# Vent placement in a 1200 X 600 X 600 enclosure



## newbie1979 (Jun 24, 2011)

Hi everybody,

Just wondering about vent placements... i'm in the final stages of my DIY enclosure build and this is what i have:

2 X 50W Eco Terra Infrared Heat Lamps up the warm end 
1 X normal light globe for viewing
1 X Hitachi 2ft UV tube mounted centrally in the enclosure at the back of the front surround

What i'm wondering is where, and what size, vents i should use. I was thinking of a large square vent up the cool end of the enclosure mounted near the top and on the side wall of the enclosure and on the warm end i was thinking of mounting 3 of those small round vents just above the substrate height on the side wall of the enclosure.

Any thoughts/advice much appreciated - it's for a blue tongue enclosure


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## Virides (Jun 24, 2011)

What you have suggested will work.

The idea is that having the vents lower on the hot end will cause air to flow in as the hot air rises, hitting the top of the enclosure it will drift along to the opposite higher vent, cool and exit the enclosure creating a convection current. The heat acts as your "fan" circulating the air.


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## newbie1979 (Jun 24, 2011)

Awesome, thanks Virides, do those vent sizes sound good? I guess the flow in of the smaller vents will limit the outflow of the larger vent


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## Virides (Jun 25, 2011)

As long as the amount of air flow compliments your temperature gradient and doesn't impede it. The actual draft caused would be quite small but enough to be of benefit. I would say 50-70mm round vents with a 150 x 100mm rectangular vent would suffice (based on photos of other enclosures I have seen).


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## mike_k (Jun 25, 2011)

Have you found a good site to buy vents from?? Googled it once before and it was useless, was mostly housing stuff or for vehicles


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## Virides (Jun 25, 2011)

mike_k said:


> Have you found a good site to buy vents from?? Googled it once before and it was useless, was mostly housing stuff or for vehicles



Something we are currently working on


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## Cockney_Red (Jun 25, 2011)

mike_k said:


> Have you found a good site to buy vents from?? Googled it once before and it was useless, was mostly housing stuff or for vehicles


 Bunnings...:?


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## mike_k (Jun 25, 2011)

Virides said:


> Something we are currently working on


 
If you find something I'd love to know, I was after some decent looking round ally vents. Even had a look through the haffele catalogue (cabinetry fitting supplier) and even the had only cheap looking stuff =S



Cockney_Red said:


> Bunnings...:?


 
Unfortunately the closest one is an eight hour drive haha



newbie1979 said:


> Hi everybody,
> 
> Just wondering about vent placements... i'm in the final stages of my DIY enclosure build and this is what i have:
> 
> ...


 
Hey by the way what I was gonna do with mine was find a small neat looking vent and put one on either side, then test the enclosures temps and put more in after if needed. The way I see it, if you put one big one in you can't make it smaller.


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## Stopthatsnake (Jun 26, 2011)

I was going to buy metal ones from bunnings that fit with screw and put metal fly screen on the inside to further prevent escapees!

for placement im going to put 8 smaller ones in... 2 down the bottom and 2 up the top and repeat for the other side. Im also going to create a sliding plate of wood so i can move it back and forth to adjust the flow of air as i set it up!

The plates are being put there so I can either cool the tank more or heat it more to reduce the amount of times the automatic thermostat has to kick in! I want to reduce wear on the lights and the electricals as much as possible...


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