will this work

[Bartman]

To heat the rack im building, my dad found a waterbed heater with a built in thermostat. Would this work if I taped it on the back, or nailed it I guess, or would there be something I should be looking out for?

Any tips welcome, thanks

EDIT: Its basically a giant heat pad right? I still havnt gotten it yet.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Not sure, sounds kind of dangerous. Those things were designed to work under a HUGE heat sink. Open-air might not be very safe for those things. Heat tape is so damn cheap and easily attainable, AND designed exactly for the use intended, I just wouldn't bother with anything else.

[Cruciform]

Heh, heat tape's primary design is for wrapping around water/liquid storage tanks.

Not so dissimilar in function.

But like Jeff said, I don't think a waterbed pad would necessarily be a good idea either.

If you're set on it, do a series of temp tests while monitoring closely.

[Bartman]

Thats what im going to do. Ill see if it can get my temps and be stable.

Thing with heat tape is im affraid of it, heh. Just because it is not csa approved so if I wire it wrong or something my house will burn down and ill be homeless :p I also have no idea where to get it from, as I dont order stuff off the internet ever (parents are to paranoid about there credit cards)

Is there anywhere in the toronto or GTA where heat tape is available?

[Vengeance]

Not to crush you ideas but if your worried about fire and insurance not covering your losses, the technically you can't have any herps that require any external heat source.

If that waterbed heater malfunctions at catches on fire, the insurance company won't cover you for anything as soon as the find out why you were using it. All they will have to say is that you wern't using the item for it's intended use and as such will void any warranty claim. One of the risks being a herper, if anything you use catches fire I doubt any insurance company would give you a dime because all of the items we are using are not intended for such use.

Although it does make me think about one thing, the main argument of all insurance companies is that if an item was being used for anything other then it's intended use and it causes damage to your home, your liable for the damages, things such as human heat pads and what not. What about the heat pads sold in pet stores? There made for heating reptile cages, wonder if they would be considered acceptable?

[V.hb]

waterbed heaters get bloody hot!, i mean HOT. I use one under 2 feet of dirt just to keep it warm, and man if you don't use a good amount of dirt it is TOO hot.. I've got insulation so the monitors cannot come into contact with it though. But as for your use, I find their heat distribution completely inconsistent. You would have a few bins soaring in temp before you'd find one even close to where you want it.. Good luck.

[Gary D.]

I have used waterbed heaters in the past with some success. I found that you can use the thermometer if you tape it the pad itself to prevent it from getting dangerously hot (and they will!) The best solution for a waterbed heater is to use it in conjunction with a rheostat or dimmer to limit the current and thus controlling the max. temp of the pad. Just be sure the dimmer is rated for the wattage of the heat mat. (1000W mat + 600W dimmer = trouble)

[marisa]

"Thing with heat tape is im affraid of it, heh. Just because it is not csa approved so if I wire it wrong or something my house will burn down and ill be homeless"

Yeah but the solution to that is not avoiding something that's been used for years all over by herpers, to use something that's rarely used and has more power to it like the water bed heater.

Sounds FAR more dangerous than simple heat tape to me.

You don't need credit cards to order off the internet. USA companies like The Bean Farm accept money orders.

Marisa

[Bartman]

Alright thanks everyone. Good points about the insurance not covering it either way. I was told PCPC has heat tape and I was gonna pass by next weekend or after that weekend to grab some from them and check out the store. Anyone know if they have heat tape, or radient heat panals?