Rack heating

[Pro Geckos]

I’m planning on making some new racks soon and have a few heating questions.

I know with the AP racks and several others they use one long strip of flexwatt that weaves through each level. Would this be the best way or would it be better to cut each tape to the length needed and wire them parallel?

Another thing is because heat rises my concern is that with a tall rack (6 ft.) the top will be to hot and the bottom too cold if controlled off one thermostat. What is everyone’s experience with this? I’m thinking of controlling the top and bottom independently of one another. Thanks for the help!

 

[o0 Ryan 0o]

Hey Cody. We cut everything to size and wire them parallel. We also put a controller/thermostat on every 2 rows. There's no since running a whole rack if you're only using 1-2 rows of it at times. Also, if you're doing belly heat, radiating heat shouldnt be an issue. You really only have to run the tape around 95 to get it 90-92 inside the tubs.

So it's really your call. If you know you're going to keep the rack filled at all times, you can run on big strip to save time. We have two racks that are always on for our adults and we still cut everything per row. It's just preference. If you're going to use the racks as needed, splitting it any amount is a smart idea to save on electric.

 

[Pro Geckos]

Thanks Ryan! Good point… I think what I’ll do is parallel wire 3-4 levels at a time to control off one plug. My current racks have a dimmer switch on each level that I can control but I’m looking to simplify it. I plan on using a herpstat pro but don’t want to run each separately to save on costs.