Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have always been of the opinion that the heat bulbs bought at pet stores are a waste of money, so I buy mine at hardware stores. I get a 50w or 60w flood or spot to heat a 36Lx24Dx18H Boaphile. Today I went searching for a backup bulb, and all I could find were Halogens. The regular incandescents I only saw in 45w and 65w. Do halogens put off the same amount of heat as an equivalent wattage incandescent, or should I return the bulb and try to find the one I normally use?

If I understand how Halogens work it should be at least the same temperature if not hotter since the purpose of the modified element is that it can operate at higher temperatures than a regular gas filled bulb without losing life. Higher energy efficiency and all that.

Actually, here's a Wiki article on Halogens. Pretty much just says what I said above:
Wiki: Halogen
"The halogen lamp can operate its filament at a higher temperature than a standard gas filled lamp of similar power without loss of operating life. This gives it a higher efficacy (10-30 lm/W)."

I guess now that I think of it I could be misinterpreting this since a higher element temp doesn't necessarily mean a higher bulb temp.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

Sorry, I am spamming your topic here, but I was reading through that Wiki more and it had this:
"Halogen lamps get hotter than regular incandescent lamps because the heat is concentrated on a smaller envelope surface, and because the surface is closer to the filament."

Hope that helps!
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

Hmmm so does that mean that the surface of the bulb is hotter than the surface of an equivalent incandescent bulb? Or does that mean ambient temp? Really don't want to cook the little guy.

Halogens are hotter than incandesants.
You want "flood" bulbs not "spot" as they are too tight of a beam and can cause burns.
I also reccomend not using bulbs with a clear center for the very same reason. You want either a completely clear bulb or one with the "dimples" over the whole face of the bulb. NOT "dimpled" with a clear center.

Anthony
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If you plan for 1 year, plant rice.
If you plan for 10 years, plant trees.
If you plan for 100 years, educate mankind.

Not sure why you are messing with lightbulbs? Balls don't need light -- just stick a UTH on the sucker save yourself time, money, electricity and be done with it.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
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Herp Medicine does not equal a bottle of Baytril - Dr. Scott Stahl

I was under the impression that UTH's did not supply adequate ambient temperature. Thought that was only attainable with bulbs, ceramic heaters, or Flexwatt tape.