heat cable vs. flex watt

[MiamiLeos]

so im thinking about building a rack but i cant really decide on a heat source yet. heat cable seems so easy to install, just plug it in. but it's so thin, does it really give enough heated space (for leos)? flex watt is definetely thicker width wise and comes in different wattages. but i've never hooked it up before and im scared ill set my house on fire... seriously.. that kind of stuff happens to me :main_yes: lol. anyways, what are some opinions of heat cable vs. flex watt tape? thanks

 

[acpart]

I know a lot of people use flexwatt but I've heard enough stories of unexpected hot spots to make me stay away from it. I even avoid UTH's that look as if they are just a piece of wired flexwatt (the Zoo-med ones seem to be coated, for example,which makes me feel better about using it). The one rack I have, which I bought assembled, uses heat cable mounted at the back of the rack and works fine. I use heat cable on the bottom of many of my tanks as well.

Aliza

 

[MiamiLeos]

thanks for the info! i am worried about hot spots as well. does the heat cable just heat up like a 1" narrow strip of the enclosure though? i'm just concerned that if i use cable, there won't be ehough 'hot space'

 

[acpart]

You run the heat cable back and forth like a sine wave over the area you want and the heat spreads throughout the area covered.

Aliza

 

[AvandisFifth187]

I'd go with the heat tape. If you go with the cable, you might be paying out the behind on cable to provide an ample area of heat for leos.

Heat tape isn't that hard to setup. If you want to save a few bucks, you can sadder it all together, but the connector clips and insulators are much easier to use and there is much less of a chance of burning anything down. lol