Standard Closet
Incubator Conversion
This article explains a very simple way to turn an extra closet into an incubator that can hold a good volume of eggs! The I built would hold 3 of the sterilite 12 qt tubs per row and had 11 shelves. The concept is extremely simple and works great!
Things you will need:
11in heat tape (i used about 18' and had 3 columns of heat tape on the back covering the entire back of the incubator) https://flexwattheatape.com/products/11-inch-genuine-flexwatt-heat-tape-1-foot
Thermostat (lots of brands to choose from but for small incubators I always prefered a herpstat that has proportional heating) http://www.spyderrobotics.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1
Wire Shelving (you can use any kind of shelving that allows air to move through it freely but I always prefer the closet organizer shelving found at lowes or home depot. And remember if you measure your closet before going to buy the shelving you can have them cut it down to size for you free!) https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rubbermaid-Linen-12-ft-x-16-in-White-Wire-Shelf/3098539
Metal HVAC Foil Tape (can be found at lowes, home depot, or any hardware store) https://www.lowes.com/pd/3M-1-88-in-W-x-150-ft-L-HVAC-Tape/4009603
Circulation fan (I've tried many types of fans and in the smaller incubators lots of fans will actually run a little hot and the motor on the fan can actually raise the temps above the safe range. In smaller incubators I prefer the small fans from Reptile Basics and have never had an issue using them) http://www.reptilebasics.com/incubation/adjustable-speed-incubator-fan/
Things you will need:
11in heat tape (i used about 18' and had 3 columns of heat tape on the back covering the entire back of the incubator) https://flexwattheatape.com/products/11-inch-genuine-flexwatt-heat-tape-1-foot
Thermostat (lots of brands to choose from but for small incubators I always prefered a herpstat that has proportional heating) http://www.spyderrobotics.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1
Wire Shelving (you can use any kind of shelving that allows air to move through it freely but I always prefer the closet organizer shelving found at lowes or home depot. And remember if you measure your closet before going to buy the shelving you can have them cut it down to size for you free!) https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rubbermaid-Linen-12-ft-x-16-in-White-Wire-Shelf/3098539
Metal HVAC Foil Tape (can be found at lowes, home depot, or any hardware store) https://www.lowes.com/pd/3M-1-88-in-W-x-150-ft-L-HVAC-Tape/4009603
Circulation fan (I've tried many types of fans and in the smaller incubators lots of fans will actually run a little hot and the motor on the fan can actually raise the temps above the safe range. In smaller incubators I prefer the small fans from Reptile Basics and have never had an issue using them) http://www.reptilebasics.com/incubation/adjustable-speed-incubator-fan/
Now To Put It All Together
The Concept is very simple. You need an enclosed area to keep your eggs at a warm stable temperature. This can easily be achieved with a spare closet that you can justify to yourself or significant other that you need for incubating eggs more than for storing clothes, linens, coats etc!! It is always best to use a closet that is not on an exterior wall because if the closest is on all interior walls it's going to be a lot easier to keep the temps stable. I used an exterior wall closet for mine because it was the only option and just got a piece of foam insulation cut to fit. Probably overkill but I built the incubator going into the winter and just wanted to be sure when summer came around it stayed at the temp I wanted it without the sun beating on the exterior wall changing it!
First step is just emptying the closet completely. Now look at all that empty space and picture all those eggs it can hold and all those babies it can hatch!! Much better use of a closet than storing linen to any reptile enthusiast!
First step is just emptying the closet completely. Now look at all that empty space and picture all those eggs it can hold and all those babies it can hatch!! Much better use of a closet than storing linen to any reptile enthusiast!
The first thing your going to want to do is place your heat tape. I ran 3 columns of 11in flexwatt so that it covered the entire back wall AND Floor. I repeated that 3 times so the entire back and floor were covered. DO NOT overlap your heat tape. If your closest is smaller then use less tape. Having the entire back is definitely overkill but since the boxes were going to be so close to the tape on the back wall I wanted them to all be evenly heated and the heat tape did not have to work hard to get the incubator to 88 degrees. Use the metal foil tape to secure the heat tape on your back walls.
Next install whatever shelving you decided to go with. Most come with metal brackets to hang the shelving but since I had the entire ba.ck wall covered in heat tape I opted to just cut 2 x 4 pieces of wood to go on the smaller side walls of the closet and screwed to the wall so the shelving which was cut about the exact width of the closet just sat on the 2x4s. If you go with the metal brackets on the back wall you can just either use less heat tape so there is space for the brackets to screw to the back or just use 2 pieces of 4'' heat tape to replace each piece of 11 in heat tape and space them out.
Once the shelving is all in place now it's time to install your fan. I put mine at the top corners blowing down and put one in each corner. 1 fan would likely be more than fine the idea is just you want some kind of circulation since heat rises and this will keep the top of your incubator from getting hotter than the rest of the incubator. Even with the fan I would see a variance in temps with the top being about a degree hotter than the bottom. This is totally fine as the temps stayed stable that way and stability is just as important as temp so as long as once you put your egg box on a shelf you leave it on that shelf to fully incubate there is no fluctuation in temp.
Now for your probe placement and thermostat! I just ran the probe under the door and hung it on a shelf about the middle of the incubator. I always prefer putting the probe loose in the incubator and trying to control the air in the incubator vs putting the probe in a spare box. Your egg box is always going to be more stable than the air in the incubator itself and if you aim to keep the correct ambient temp in your incubator naturally the temp in the egg box is going to be stable. But if I open the incubator and let the warm air out I want my probe to know that once I shut the door so it can warm the air back up before the egg box even fluctuates. With the probe in the egg box if you open the door and let the hot air out the egg box is going to be pretty stable and slowly cool down and fluctuate itself before the probe realizes it needs to warm that incubator air back up. This is personal preference and I know lots of people that do it both ways. To each their own as long as your temps are good and the eggs hatch there is definitely more than one right way to do it!
Now you should all be set to incubate some eggs! Definitely get the incubator running BEFORE you are waiting for eggs to be sure your temps are all stable and you don't have to tweak anything to get it right. Always better to have an incubator running empty for a few days and put eggs in KNOWING that it's running perfect vs waiting until you get eggs and then realizing you need to make adjustments to keep the temps right WHILE eggs are in there. This style incubator worked for me just fine and hatched tons of animals until I out grew it to a large walk in incubator. This same concept could easily be used on an old upright freezer but what's nice about the closet is you are using space that's already there and not eating up your wall space with a giant freezer that could be used for more animals!
Unfortunately I have long outgrew this incubator and only have the picture of it full or I would load the article up with a ton of pics but it's really a pretty simple build and we are always here to answer any questions you may have!