Tub heating opinion question.

[JulieInNJ]

I'm planning on building a rack in the very near future and I've seen some great ideas/plans. I would like some opinions on how to heat the tubs on the racks. I know a great deal of you use flexwatt and affix it to the racks. But then I've seen some who use UTH's and affix them directly to the tubs. Any opinions on this?

[Skittles1101]

Flexwatt is probably your best bet. It is generally cheaper than UTHs, and quite easy to wire into a circuit too. I am not exactly the most handy person around and I wired my whole rack myself.

[buddha1200]

just did my shoebox rack with flexwatt,pretty easy.
takes a little adjusting on the thermostat to get temp right,but other than that its simple.

[JulieInNJ]

I figured the only 'pro' I would get out of UTH's is that the unit moves with the tub - bigger snake, bigger tub, bigger UTH. But that's a LOT of thermostats, lol.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

If it's attached to the tub cleaning the tub is gonna be a hassle which is why it is better to have your heat source attached the the shelf of your rack regardless of the type of heat source you chose.

Heat tape will be more cost effective compare to UTH, and it can also be wired in parrallele which allow you to have to deal with only one plug for the entire rack whereas with an UTH on each level you will have to deal with one plug per level.

[Skittles1101]

I figured the only 'pro' I would get out of UTH's is that the unit moves with the tub - bigger snake, bigger tub, bigger UTH. But that's a LOT of thermostats, lol.

Also, having it attached to the UTH is a pain, makes it harder to clean, and damn near impossible to remove without damaging. I like the flexwatt better for the fact that it's not attached, and my tubs are easily removed without wires and cords and crap attached lol.