Karl Vorwerk wrote:
Anyone know anything about Peltier coolers. A friend of mine wants to cool
12"x15"x30" glass vivarium a maximum of 20-30 degrees farienhieght below
ambient temperature. It's long term for a salamander. A friend of hers got
her a surplus Peltier cooler. Which I installed. It didn't drop the
temperature very much inside the vivarium. After doing some research I don't
think it's powerful enough. As far as I know she doesn't have any specs on
it.
So the questions a
Is this a good way of cooling in this situation? Got any better suggestions?
Would house insulation sheet foam on 5 sides make an appreciable difference?

Yes!

Can you define "very much" in F?
In general, peltiers will move about the same amount of heat as they use.

So, if the DC adaptor is 20W, it's going to take in 20W of heat, and put
it out as 20W at a higher temperature, combined with the 20W of electrical
power.

What sort of lighting is being used?
Seperating the lighting out into a seperate container, with a fan added will
reduce heat gain that way.