240v plug cross faders?

[reeve1987]

So basically I have a terrarium setup for a snake.

The Electrical setup for the snake includes day glo and night glo bulbs. To simulate a more realistic environment i wanted to be able to fade these bulbs at set times. idea being the following:

745am sunglo bulb begins to fade on
745am nightglo bulb begins to fade off
8am sunglow bulb reaches full on
8am nightglo bulb reaches full off

745pm sunglo bulb begins to fade off
745pm nightglo bulb begins to fade on
8pm sunglo bulb fully off
8pm nightglo bulb fully on

If this isn't possible then some sort of relay wired for 2 sockets to simply switch them on/off at 8am and 8pm would work.

I could use some help with this as im not really sure how to go about it or if something already exists.

I've worked with simple 5v IC chips that you can program and control such things as relays with but doubt thats really suitable as would need a 5v power supply as well as the 240v supply for the bulbs.

Any ideas ladies and gentlemen?

 

[Marvo]

Okay, so you want to fade the lamps over a 15 minute period. What type of lamps are they? 230v or 12 volt? Filament/fluorescent/LED? How much current are we talking about?

 

[Octopus]

I can't remember the name of the supplier but there is a company who supply a box for this sort of application which can set light levels by set times.

try a search on aviary lighting.

i'll see if I can locate the name as I installed 1 about 18 months ago.

 

[Octopus]

Update:

Try:

Lighting Dimmers - The Birdroom

 

[reeve1987]

thanks for the links, i shall reserve that as a backup plan but thats quite a prce tag as 2 would be needed.

would it be cheaperto build one?

 

[Octopus]

thanks for the links, i shall reserve that as a backup plan but thats quite a prce tag as 2 would be needed.

would it be cheaperto build one?

Madness to make one unless it's for yourself

 

[reeve1987]

Madness to make one unless it's for yourself

Well it would make a nice project and learning experience along the line. half the reason i'd like to make one.

 

[amlu]

if you wish to diy, then a couple of second hand dmx controlled dimmers and a raspberry pi or arduino for controlling them...

 

[reeve1987]

if you wish to diy, then a couple of second hand dmx controlled dimmers and a raspberry pi or arduino for controlling them...

hmm i couldn't find a dmx dimmer, i have limted experience with dmx controllers despite being a DJ. I can program up a full dmx light show but thats using complete control boards haha.