Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anybody here use those 20W halogen lights commonly used for under counter accent lighting? These are puck type, and what I thought were halogen were packaged as xenon bulbs at Lowes.

I want to add one each to my snake enclosures for supplemental heating, and of course lighting.

If you've used these, do they work as a source of heat? I don't need much.
And how do these lights hold up in an high humidity setup?
My snakes are all big boids, so these lights will be exposed to higher humidity levels.
Let's here your input if you've used these.
Thanks
Bob

I considered useing them in some smaller cages I was going to be building. However due to the very high surface temps the halogen bulbs put out I re considered. I'm not sure how hot the Xenon bulbs get.

My advice would be to buy and test them under the same conditions. These lights are designed for use in display cabinents and of course under counter. Humidity is not a factor, I would suspect they aren't designed to handle humidity but that doesn't mean they can't.

Best of Luck
-----
Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Snow "Khal" RTB
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.0.3 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
3.6.11 Red Bearded Dragon's
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0.1 Child

Yes, I have experimented with the 20W halogen puck lights.

Here is what I have found -

The glass surface above the bulb gets very very hot, I mean yikes hot. You may consider puting a small wire cage around it if you think the snakes would touch it. I doubt they will. I do not know about Xenon bulbs regarding heat.

They put out quite a bit of heat and direct it straight down, more than you would think, and they emit a ton of light.

The 120VAC models dim down nicely with a standard lamp dimmer. When dimmed down, they are more suitable. I wish they made a 120VAC model that is 10Watts. You could put 2 in series and get 5watts each of heat and light - I haven't tried that yet. I will - I have a few laying around.

As far as humidity, I can't say one way or another. I used them in moderate humidity w/o issue. They come well insulated inside - no exposed wires.
-----
Mark

About the two in series, I mean 2 of the 20W units in series. Then you get 10W of power used among the 2 lamps, so 5W each.
-----
Mark

i use the 20 w halo's all the time . They do get hot they do also provide GREAT heat at a fractional cost of a RHP. I have never had a snake burn themselves as they always have drawn back. snakes burn themselves when they can crawl or hang on a hot object you shouldnt have a issue here with these other then dont spray them with water ( duh ) lol and dont "jar / rattle" them while hot. the dimmers used in the 5 packs is awesome for heat control. in my 12 in cages these give a 92 hotspot on high and dimming works about 5/10 degrees at a time to drop temps .
-----
__The Revolution has begun ... www.junglehabitatsplastics.com_

signature file edited, contact an admin 6/12/06

So I'll probably install one in each of my cages...using a dimmer.
How about the safety issues with these lights? I am mounting them on the ceiling of plastic (XPVC) cages. Should I install them with something underneath the fixture? How about the concentrated heat on the substrate below? ( I use cypress )
Any fire hazard concerns using them in this type of setup?

I used mine on PVC cages and HDPS cages. In all cases I simply purchased some aluminum roof flashing and used shears to cut a disk a bit larger in diameter than the puck. I used 2 of these disks between the puck and the plastic.

I don't know if I needed to do this or not, but I can say that the cage material above the puck is fine.

Another idea is to cut a disk from melamine and mount the puck to that, then attach that assy to the cage ceiling.
-----
Mark