always, your articles are great!

Rashid100 said:

Hey guys. I just finished my first incubator. It has a 5v fan for air and 25w bulb to heat it. After leaving it on for a couple of hours I found that the humidity is ok but the temp seems to be about 110 degrees. I have 4 ventilation holes on the opposite sides so 8 holes total. What can I do to bring the temp to where it needs to be? Any suggestions would help a lot
Thanks

Click to expand...

You appear to be using the same style homemade incubator I am using. Hatching my first clutch right now. What worked for me is a 20 watt bulb I got from the dollar store. I also took a small box I had lying around and cut off one side and the top. Then I wedged it around the bulb. It took some adjusting to get it into the right position to regulate the temp.

Here is a picture of what I did. Although I didn't use a fan.

Thanks a lot!! What bulb is that?