Heat rope?

[ChristinaM]

Hey folks, I need some more info on heat rope......all I can find is the price. I'm looking for wattage, temps, how it's used, etc. basically anything and everything.

Thanks :)

[Classic]

Bichiraddict: Wattage is going to depend on the length of heat rope you intend to use. Heat rope is normally used in garden ponds and flower beds for winter maintenance. Temps will depend on the setting you put on the thermostat or dimmer that you connect the heat rope too. Heat rope will produce alot of heat and requires a thermostat. Heat rope can be used in a rack but how you inply it is up to you. I use it for small shoe box enclosures that can be set out in a row with the heat rope passing under it. One temp gauge is usually sufficient in this set-up as the temperature in each enclosure will be equal unless there other factors i.e. breezes.

25 Watt 4.3 Meters (12. 9 Feet)
50 Watt 6 Meters (18 Feet)
80 Watt 9 Meters (27 Feet)

Brian

[ChristinaM]

Thanks so much for the detailed answer Brian :)

few more questions:

- for the wattage's listed, is that per foot?
- anyone know what the max. temp of it is?

I'm thinking about putting in a wooden rack.....scoring the wood to allow for the heat rope to fit in it, and the rubbermaids slide right over it. It will be on a dimmer of course.

Thanks for your time.

[Icefire]

I have 2 BIG enclosure (one rack other a 3 stage 4 feet wide terra
divided in 3-4-5 section (12 section) and I used Roof De-Icing cable
it's around 5Watts per feet (150W 30 feet)
in the rack, it goes up to 80F (it's on the same thermostat as the
other but the other has a dimmer on it) and the on in the 12 section get to 95F (hot point) because I passed the cable from
begining to the end and getting back to beginning (cable folded)
in sort of... its like about 10W per foot

I have put alu tape on the 2 cable and the 12 section one has ceramic as substrate, so I have put 1/2" spacer for little air flow.

sorry for that bad english, just email me, I will gave you pics and
.jpg of how I did it