Having An Incubation Dilemma

[naturesluxuries]

Hello everyone. My children and I have made a Styrofoam incubator and am having problems getting the temp right. We are using a Styrofoam cooler and first tried a 32 watt light bulb, but that brought the temp to 122 (scary). Then I tried a 20 watt floro which brought the temp to 99 and held steady. SO we put the eggs in, closed it up and the temp fell to 84, started to climb, got to 94 and stopped. I am not sure what to do. It stayed 94 for 45 minutes so I stuck in a 15 watt bulb and it is sitting at 94 also. The humidity is staying correct, though twice it did go to 35% and then 60% when opening and closing the bator. We are very new at this and any help would be greatly appreciated.
Michelle

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

Could You Get a 25 or 30 Watt Bulb? You can also purchase a dimmer switch so you can adjust the temp.



I almost forgot,

 

[naturesluxuries]

Ok I am going to run off to the store and get some. Thank you for your help. Should I remove eggs until I get temp right? They have been in there a couple of hours.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

What kind of thermostat are you using? You can wire your bulb to a hot water heater thermostat. I use a 25 watt candleabre bulb in mine hooked up to the thermostat and it holds the temp at a perfect 99.5 when the thermostat is adjusted correctly. I also added a pc fan to circulate the air. Search the Chic Chick Bator here at BYC and that's the model I've followed.

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

No. 94 is fine for a little while, but room temperature would not be good.

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

Quote:
Oh yeah you can get a PC Fan at Staples for 10 bucks. This will help circulate the air. You may need an AC adaptor.

 

[naturesluxuries]

Thank you SOOO

much everyone for your help. I went and got a 25 watt bulb and a dimmer. I will head to Staples tomorrow for the fan. I have a digital thermometer that tells the temp and humidity. A thermostat? I am not too good with electrical but I can try to figure that out. Thank you Barred for the welcoming!

 

[Marie1234]

I think I got my thermostat from local hardware store for less than $10 and it took a few seconds to hook up then a day to get it set just right. The process is about 100 X simpler than hooking my camera to my computer. Good luck!

 

[naturesluxuries]

Well since I wrote earlier the 25 watt bulb is keeping the temp a steady 102 degrees and humidity at 54%. Is this acceptable?
I am going to be getting a thermostat tomorrow also. Thanxs for all the input everyone!

 

[silkiechicken]

Best of luck. A thermostat would be ideal unless your house or room the bator is in stays at a constant temp day and night. The one fall back of using just a dimmer switch is that it will keep the bator at let's say 30deg above ambient, but if ambient room drops 5 F at night, or goes 5F higher in the day, so does your bator temp. Furthermore, it is best to get the bator set to the temp you want, and after you add eggs, let them sit overnight to equilibrate.