Water heater thermostat

[walkswithdog]

Puck lights are a form of under cabinet lighting. They contain tiny bulbs, look kinda like hockey pucks but a little smaller, mount flush and depending on the application you can use one or two or three and they're designed to wire together easily.

The newer ones have UV filters and often frosted glass to prevent glare which I like. I'm liking these xenon and frosted ones over my original halogen one even.

They mount so easily in a homemade application I wouldn't use any other light source for heat at this point.

If I had the $ I'd be using flexwatt heat tape under tile. That's next.

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
It is not better than regular light bulb, since it still shoots heat in one direction (about 180 degrees)

Regular light bulb radiates heat almost in 360 degees fashion since it is round, so it radiates heat forward, side ways, and backwards, just skipping a small angle where it is connected to the socket.

 

[walkswithdog]

Pucks.... yes like these. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=under+cabinet+lighting+puck

I use them because they take up less space, mount super easy and are more easily kept away from chicks - I hate taking up four inches with wire caging for a regular light.

If you use a dimmer - you have to use the normal wattage bulbs and NOT low voltage - that's a diffent dimmer even costs more.

I've a 20 in my cooler bator and two 20's in my mini-fridge bator.

But they're right a plain ol lightbulb works, I happen to hate em(space, glare), so I tried something else and liked those - lots.

 

[chicken-keeper]

IM confused so you dont have a dimmer you just have these lights? How do you control the temperate then?

Thanks


also what are 20's?

 

[walkswithdog]

The puck's wattage is 20.

A thermostat attached to the wiring properly turns the thing you are using for heat on and off dependent on the heat setting.

If you set it for 100 degrees - then it turns it on when it can tell it falls below that and turns it OFF if it gets higher than that. That's what a thermostat does.

A dimmer switch is a bit different.

You set up the bator the way you want it, with a heat sink and the stuff in it you want. You turn the sucker on/plug it in, and set the dimmer at nearly off, you run it. YOU watch the temperature. If it stays too low for over about half a day, you bump it up a tad, then watch. If the temps even out in the incubation range with the stuff you have in it then that is your "setting" and you leave it there.

Problem with that is... if the house gets hot and the temp increases inside the bator there is NOTHING but you to see it and stop it and if you aren't there, you end up with a too hot incubator. IF the house temp falls too far and your bator temps cool it won't up the heat either.

Which is why most people use a thermostat of some sort. See? A dimmer type stat is usually not temperature sensing. You do all the work. If you're not there or asleep and something shifts, bad things happen.

And why most people go with the best they can afford or get very good at rigging cheaper ones. As long as you can keep from .5 to a two degree swing you are golden. The smaller the swing the better. The larger the iffy-er.

While you can swing away from 99-103 and probably hatch something it makes things wayyy more risky, often reduces hatches or slows them. Over 105 for any significant period of time and you have cooked eggs.

Going cooler is less a problem, for short and longer periods, it may effect hatch rate and might kill a weaker chick in the egg if it runs cold for a few hours or more. Running a whole hatch below 99 will prolong the hatch, and can cause death or birth defects.
Not fun to be there for at the end.

So we use thermostats. Because the more consistent the better.

At the top of this forum there is an entire huge file titled "Read mes on hatching" go there and read and follow and look at every link.

 

[chicken-keeper]

would this do the job, you place the sensor inside the incubator and plug your heat source into it and select the temperature you want it too go up to ....... Is this the right thing?

Link -

http://www.eurorep.net/habistat/temp.htm


Thanks

 

[walkswithdog]

I replied to your PM but yes that 300 watt one would work for your purposes, it's much like the 500 watt Reptitherm I'd like next.

 

[chicken-keeper]

Read your Pm's 1 more time please..........