Help us!

[malt_geckos]

Hey all!

So my dad wants matt and I to keep our racks in the garage....he is thinking that the heat from the flexwatt is going to make the ac bill go up too much. Has anyone experienced this? Especially those of you who live in florida? CAn anyone help us come up with an argument to help us? Thanks!

 

[Stitch]

Let me get this traight: Your father thinks that the heat coming from the heat rack will cause the A/C to turn on, thus causing the electric bill to increase. As long as the rack is not sitting right infront of the thermostat (for the house) then no it will not run up the bill. The only way it raises the bill is the cost of running the rack itself. So even if it's in the garage it will still cost money to run. By having it in the house that is already heated/cooled, it will only need to adjust from the room temp and not the temp from outside. Also when it comes winter time it can only help heat the room that it is in. Although you are in FL I don't see you guys needing to use heat that much.

 

[malt_geckos]

I keep trying to tell him that! lol. He always thinks he's right... maybe if he sees it posted and I tell him it will cost more to keep the temp stable in the garage, then he will see where we are coming from.

 

[GeckoConnection]

hmmm...

I have to agree with Stitch. Keeping it in the house will actually make the cost less. The heat from the rack will not really affect the temperature of the house, therefore not causing the A/C to turn on. The stable temperature of the house will allow the heat tape to run less, since it won't have to keep turning on for the lower temperatures we will be seeing this time of year.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Depending on the width of flexwatt you will be using, it only uses 8-10 watts of electricity per foot, so 10 feet would amount to the same as a single light bulb. The geckos need to be able to thermo-regulate, meaning they need a warm place and a cool place. Keeping them in the garage during the hot Florida summers will only give them a constant ambient temperature of 90-95 degrees, which is not appropriate for maintaining the geckos' digestion and metabolism.

 

[o0 Ryan 0o]

Tell him to hold his hand over the heat tape (not against) when its running at the appropriate temps. You can barely feel the heat radiating from the tape. The heat pretty much transfers through the objects it's against, it really shouldn't radiate much when running at the correct temps. The little bit of heat that does radiate above the tape is not going to raise any room temps IMO.

 

[Cheaton]

Maybe this is dads nice way of saying he doesn't want tons of geckos in the house. He just made up the heat excuse to keep from having to have a confrontation about the lizarsd themselves. Just a thought.....

 

[ataber]

i was going to say the same thing as marcia...i know here(in kentucky) even the garage is extremely hot during the summer and ridiculously cold in the winter. Now being in florida i doubt it will be too cold in the winter but still probably colder then needed...the summer however i would think the ambient temp in the garage would be wayyy too high. Id guess ours to get upwards of 100 during the summer because there is not much ventilation in the garage. If yours has some ventilation it will help but id still say it'll get too hot to give them a cool side. cheaton presents a good point though...good luck though

 

[malt_geckos]

Thanks for all of the replies! These all present good arguments! Thanks very much. My dad is ok with the geckos. As long as the college grades saty up, he doesn't really mind what pets I have. lol. Matt and I are leaving in August to go to UF for our third year in college. So, the geckos will be in an apartment pretty soon. He's BIG on keeping the AC bill down so I really do think this is the source of the issue. He's pretty stuborn. lol. So it will be hard for me to convince him that the heat isn't going to cause the ac to trun on. I think the best thing for me to say would be what Marcia said. It's coming from a totally different side, in which he can't make an argument on. I can also tell him that if it's that big of a deal, matt and I can pay the difference in the bill...which really shouldn't be too much. The thermostats should keep the heat tape from running constantly at a high temp....I will just ask if we can give it a try, if he doesn't like what he sees in the bill, we can pay the difference. Thanks again everyone! It's nice to know we have you all on here to help us when we need help.

BTW- my dad's building our rack system (adult (holds 32) and hatchling (holds 60) racks) so he can't be too opposed to the geckos.