Better Enclosures...

[Skydiver Keith]

If you are using an aquarium with a screen top, do yourself a favor and go with a completely enclosed system.

Pros
1) Holds heat better.
2) Quieter for your gecko.
3) Don't need a heat lamp.
4) Uses less electricity (plus less ac for the room it's in).
5) Improved ventilation and humidity control.

Get rid of the screen and close the top!

I'm using a poplar enamel painted top with .5 inch foil backed foam board on the bottom side. The lighting is a single f15t8 hood. The fresh air intake is directly over the magnetic ballast, and rectified 12v transformer. Therefore, the fan (40mm 12v with oil filled bearings) not only cools the electronics, extending their life, but also provides warm fresh air to raise the ambient temp and provide air circulation.

 

[Brewboy74]

pics? I always like to see different ideas for housing.

 

[Skydiver Keith]

pics? I always like to see different ideas for housing.

Well, its nothing fancy, but here you go...

This is what the setup looks like.

Here's a view of the top showing that it is indeed sealed.

You can see the fan location here. Its positioned over the hot side. To give you an idea of how efficient it is, I keep the gecko's room at 70*f, and the 15w lamp provides enough heat to keep the hot side at 95-97*f with the heat pad rarely cycling on to supplement during the day.

Here's the underside of one of the top panels, showing the foil backed insulation stuck to Poplar hardwood. The holes are where the handle mounting screws are.

In this last pic, you can see the same insulation on the back and also under the tank, sandwiching the UTH between the foil backing and bottom glass.

There's no return air vent. I tested the enclosure with a magnahelic and it wasn't tight enough, nor the fan powerful enough, to build up any significant static air pressure.

Okay, I gave you my secrets. Now send me some home brew!

 

[Brewboy74]

Very nice, it looks really good. I would if I had anything extra

 

[Honeymixer]

Wow! Where can I get something like that? I'm not handy at all XD