Broken lightbulb question

[Wima]

I have a bird house (voliere) with little birds living on the floor (kwartels). I installed a heater lamp (IR bulp) to provide the animals with warmth when temperatures are beneath a certain degree.
Now i discovered that this IR-bulb was broken, perhaps for a few days now. I was lucky the birds survived the cold from the last days.

Now my question: Is there a way to let HS check if the IR-bulb is working ? I tried dusk-dawn sensors today but that did not work because at daylight they always sens the light from the sky.
Perhaps in the way to measure current ?

Who has got the solution ? [?]

[Snelvuur]

1. Dont know what voltage, but you could install a second lamp in your house for instance in series. If the bulb in the birdhouse is broken, the light in the house stops too.
2. get a rfxmeter to measure if there is current on it, if not its broken.
3. install a oregon temperature sensor. Assuming when the light is on the value wont go below a certain point. if it does the bulb is broken too.

those are ways to check, but i think there are more "nicer" ways to check, option 1 would be annoying, option 2 is expensive, option 3 sounds like the cheapest (but you need a rfxcom to receive it if you dont allready have one)

// Erik (binkey.nl)

[Wima]

Erik,

1. about 80 mtr. 220V cable is a bit overdone.
2. i've got one but this one is in the halway (meterkast)
3. I don't know where to place this, birds are having drop-outs
if you know what i mean ;-)and also in the summer the reading are not relyable.

Thanks for thinking.

[Dowser]

I would agree that a temperature sensor is the way to go.
Since what you *really* want to know isn't if the bulb is working or not, but if the temperature is survivable for the birds, both high and low.
The problem with the bird-droppings isn't huge, since there are a lot of different sensors that are water-resistant and fully sealed.
Personally I use a lot of 1-wire for measurements, but any method should be fine. If you choose to have it connected to a computer you can also reduce the energy used by the bulb by turning it on just when it's needed. (Probably only useful during the summer...)

//Markus

[Wima]

I could indead put a sensor into the ground (just below the surface) and measure it. When i know what temperature it is when the bulb is on, i can add an event to that. Mmmmm......not a bad idea afterall. Do you have a link for such a temp-sensor witch is totally sealed ?

Wil

[Bwired]

You Could use a Rfxcom tempsensor they are wireless and you can extend the sensor and wrap it in krimpkous (don't know the English word)