Exo Terra's T5 UVB Lamps
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- [ADVERT - TECHNICALLY]
The new Exo Terra UVB100, UVB200, and UVB300 lamps have been a big part of my life now for the best part of 2 years. And I’m glad to finally be able to talk to you about them!
If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments or drop me an email.
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In November 2024, I developed some redness on my face after being exposed to a topical steroid - hydrocortisone.
It wasn’t too bad at first, but by the end of 2024 my face was extremely inflamed, painful, and sore to the touch. By this point I’d been diagnosed with a completely random skin issue and given medication.
The problem meant that my skin became hypersensitive to light - which is a sour irony for someone in my line of work! So it’s meant I’ve had to push back some projects and delay some projects that are in the pipelines.
Slowly, the pain subsided, and the puffiness went away. The redness is also a lot better than it used to be, too. The issue has since developed into rosacea - a chronic skin issue in which the skin on the face is red and can have painful flareups.
It’s not nearly as bad as some others have it, but it’s still something I’m pretty self-conscious about. You might notice in this video my face appears slightly different to normal, and now you know why.
So thanks for being patient with me whilst I get used to my new tomato face, and whilst I catch up on work that I’ve missed out on for over a month.
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Get in touch!
Website: www.tomaskas.co.uk
Instagram: @theTomaskas
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Great stuff, Thomas, and very exciting.
I’m so excited!! Thank you for your hard work!
Looking forward to seeing these🎉
Such an exciting project 👏 Can’t wait to see the upcoming videos!
Bravo Sir, genuinely can’t wait to try these new UVB lamps! Another great video, looking forward to the next episodes!
What a great project, you deserve to feel proud!
Thanks! It’s been a big one!
Exciting! About to exchange my current T5s so will look around for these new ones for sure. I like the way you are presenting the project with all the details.
Thanks for watching! I certainly have a “style”, and I’m glad it works somewhat!
Thanks mate, Good work 🏆🦎💪❤️
nice presentation, i enjoyed it.
Thanks for watching!
@tomaskasltd I'm interested in hearing about these lamps.
You know where I am if you want to know something specific! Or of course if you think something would be worth adding to a future video that's always helpful.
Very nice video Thomas !! I'm glad to see that there's still development in UV bulbs. Can Exo terra produce these bulbs for years to come due to the European ban on phosphor and mercury based lamps? I also like to know how you mount this new fixture.
Thanks!
I’m not a legal expert, but the factory is in a position where they produce medical equipment and are active in the “fight”. They have a well placed position and are happy with producing lamps for a long time.
And there are clips available for the fixture. They’re sold separately I believe.
Fantastic! I will be considering purchasing this product knowing it has your backing and endorsement. I would be replacing two 6% arcadia lamps so wondering what the closest equivalent in this line up would be? Side by side tests in the same fixture between this line and competitors would be helpful in estimating proper UVI
Some side-by-sides would certainly be helpful. I'll try to fit these into the schedule :)
The closest equivalent to the 6% would be the UVB200 lamp.
@tomaskasltd That's good to know! I'll have to try it out.
Really interesting. I know you say they're compatible with other fixtures. Does this mean they're also dimmable? I have LumenIZE fixtures, but am interested in using these bulbs when mine need replacing.
Yeah they’re dimmable the same way. As long as you use a dimming fixture like those under the LumenIZE range or those made by Osram :)
@tomaskasltd amazing, thank you.
Really exciting to see, especially with the wider beam. I'm tempted to just get the fixture to use with my existing lamps. With the fixture, I can't see any way to mount it like the regular fixtures? Do they have clips? I remember there was talk about the EU banning T5 lighting as part of a energy efficiency legislation, since it's made in a medical facility is it exempt?
There are clips available to purchase so that the fixture can be attached onto the inside of an enclosure :)
I'm reading the PDF test reports on the tomaskas website, however it seems the images are heavily compressed, and some of the small numbers are unreadable, for example, on page 19 of the UVB100 report. Could you replace the PDFs with a better export setting? This is a very interesting lamp!
Thanks for reading! Yeah, annoyingly the compression is difficult to fine tune for Wordpress to accept them. But I’ll certainly have a play and try to optimise them :)
Are you planning on testing the 300 in a thermal zoo pro?
I hadn't specifically planned it, but I can certainly look into it! Depending on which unit you use, it would be similar to having it in a standard Arcadia fixture.
I could try to get some 'footprint' irradiances charts as they work well for a unit like the ThermalZooPro. Not a bad idea...
@tomaskasltd I am using a 12% arcadia lamp on a jungle dawn model at 30cm based on Frances Banes' footprint.
If using these with dimming Ballasts.. think LumenIZE.. should they be burned in for 100 hours at full power first or does the manufacturing process include a burn in time? thanks
Officially, there is no definitive burn in for specialist-use lamps. It's in IEC 60081 that a 100-hour burn-in should be used before testing lamps, but technically this only applies to general lighting. That said the technology isn't really any different, where this is concerned, between general and specialist lighting.
To my knowledge and recollection, Arcadia actively said that this wasn't needed. Although, I would always refer to the standards (even if they aren't explicitly for UV lamps) rather than what a brand says.
I've always burned fluorescent lamps in for 100 hours before use with a dimming ballast such as those found in the LumenIZE systems. It's worthy of note that the burn in CAN be interrupted, it doesn't need to be a continuous 100 hours.
Manufacturing generally doesn't include a burn-in as standard. There will often be a lighting test to ensure all lamps turn on and work, but not for 100 hours.
If these tubes emit the optimal levels of UVA and UVB, wouldn’t most basking bulbs then produce excessive UVA? To create an effective basking zone, wouldn’t we need not only LEDs for visible light but also infrared or low-level UVA incandescent heat lamps?
This is a really good question!! And I might try to make some visuals to explain it in a future video. But in short, the UVA that these lamps primarily focus on is UVA2 (approx 320 to 340nm). Incandescent heat lamps emit VERY small amounts of UVA1 (340-400nm). And when I say VERY small, I mean VERY VERY small.
The labelling of “UVA” on the box of an incandescent lamp is one of the biggest lies I think the reptile community has been told.
I covered it on an episode of the Reptiles and Research podcast where we discussed animal vision. That episode is on UA-cam if you search for it :)
I think some people asking this question could be confusing uva (ultraviolet light) with IRA...( Infrared energy ) that is most dominant type of output from a basking lamp. UVA from this lamp and IRA two different things.
When will these be available to buy?
Any Exo Terra authorised retailer should carry them!
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