40w vs 60w? Trying to solve temp variance in the bator...

[sky's the limit]

I built an incubator (thanks to everyone who posted their instructions), but have been struggling to get the temperature stabilized. I am currently using a hot water heater thermostat, which seems to have a wide temperature variance. I have been trying a number of different things to reduce the temp swing:
- relocate the thermostat in the incubator so that it's closer to the heat source
- add heat sinks (a lot of them!) I had used some jars with water in them, which didn't seem to help. My husband suggested putting in a couple of bricks (yes, sounds odd, but I was getting frustrated and appreciated the suggestion!). I put them in, and it seemed to help a bit, but the temp swings are still too much.
- changed the light bulb from 60 watts to 40 watts. This seemed to make a fairly big difference.

But...with the 40watt bulb, the light never seems to go off. Soundn't it be switching on and off? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the thermostat?

Would appreciate any suggestions or help! I have some eggs that need to be set, but don't want to put them in if there's something else I can do to make everything work better first!

Oh, and I plan to install a different thermostat (one of the ReptiTemp R500 ones) - but I just ordered it and it's not here yet! I'm hoping that will solve the bulk of the problem. Any suggestions in the meantime?

 

[horsejody]

Have you tried a fan?

 

[sky's the limit]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that as well...it has a fan that runs continuously.

 

[horsejody]

How big are the temp swings. Also, I wouldn't worry about the bulb staying on as long as the temp didn't go too high. Have you thought about installing a wafer thermostat?

 

[DANNY]

It sound like you need to get a thermostat for an incubator. The hot water thermostats are designed to have way too much variance for an incubator. It has nothing to do with the watts on the light bulb.

 

[DulcyDoll]

How long has it been set up? I made mine about 2 weeks ago and the temp stablized for the first few days, then went crazy! it has just re-stablized today.

I moved my thermostat up to where the eggs would be sitting, as heat rises, where i have the bulb is lower than the eggs, so it was staying a bit cooler.
Do you have a water wiggler? or are you going strictly by air temps?

 

[sky's the limit]

Initially, the temp swing was huge...90-112. Now, it's not swinging more than 1F or so...but the heat's not turning on and off, it's on all the time (I guess the lower wattage is putting out less heat, so it's heat output must be equalling the heat loss?).
I realize the the bulb wattage wasn't causing the variance - I was lowering the wattage to hopefully make the swing less extreme. Trying to work with what I have

Yes, I have considered using a wafer - actually bought the wafer today, but there weren't any switches in wtock...won't have in any until early next week. Is that too long to let my eggs sit? The oldest ones are 7 days today.

 

[walkswithdog]

Are you using a water wiggler - is the water wiggler temp actually swinging over 2 or three degrees or is the air temp in the bator all that you are monitoring... Big difference.

 

[DulcyDoll]

Lower wattage buld will be on longer than a higher wattage because it puts out less heat. For instance. I tried using a 15 watt bulb and it stayed on almost constantly, but with the 40 watt, it is on for maybe 3 minutes at a time.

1 degree is actually very good for a WHT. It takes tiny adjustments to get it right, hair turns only. You could also try removing a plug to get it to release some heat.

Adjust it, leave it for an hour and adjust up or down as needed.

My air temp is holding a steady 99.7-100.3F and water wiggler is at a steady 99.0-99.4F, but it took 2 weeks to get it there!

 

[horsejody]

If you have it down to a 1 degree swing, that's good. Put a water wiggler in ther with a probe thermometer, and you will find that the internal egg temp swings will be even less.