Cabinet incubator design question

[wsmith]

First off, I'm not new at this....Ive been using a GQF styrofoam incuabor for years with great hatches.

Last summer I obtained a homemade incubator. Cabinet style. wood frame with 3 levels, each capable of holding two auto turners, for a total of 6 turners or 252 eggs.
My problem is that i have massive temperature differences for each level. and no eggs have hatched.
The heat sources are light bulbs. Digital controls for temp and humidity. I've verified the temp readings with another calibrated thermometer.
The light bulbs are at the top of the incubator. One large fan that circulates the air. The top temp read 110+, while the bottom tray readings were 96.
I'm thinking about moving the lamps to the bottom area and adding another small fan in an attempt to get more consistent temperature reading throughout the incubator.

Thoughts?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It's probably pretty tall. Hot air rises so even though moving the heat to the bottom will help, it will still stratify unless you are moving a lot of air. I would put a powerful fan on top pointing up so the heat moves toward and down the walls. You can even put a cross baffle right at the roof so the air from the fan will be diverted to the 4 walls.
If that doesn't do the trick. Add 2 more fans on opposite walls about 1/3 way down pointing toward the floor to assist pulling that heated air toward the bottom. The air brought to the bottom will rise back up through the middle.
That should move enough air to prevent the stratification.

 

[wsmith]

Good ideas. Thanks.

 

[Gumpwhite]

this is the one I made from a fridge. Just finished it. In theory inside temp can be thought of as watts. If you put a 75w bulb on the bottom and it's getting too hot you can buy a 45w bulb for the bottom and install a 45w at the top. Also if you add a fan it should distribute the heat better.

 

[wsmith]

Mine has a fan.

I will be doing the following:

1. go to a lower wattage bulb set
2. installing a heat shield
3 if the above two don't work, I will add another fan.
4. If that doesn't work, i will move the heat bulbs to the bottom.

 

[darkbluespace]

I had the same issue in mine with the 60 watt bulbs in the middle so I put them at the bottom. I have a fan in the middle pointing at an angle downward and one at the top pointing slightly downwards. It seems to have evened things out. The very bottom is still a degree cooler but I hadn't planned on using it for incubating.