# Design and technology help, Minimum size enclosure for a spotted python



## Andrew123 (Mar 14, 2013)

Hey all well in Design and Technology I am making a computer heat waste solution... Pretty much it will be using the wasted heat generated by a computer to heat up the enclosure of my spotted python. The only thing is, is that the computer and enclosure will be side by side and therefore either I will have to invest in a bigger desk or if the minimum size of the enclosure is the right size then I can make it work 

any other ideas or comments are also greatly appreciated.


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## Virides (Mar 14, 2013)

You will need an equal size output to equalise the pressure in the enclosure so that you are not putting load on the fan. So if your open area of your inlet is 80% of the surface area of the inlet, then you must make a hole of 80% or more on the outlet side. Make this also lower so that you retain the heat in the upper section of the enclosure.

Also to ensure you don't injure the reptile with the fan components, use aluminium mesh (from Bunnings) as a stiff barrier that still allows air flow. keep in mind that your open area will reduce if the open area is tighter than that of the fan itself.

The slower you make the fan go the more heat you will retain - similar to blowing on your hand with your lips almost closed and blowing on your hand with your mouth open. The trade-off is that you risk overheating the computer, so you will need to figure a balance point.

You basically want to ensure that all the bottlenecks have been removed and that the efficiency of the airflow has been equaled at each point of the system.


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## Andrew123 (Mar 14, 2013)

Ok thanks for the tips! That's actually really helpful. 
Can airflow in the cage affect the reptiles at all?


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## Virides (Mar 14, 2013)

If the enclosure was the same size as the inlet/outlet - a tube, then it would be like a wind tunnel. However since the air is moving into a space far larger, the wind effect will be greatly diminished and the only noticeable effect of any flow of air would be occurring at the inlet and outlet.

The effect on the reptiles is nothing, since in the wild, this is wind after all.


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## Andrew123 (Mar 14, 2013)

Ohk I see, thanks for the help, do you have any idea what the minimum size enclosure would be for a spotted python about 1-1.2 metres long?


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## Virides (Mar 14, 2013)

I don't know sorry, I am all clued up on the technical side of things, but the actual size for husbandry etc is not my forte 

Don't quote me on it, but i do believe the length of the reptile?


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## Tehmwak (Mar 14, 2013)

The biggest problem I see you running into is consistency. Assuming you are not at your computer under full load at all times, your heat output will fluctuate between ~50watt and ~500watt (Depending on your hardware).

Do you plan on folding or mining to keep your computer doing something to generate heat?


Its a fine idea and all, but you are going to have a fun time getting it consistent.


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## Virides (Mar 14, 2013)

Tehmwak said:


> The biggest problem I see you running into is consistency. Assuming you are not at your computer under full load at all times, your heat output will fluctuate between ~50watt and ~500watt (Depending on your hardware).
> 
> Do you plan on folding or mining to keep your computer doing something to generate heat?
> 
> ...



Yea this.

You could base your system off an idle temperature range - your computer is sitting on the desktop with no software running other than normal background tasks. Then once you have to found a steady temperature, load the computer with intensive tasks (play a game that uses your V/Card harshly). See what your leveled peak is after an hour or so. Then go back to idle and record how long it takes for the temp to reach the steady temps recorded previously. This will help you determine the thermal efficiency of the system.

If the system requires you to run the game 24/7 in order to sustain the temps you need for your reptile, then it may not be terribly cost effective, unless you plan on playing games a lot.

The idea of what you want has merit and this is similar to how car manufacturers are bringing in regenerative braking to supplement other power sources. You are effectively better utilising the bi-product of a heat source which is considered "green" 

It is just if the cost of maintaining those temps by upping the draw of power during harsh computing conditions is too much compared to doing what you normally would be doing on the computer + having a heat lamp/heat mat.


