Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone have experience with the LED rope light? We just built several cages and tried using the incandescent rope light, it's heating the cages up too much. We put the lights on a rheostat and dimmed them down very low to eliminate the heat, but they barely light the cage. I'm thinking about switching to the LED rope light, but I'm not sure how much light they actually put off. Will it light up the cage or just the rope? I'm not looking for bright light, but would like enough to see the snakes.
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Randy and Michelle
Art In Scales
(719) 439-4199
info@artinscales.com

I think you need to take into account the light's wattage and length but I would also like to hear from those who use it. I have been considering purchasing a roll of this from Outwater, specifically the "cut to length" type that can be cut every 18 inches. Would save some money when you consider the price of fluorescent light fixtures (even the cheap ones).

Bart

I'm not sure if we are comparing apples to apples. Typical rope light has incandescent light bulbs in it, which create heat. LED rope light produces minimal heat, but is at least 5 times the cost of regular rope light, a 150 foot roll is $370.

I wasn't sure how much light the LED rope light would give off. We bought an LED closet light today that had 4 LED's in it, it puts off a fair amount of light considering.
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Randy and Michelle
Art In Scales
(719) 439-4199
info@artinscales.com

You are right and glad you posted because I was just about to place my order. I guess I just assumed it was just LED. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Bart

The LED rope light is much more expensive and puts out negligible heat, far less than the xenon bulb type like you tried already. So yes, the LED ropes will not heat the cages in the same manner that your other ropes did.

The light from the LED ropes is very "electronic" looking, not quite as pleasing to the eye as the xenon ropes. That is the tradeoff.
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Mark