Hot

[TinyTerror]

Well, yup it gets really hot in my room with 5 lamps on in there all day.  How can i cool it down?

[TinyTerror]

yeah, ok. thanks

[mike]

Tterror -- Wellllllll !! I guess it gets down to whether you want your pets or not. It takes a little sacrifice and or love of the caring for them. The tanks in my home take a toll on the electric bill at the end of the month. My air conditioners work their tail off keeping the house cool. The flip side to that is ,in the winter my tanks help keep the house warm.  I guess it all boils down to you or your varmints. I enjoy mine. -- Good luck!

[AJE]

mike you need to chill a little on your answer to me you come off a little mean, all he is asking is, is there anything he can do to cool his room alittle. You didn't even give him a answer you gave him a lecture. Just chill out alittle.

tiny terror- If it is nice enough out open a window and get one of though window fan and put it on exhaust maybe take some of the heat out, but if it is cold I wouldn't do it the cool draft may get your turtles sick. Good luck!!!

[mike]

Welllllllllllllll, OK TinyT -- If I were you I would calculate the amount of BTUs that your bulbs are giving off and then purchase a window air conditioner that will put out double that, as you would not want to over work the unit. When installing the unit make sure that it has a good seal as you do not want to let your cool air out. To make your new air conditioner work a little better use a small circulating fan to help keep the temperature even in the room. If your room is not too large a 120 volt should do it. If you have a choice, a 240 volt would work better. After you get you’re A/C up and running you will want check on your tanks and cages and make sure that the air is not cooling your pets too much. If you sleep in the room you may want to get a mattress warmer to keep you warm. I keep mine on during the day and when I go to bed I get into a warm bed for the night. After being reminded by a fellow forum poster I did not give you an answer to your problem. I hope the enclosed will be helpful. If you have any problem calculating the BTUs, just let me know what the wattage is on your lights and heaters and I give you my best judgment as to what size air conditioner you will need. I will need to know the size of your room including the height and the number of outside walls that you have.-- Good Luck!

[bascomb]

When calculating your BTUs, don't forget to include yourself. The average heat given off by the human body is 750 BTUs. Also you can put timers on your lights and have them on more when you are not there. Also you may be able to reduce the wattage on some of the lights. You may be able to insulate one side of the aquarium to reduce the heat escape. B.

[mike]

bascomb – Most people don’t know how many btu’s humans give out. That is very true. I noticed that you said average. I am sure that I give out more than 750 BTUs. I might add, that insulating one side of a tank, the back side, you can insulate the bottom also. That should help with the heating of the room and lessen the cost of heating the tank. Good Luck!!

[Nefman537]

Hey Double T, first of all where do you live ? well if you living down the southern parts of the states where it's warm pretty much all year round where the temperature doesn't fall below 70 degrees a good quality air conditioner unit will work great remember 600 sq feet per 12,000 btus of a/c or a ton of air conditioning per 600 sq ft' is the rule of thumb but a 5'000 btu or an 8,000 btu unit will work well in a room about 10 x 10 or 12 x 12 because a/c units work well when above 70 degrees or you will damage the a/c unit or start icing up the coils if you set up the thermostat below 68 degrees . I work for an A HVAC contractor so I know a thing or two on A/C equipment or you can set up a hood ( like the one above your stove or a stainless steel exhaust hood like for labs ) but have it ducted outside. If you do go with a A/C unit get one with the highest SEER rating it will cost you a few more bucks but it will pay for it's self if you have it on all the time. Seasonal Energy Effeciency Rating the higher the rating the more effecient it is and cheaper to run. Hope this helps later good luck.

[Nefman537]

Hey double T...Ooh ! if you got some bucks too... Mitsubishi and Sanyo make a ductless A/C unit that work great, and for about $1,200 or more depending on the size you need you can purchase one that you can run in A/C mode in winter with out worry of any damage to the system they can run down to -20 or so outside air temprature and still provide you with great air conditioned air regardless of the outside temprature. And their is also another type where self contained system its portable you can roll into your room and have a small duct going to your window to exhaust the heat from the condenser coil.  I hope this helps later.