how do you heat a rack System

[estott]

alrighty guys ive built my rack now whats the best way to go about heating? the obvious anwer is Flex Watt but the thing is im not exactly sure on whats the best way to wire it up and also which thermostat to use...
now is it absolutley needed to have a nice fancey 160.00 thermostat
? or will a basic thermostat do ? what thermostats do you recommend?

also should i got with 4' or the 3' tape?

all answers and suggestions are appreciated

thanks guys,
Erick Stott

 

[Retribution Reptiles]

Erik,

i have been wondering about this as well, there are very many options that i'm finding out there but not alot of actual information out there to really make an educated decision.


Thanks,

Ryan

 

[your gecko guy]

I use zoo mead heat cable it is awesome

 

[thegeckoguy]

as far as the wiring goes, wire it the way the directions say(when you buy it the supplier will usually include the directions on how to wire it etc.) I forgot to order the clips(if you order from The Bean Farm be sure to order the clips as they dont include them!) so i just used some alligator clips. Its a bit more difficult then the clips that are meant for the flexwatt as you have to slit the flexwatt to get the clips in so id just use the ones they sell. As far as thermostats, id say you can go cheap without problems. I really dont see the need for a fancy 200 dollar thermostat. I made mine for less than 10 dollars and it works like a charm. Keeps pretty stable temps with very little fluctuation.

 

[Retribution Reptiles]

i have a thread going on about the Vision system racks if anyone would like to chime in there as well. it's kind of a general question about racks/breeding and general discussion. i'm still rather new to the breeding/rack going ons of Leopard Geckos

 

[LeapinLizards]

There are a couple ways to wire heat tape.

1. You can "daisy chain" it all together. The only problem with this is that if it goes bad, its more difficult to locate that bad stretch, and a pain in the butt to replace.

2. Wire each strip separately, with a plug in going to a surge protector, and that being plugged into the thermostat. This is a little more work, but it will make bad heat tape easier to replace if necessary.

We went with the 3" heat tape, due to recommendation by a couple great breeders. As far as a thermostat, the rack I built is rather large (6 feet tall, 4 feet wide) and will be pushing 500 watts, so I went with a Herpstat just for piece of mind. I think it was $109.00 all together. Not too bad IMO. Plus, it has a feature that remembers your settings if there is a power outage. That's nice when you live way out in the country like us, and winter time brings lots of annoying power flickers!

We will be adding something different to our rack. Although the heat tape will be "daisy chained" together, we will be putting in a little LED lighted switch at the end of each row, making it possible for me to turn on/off each individual row with the flick of a switch.

 

[estott]

very nice, thanks for all the responces guys i realy appreciate it. if any one els has some advice that they would like to share im all ears.