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## Andrew123 (Mar 14, 2013)

Thanks to the both of you! 
Yes i have thought about this heat fluctuation.
there will be a thermostat still inside the cage but will be barely in use do to the heat being (hopefully) mainly provided by the computer. I did run some tests on my current build and it is coming up with on full load (using stress tests) with around 35 degrees this is the temperature of what the air is coming directly out of the computer. The computer when idle can sit anywhere between 27 to 30 degrees. I will be using water cooling to achieve this as well so therefore i can directly transfer the heat into the cage without any dust, loss of heat as well as more control in where the temperature will sit. I will most likely be using 2 radiators to do this each.
about the heat fluctuating problem... could you have a separate fan on a thermostat to pump air out of the cage?


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## PythonLegs (Mar 14, 2013)

Good idea, in theory. I imagine the moving air would make it tough to create a gradient though..and its gonna suck all the humidity out, too..


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## Andrew123 (Mar 15, 2013)

If I had a waterfall inside the cage wouldn't that bring up the humidity even though it would still be constantly sucked out?


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## DaReptileBoy (Mar 15, 2013)

sounds like a good idea


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## Gruni (Mar 15, 2013)

The draw backs of a waterfall were discussed recently. If your snake rests in it and disrupts the flow your enclosure will get flooded and your pump will run dry.


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## Virides (Mar 15, 2013)

Gruni said:


> The draw backs of a waterfall were discussed recently. If your snake rests in it and disrupts the flow your enclosure will get flooded and your pump will run dry.



You can have a buffer of sorts where the inlet is not situated within the basin directly but where a separate "buffer tank" is between the basin and the pump inlet. Perhaps about 10L? This will allow time for any blockages (the snake) to clear. In addition to that, the base of the basin could be made from large open area mesh so that if the snake does sit in the basin, it won't be blocking off a single small hole (the inlet). In cross section, the basin would have a "false floor" being the mesh and would be two basins effectively - one on top of the other.


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## Gruni (Mar 15, 2013)

Some of the problem also comes from the water running off the snake itself. I am just playing devil's advocate to ensure Andrew weighs up all the potential issues.


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## Virides (Mar 15, 2013)

We spend plenty of time in R&D of our products but we still come across problems and set about fixing them. It is a continual process and a product is never really "finished".

That said, I wish we had a lot more heads up of the problems we would face but lucky for the OP, he is getting plenty of pointers to fully nut out his project


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## Tehmwak (Mar 15, 2013)

You could always use a false bottom and blow the heat into the water. = humidity and a more constant temp than blowing air in at random temps.

And it won't matter if your snake makes anything overflow.


Sure, this approach has issues too. But with a bit of fiddling around with different ideas you might come across something you like.


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## PythonLegs (Mar 15, 2013)

Mm..maybe have the heat blowing into a cavity wall? That way you create a heat gradient without affecting humidity.


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## Andrew123 (Mar 15, 2013)

Yes true that could work. My original idea was to use the tubing from the water cooling system to run through heat sinks or something along those lines to transfer the heat instead of having fans directly transferring the heat through radiators. And that waterfall problem I have never thought of haha, the main annoyance I have found with waterfalls is that algae grows in them very easily but after doing some research on water cooling systems I found that a silver coil acts as a antibacterial agent so I was thinking couldn't I use this in a reptiles waterfall?


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## Tehmwak (Mar 15, 2013)

Andrew123 said:


> the main annoyance I have found with waterfalls is that algae grows in them very easily



This is caused by dissolved waste being eaten by algae. The best way to get rid of it is to have something else eat the dissolved waste before algae has a chance to grow. IE live plants or heavy filtration/UV...

Silver probably don't work. And I might be wrong, but excessive amounts of silver are harmful to most animals. isn't it?


I'd focus on not using the heat to heat the enclosure directly, more have it heat a thermal mass and supplement the heating you already have in there for when you are not gaming/folding/hashing.


That all being said, my Sapphire 6870 (1050/[email protected]) is putting out over a hundred and fifty watts. Enough to heat my entire bedroom. Think of this amplified by being a confined space. It may not be pretty.


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## Andrew123 (Mar 18, 2013)

hmmmm true, it's not going to be easy but i guess also thats why i picked it haha. Could having an aluminium back wall be used as the heat transfer and have the radiators sitting behind that blowing the air onto that before the hot air is released into the room?


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