Arcadia 55 watt D3+UV flood
 

This is the bigger brother of the 24 watt UV flood lamp and I'm really happy with it. In fact I just ordered a second one.

The lamp has a reflective metal backing piece that does what you would expect and the unit is very light. A cable goes to the power supply which is quite compact and also light and easy to handle. It's a simple plug-and-play lamp.

I set the lamp up using a very basic wooden support arm which is held in place by a simple corner bracket. This isn't adjustable like the arcadia stand, but it only cost me about 5p to do.

It's set up about 16" from the substrate and the notional uvb at tortoise level under it is around 140+ uw/cm2. There is a good diagram on the box which I'm sure is much more accurate than me holding a uv meter, but there is something reassuring about measuring it yourself.

Compared to the T5 uvb D3+12% tubes this flood lamp is quicker and easier to set up as well as tidier in terms of cables etc. At the moment the price of one of these is £60 on Swells and a replacement lamp would be £24.

I'd say this lamp is a really cost-effective uv option. For those of us who prefer to provide heat separately to uv this unit must be a contender.

Thank you for the information.

Very helpful.

Thanks Jon. Can I ask what area this would provide UV for please? Do you have a link please? And finally can we see a picture of yours please☺

In the top section of my Leopard shed where I keep my Med hatchlings leading up to the New Year and their hibernation I have an open topped unit with combi lamp for basking heat and a seperate fluorescent light to promote activity when the heatlamp is turned off. I will be replacing this cold light for one of these ardacdia floods this winter to see if it will increase activity. I am pleased to here you have tested them they are certainly a little more expensive than what I have already.

I'm still using these uv sources and still find them good. The smaller one, the 24 watt, is great for setups for hatchlings and tiny torts when the area to be covered is really small.

The 55 watt is the logical step up for a bigger enclosure, at which point there is an option to maybe change to a T5 tube instead which might work out cheaper in some instances. But with this unit there are fewer wires trailing about.

If you just need a lamp that will give you a lot of artificial daylight I use these natural daylight tubes s.a.d.
Also they are available in a compact bulb anything that is around 6500kelvins is good.
http://www.lyco.co.uk/osram-t8-s-a-d...-tube-58w.html

I use daylight tubes in my Leopards shed they throw out a lot brighter light than some of the uv tubes available, also considerably cheaper. As they are only a prompt to get them up and moving outside the uv is surplus to requirements.