This project is entirely voluntary. All the lamps we test are donated to the project, and many have been sent by fellow reptile keepers from all over the world - to whom we are very grateful.
To ensure that we remain fully independent, we accept no sponsorship from any company producing any brand of reptile lighting.
But it does cost money to keep us going. So if you have found UV Guide UK helpful, would you like to help us carry on lamp testing?

What do we need donations for?

• 1. Our main day-to-day expense is electricity. We currently pay 12.64 pence per unit.
• To test a 100-watt lamp for a standard test (105 hours) costs £1.33 (approx $2.00 USD)
• To test that same lamp for a full year costs £50.56 (approx $77 USD)

Every new UVB lamp we test must be "burned-in" for a minimum of 100 hours, with sets of recordings taken at the beginning and end of this period. This is because the output of a brand new lamp changes rapidly over the first few hours, the lamp's "settling-in period".
Some lamps are then put on a long-term test schedule, over reptiles in our own vivaria. These lamps are all tested after every 250 hours of use, usually up to one full year (4,000 hours, at 10-12 hours a day). We currently have 15 lamps on long-term test.


• 2. Our website hosting is £24.00 (approx $37 USD) per annum
  
  
• 3. We would like to build up a small fund for the replacement of testing equipment, lamp fixtures, ballasts, timers - even, maybe, the occasional purchase of new lamps for testing, as we can't always expect people to donate us samples of everything!
  

Would you like to make a donation? (You choose how much)
This button takes you to our secure PayPal Donation webspace (accepts card payments too):

When you reach the "checkout" there's a space for you to send us a message, along with your donation.

An anonymous donation is just fine if you prefer; but we would really like to thank you, and to know your story. Please tell us a little about yourself, where you're from, and why you're supporting us. We'll keep your message confidential.

If you represent a company producing any brand of reptile lighting, we are sorry, but we cannot accept your donation. We must remain completely independent from the reptile lighting industry if we are to provide truly unbiased, independent test results.

Thank you!