there were 2 adult carpets in my local rep shop and everytime I go in there one is asleep on the flouresent tube.

They're big snakes though and look like they could easily constrict and smash the bulb, so not sure if its a good idea once adults.

I may be wrong.

any light needs a safe cover to stop burns and bulbs smashing hurting the reptile

i only had a ratsnake he wasnt ever big either
manda xx

Just wondered because I've heard this before from someone on here (that ceramics cost more to run) but been told elsewhere that 100w is 100w (or 60w is 60w) whether it's a ceramic or an incandescent bulb and they'll use the same power. Can't say I've noticed any difference in electric usage with up to 4 ceramics running, but just wondered what others experiences were.

I am just talking lamp vs.ceramic though - I can see that a lamp/mat combo could bring the cost down.

All the extra costs are indeed just one-off purchase costs. There is no increase in running costs unless you are accounting for having to run an extra light because a ceramic can not emit vivible light.

As you say 60 watts is 60 watts, whether it be a bulb, ceramic, heat mat etc etc. Anything which is 60 watts will cost the same to run for an hour as anything else that is 60 watts.

If you want more detail then here goes:

We pay for electricity in Kwh (Kilo WAtt Hours). It says on your bill somewhere how much one costs.

1 Kwh is enough to power something of 1000 watts (Kilowatt) for an hour. Stands to reason!!

So from this you should be able to calculate how much anything costs to run (on full power) providing you have the wattage of the item.

Obviously with dimmer stats and other variable / pulse stats you will never be able to calculate exact costs since you are never running the item at ist full power / wattage.

Hope this little science lesson helps.

Thanks

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1.0.0 Jungle Carpet Python, Brian (CB 06)
1.0.0 Lodger, little Bro (CB 81)

So which is more efficient? If a 100 watt ceramic needed to run at 60% power to heat a viv, but a 100 watt bulb needed 75%, then the ceramic would be more efficient, so cost less.

Just an example, the bulbs may be more efficient for all I know.

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0.2 Western Hognose

FOR SALE: Snow and Amel Corn hatchlings (£25 each), SWAPS WANTED

Some say ceramics use the power more efficiently as they put it all into producing just heat, rather than light and heat.
But then could the ceramic use a bit more power as the element has to heat through a ceramic layer? Particularly if using an on/off type stat, rather than a pulse or dimmer.
Maybe the two balance each other out - I dunno!

Whatever, I've noticed no significant increase in electric usage since using ceramics.

In reply to Deano,

A 100w ceramic running at 60% is running at 60w. Same with the buld.

I would say 60 - 75% is about right ceramic to light bulb.

Like another guy said the bulb (lamp for those who are fussy since bulbs grow into flowers) will also have to produce light.

I would agree that a ceramic would be more efficient at purely heating, but you would have to use another light so ultimately it would be more expensive to run overall. Unless you already use a flourescent then it will turn out cheaper to run.

As mentioned a ceramic produces purely heat so has to be more efficient than a bulb which is producing heat and light.

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1.0.0 Jungle Carpet Python, Brian (CB 06)
1.0.0 Lodger, little Bro (CB 81)