Shelled Warriors Forums
 

Go Back   Shelled Warriors Forums > Tortoise Information > Evolving Husbandry

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-10-2015, 05:25 PM   #11
CherryBrandy
Senior Member
Adult
 
CherryBrandy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SE England
Posts: 4,259
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by vikki View Post
I know you can buy ceramic car heaters that plug into the lighter socket - wouldn't give light but ??may provide background heat if it could be rigged up straight to the battery but not sure how quick it would drain it etc as I am useless with this sort of thing but sometimes see gadgets that catch my eye!!
Here is another thought if using a greenhouse:
http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Greenhouse-Heat-Sink.htm
Ow wow Vikki, just the ticket but for £4920 less !! that isexactly the type of warmth I was thinking, ie paraffin heater no good but ambient 'tort just up from hibernation in February time in GH' sort of warmth !!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozric Jonathan View Post
That's a really interesting site Vikki. Though my back was aching just thinking about digging out that cubic metre of soil for the heatsink!

And the car heater that plugs into the lighter socket sounds promising - it must be running off direct current and in the right range power-wise or else it would drain the car battery too quickly.

If the heater was only on for a short time there is every chance that the trickle charge during the daytime would be enough.

What we need is for CB to be at the cutting edge here and get the necessary bits and give it a try!!
maybe they would champion it for us ! I like the battery option, though think solar power must be the key...it heats up water in houses to make the heating work doesn't it? mmm .....not ssooo sure about cutting edge more heath robinson.... we need a plan.....
__________________
Horsfields, Spur Thighed, & Marginata
CherryBrandy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2015, 08:58 AM   #12
Pussygalore
Senior Member
Adult
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Cambridge
Posts: 6,479
Default

a leisure battery would be under £100 and the solar trickle charger a lot less with shopping around I know Halfords used to do them and you can buy them on line, the converter wouldn't be much so I suppose you could do it that way for a few hundred if not less. I'd say a caravan place would be the best to ask about connecting the battery to a plug socket, but once done should last for years and you could always charge the battery conventionally every so often and of course it could be used without having mains electricity outside. We made a simple solar heater for our 'easy up' swimming pool it consisted of a coiled black hosepipe mounted onto a piece of board and covered with Perspex or glass, the sun would heat up the water running through the hose which came from the pool and it was hot when it went back into the pool after going around the pipe. I think they now sell something very similar, the more hose the better but it only really worked on a sunny day, the ones you can buy have a proper solar panel which should work in daylight although not as well as a sunny day.
Pussygalore is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2015, 01:19 PM   #13
CherryBrandy
Senior Member
Adult
 
CherryBrandy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SE England
Posts: 4,259
Default

that's a good idea too isn't it. I have solar lights in the conservatory and they do come on year round but different length of time dependent on the (strength of?) sunshine or light so it must be doable. I will take closer look at Vikki's hyperlink and see what's going on re batteries too. im sure those solar panels on roofs only have copper piping at the back of them with water passing through, charge into electricity....simples ! CB
__________________
Horsfields, Spur Thighed, & Marginata
CherryBrandy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2015, 10:12 PM   #14
Ozric Jonathan
Senior Member
Adult
 
Ozric Jonathan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: West of Scotland
Posts: 4,226
Default

This page on Wikipedia says that there are a couple of types of solar cells. One of them turns the light directly into electricity- photovolatic cells - the efficiency of those was low but has improved greatly. The other sort heats water inside the cell and the hot water generates the electricity from there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell

Possibly the most efficient use of solar heating is to not use electricity at all, and to use the sun to heat up something (water, pellets of glass or metal) and the heat is retained by the substance and is released over hours when the sun has gone down. I suspect that kind of thing isn't a lot of use in the winter in the UK but can be great in summer.
__________________
Testudo Hermanni Hermanni (Corse) tortoises
Ozric Jonathan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2015, 05:09 PM   #15
CherryBrandy
Senior Member
Adult
 
CherryBrandy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SE England
Posts: 4,259
Default

Do you remember that film - The time machine I think - I remember the original., travelled back in time meeting some funny little cave dweller types...well do you think it may be easier to build one of those? Thanks Jonathan, I will try and digest the possibilities. I think it would be interesting if there was a sort of easy mobile design to create just a glow to take the edge of a cold evening. its was 3.3 here the other night.
__________________
Horsfields, Spur Thighed, & Marginata
CherryBrandy is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:40 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.