It may not be obvious, but your room environment affects Puppywarmer performance:
- Temperature–The Puppwarmer thermal effectiveness is designed to have heat loss from the glass to your room. This creates the thermal gradient that puppies love. Ideally your room will be between 68°F to 75°F. It can operate well outside of that range, but this room temperature requires the incubator to deliver electricity to the heater. This helps heat the puppies more deeply. If room temperature is above 83°F, it is possible that the ambient temperature, combined with the heat that the puppies generate, could lead to over temperature without the heater ever turning on. As a rule the puppies are still safe in this circumstance, but it is best to increase the oxygen concentrator flow rate to lower internal incubator temperature.
- Humidity–The incubator operates in a partially closed environment. It is best if room humidity is greater than 35%. If other puppies are in the room and not in the incubator, this is also helpful to them. If room humidity level is below 25%, for example, the room will pull the humidity introduced in tho the incubator out at a higher rate than if the room was at the right humidity level. Getting your room to proper humidity levels is best for you, too. While we say that humidity has the widest range and is the most forgiving of heat, humidity and oxygen–getting humidity right is essential for dehydrated puppies and puppies who have respiratory issues.
- Oxygen–Just make sure there is space around the intake (filter area) of the oxygen concentrator. It is best to have 12″ all around the oxygen concentrator as free space to allow for movement of new air from which oxygen can be extracted. If you live in a high elevation area, the oxygen concentration of the ambient air is slightly lower, and you may see the oxygen concentrator deliver a slightly lower oxygen concentration level than rated at sea level. That being said, the ability to elevate oxygen inside the incubator will prove essential to saving puppies at risk.
- Light–the Puppywarmer incubator does not emit visible like inside the unit for a specific reason–sleep patterns. Even though the puppies eyes are closed, light can be sensed. In fact, clear (untreated) heat lamps have been know to be related to eye issues in certain breeds. Keeping the room at a lower light level when no one is in the room is best for the sleep patterns of the puppies.
- Please note it is important to keep the doors of the incubator closed as much as you can. When the doors are open, there is more heat loss to the room. The incubator will be below set temperature, and the heater will run hotter to compensate. Essentially–the incubator is attempting to heat the room. When the doors are closed after being opened for an extended period of time, the mat will be warmer than ideal, and the heater will have a higher temperature than ideal. The heat will eventually dissipate from incubator–but it is far better for the puppies not to introduce this variation of temperature. The discipline to keep the doors closed as much as possible will lead to consistently better results for your puppies.
While the above bullet points are relatively simple–they are vital to giving your puppies the best start in life.