Enter your heat lamp's wattage and daily hours on to see real annual running cost for a terrarium setup.
Many setups run both a basking heat bulb and a separate UVB bulb on different schedules — calculate each separately and add them together for a full enclosure's total cost.
Reptile enclosures often run heat and UVB lamps on a consistent daily schedule for the animal's health, which — unlike many household appliances — makes them one of the more predictable, steady loads in a home. Running multiple bulbs (basking spot, UVB, ambient heat) means totaling each one separately for the full enclosure cost, similar to totaling several devices in the general electricity cost calculator.
Ceramic heat emitters produce heat without visible light at similar wattages to standard bulbs, so their running cost is comparable — the choice is mainly about whether light output disrupts the animal's day/night cycle.
Most reptile care guides recommend a day/night cycle with lower or no heat lamp use overnight, both for the animal's natural rhythm and to reduce running cost — check species-specific care requirements.