Green Iguana Society Message Board

Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?

Posted by Adam on 11/8/2009, 10:06 pm
32.168.195.12

I just received my Zoo Med 150W CHE. And according to the instructions, 1) it voids any and all warranties if used in any fixture other than the "ReptiClamp ceramic fixture" made by them 2) it warns not to put it on the inside of an enclosure.
My first question; where do you usually mount a CHE? I was thinking of mounting mine either on the back wall in the center, or from the ceiling center. Second question; does anyone actually use that weird looking fixture as they mandate for warranty purposes? If not, would a Fluker's fixture rated for 250W work? I mainly dislike their fixture because I can only find it rated to 150W, and I do not want to put the maximum wattage in there, (iguana related housefire 101)
A third and final question; could some of you post pics of how/where your CHE's are located? This is my last piece of "have to know beforehand" placement in designing Falkor's new enclosure.
P.S. - now I have to re-frame his window before serious construction can begin. Not the one in his enclosure, the one in my house!!! Dimwit cut part of it away, it's made from saw mill lumber, so replacing one piece means replacing almost the whole thing!!! Contractoritis should never have infected that nut job...

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Re: Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?

Posted by Stacey from TN on 11/9/2009, 8:12 pm, in reply to "Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?"
71.111.206.136

I use 2 150W CHE's in Julio's cage. Each one is in a dome fixture that comes from Home Depot and costs like $12, and each is rated for 250W. Both my CHE's are Zoomed, I have had one for almost 8 years and it's still going! (I got it when I got Julio). When I upgraded to a larger cage I bought a second, a Pearlco to save money, and it only lasted like 9 mos, so i got another zoomed, it's like 5 years old now and never had a problem. I have one at each end of the cage on the outside sitting on the ceiling of the cage. During the summer I don't have to have either one on, then as it gets cooler I add 1, then the second.

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Re: Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?

Posted by Adam on 11/9/2009, 8:33 pm, in reply to "Re: Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?"
32.168.115.130

Thanks Stacey! So do they help with overall ambient air temperature up top like that? Just curious because of what ZooMed suggested the heating capabilities were.

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Re: Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?

Posted by Stacey from TN on 11/10/2009, 8:38 pm, in reply to "Re: Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?"
71.111.206.136

Yep! But I guess it depends on your setup. Both my iggy's cages are in a small bedroom and the door stays shut most of the time to keep the dog and cats out. Teena the spiny tail is sweet but pretty flighty and Julio is a territorial bastard, so both really prefer the quiet life =) They are both in cages with open sides and the bedroom they are in is at the corner of the house so it has 2 outside walls, one with a window. Julio's cage is 6x6x3 and Teena's is about 4x3x2. She only has a 160W SB Mega Ray on her cage, he has a 100W halogen floodlight for his basking area, and a 150W CHE at each end of the top of the cage (and 2 4 foot Zoomed Reptisun 10.0 bulbs side by side for UV). So in the summer with the thermostat in the house set at like 75-78, the basking lights are all they need. Their basking areas are 95 or so and the temp in the room from those bulbs keeps it about 80-85. As the temp goes down in the fall, I plug in one of the CHE's, as it gets colder I'll plug in the second and it keeps the temp in the room about 80-85. In the middle of winter in this house I also add a space heater - it's one of those with a thermostat so it kicks on & off on its own. I also run a warm mist humidifier in the room. This system has worked very well for me for years. I know most people complain about cages with open sides but it's never been a problem for me, even when I lived in a 1 bedroom apartment and shared a room with Julio. Remember I also live in NC, so I just turned the heat on in the house a few weeks ago, and it won't get really cold here for another month or two. Hope this helps you!

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Re: Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?

Posted by Adam on 11/10/2009, 8:55 pm, in reply to "Re: Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?"
166.133.130.237

Ok, thanks Stacey! I'm planning all this for his new enclosure, it will be 80"wide, 40" deep, and 72" tall. I plan to close it in almost completely because even though only one wall faces outside, my house is OLD, and drafty. I'm currently using a space heater for Falkor, he hates the noise it makes though. I plan to add some sort of jungle noise or something in the room, he's the one weirdo iguana that likes noise! LOL.
I use a Mega-Ray 100W SB for his UVB, and will be adding his two Reptisun bulbs (15") down lower for supplemental UVB.
Thanks, that info is very helpful and relieved some worries. Oh, I'm located in northeast GA, so I feel ya on the climate, kinda. But I used to live in Mooresville & Statesville, NC back in 04-05 when it iced over solid? LOL. Thanks again!

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Re: Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?

Posted by hanna on 11/9/2009, 9:27 am, in reply to "Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?"
99.9.129.53

We have ours sitting atop Miko's cage with the cord running through the hole in an overturned ceramic pot--for fire safety. It is in a standard metal one with a ceramic base for the heat element. Over this we put the overturned ceramic pot. That metal hood on the che gets pretty hot and we were worried about something touching it and getting hurt or flaming up--the reason for the ceramic pot.
this also points any radiant heat back down into the cage, but keeps anything touching the ceramic pot a good guarantee it won't flame up.
At the time we did this, we had a cockateil and was worried about him hurting himself alighting on any of the light and heat stuff on Miko's cage. We have continued the ceramic pot/heat lamp use even now that poor cocky is gone. Atop all the lighting and wiring, we have used a 'space blanket' to cover the top to reflect heat and light into his cage, which we think helps. Then we have the timer and plug bar atop all this on the far right side away from any heat.
I will try to see if I can put a link to the photo of the pot thing.
try this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/iggymommy/2629125743/in/set-72157606406797365/

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Re: Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?

Posted by Derek L on 11/9/2009, 12:38 am, in reply to "Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?"
218.166.145.65

Adam,

Your Fluker's fixture should be fine. Like most companies, Zoomed will only guarantee their products work together, hence the warranty. From my experience most CHEs are indistinguishable and work fine in proper rated fixtures with a porceline or ceramic socket. To promote a longer life span, avoid removing the CHE from the socket as much as possible.

When the packaging warns against placing the CHE inside the enclosure, they're referring to the smaller open-top enclosures like this:

Of course, iguana enclosures should be large and closed so all heating devices should be placed inside and positioned so that the iguana can't get burned or knock it down. Always install some kind of protective screen ove your CHEs if there is any risk of the iguana being able to reach it.

In terms of location, install them up top if you need to warm the basking area, or install them somewhere in the middle if you want to warm up the ambient temperature. I do both. I'll try to post some pictures for you this week.

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Re: Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?

Posted by Adam on 11/9/2009, 2:08 am, in reply to "Re: Where is your CHE located, and in what specific fixture?"
32.168.95.73

Okay, thanks Derek L. I figured people used other fixtures, the one they suggested just looked shoddy to me.
I'll probably put it center of the back wall because I'm looking g for that to control my ambient air temps. If I took Falkor's basking light away, I'm pretty sure that would result in war, LOL.
I'm also planning on the screen as well, just because of his cleverness nothing is safe from his grasp.
Thanks again, and the pics would be great

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