Heat tape

[locolobito]

I have several tubs set up with thg 4 inch by 1 foot strips. I just got done putting together a small rack with thg 4 inch by 3 foot 8 inch strip. Is it feasible to plug it into same thermostat?

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[Albert Clark]

What type of thermostat are you working with? The other consideration is do you know the wattage capacity of the heat tape? Usually different sized heat tape has differing wattages and capacities.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Your difference in lengths equal different wattage.
You will need another thermostat.

[locolobito]

What type of thermostat are you working with? The other consideration is do you know the wattage capacity of the heat tape? Usually different sized heat tape has differing wattages and capacities.

The thg is 6 watts per foot. Thermostat is an inkbird 306. Handles upto 1000 watts.

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[dmt_jovi]

The thg is 6 watts per foot. Thermostat is an inkbird 306. Handles upto 1000 watts.

The problem is that different wattages use different "amounts" of electricity to power them.

I don't know if the inkbird is proportional or on/off so let's run both scenarios:

Proportional - You have your stat probe on one of the 4 inch by 1 ft tapes, and it needs 50% power to give off 90F consistently, so if you have the 8 inch connected to that same stat it will feed that heat tape the same 50%, the problem is that 50% of the first (smaller) tape is not the same as the 50% of the second (larger) tape, so your larger tape will not give off the same heat or have the same temperature as your smaller one.

On/Off - Basically the same idea, just substitute the 50% part with the tape needing x amount of seconds/minutes of 100% heat/power to reach the 90F, and since the sizes are different, the wattage is different therefore the output (heat) will be different.


That's why it is wiser to use the same tape (wattage) for the entire rack and use a different thermostat for something with a different wattage.

[PitOnTheProwl]

The problem is that different wattages use different "amounts" of electricity to power them.

Wattage per foot of what he is using is the same. When different lengths are used they wont heat the same.

[locolobito]

Without having thermostat on hand, I cut the 3 foot 8 inch strip into 3 1 foot strips. But my rack went from 6 tub to a 3 tub. Have more tape and thermostat ordered. Thanks pit

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[locolobito]

You also Albert. Thank you

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[PitOnTheProwl]

Without having thermostat on hand, I cut the 3 foot 8 inch strip into 3 1 foot strips. But my rack went from 6 tub to a 3 tub. Have more tape and thermostat ordered. Thanks pit

You should be able to run it all on 1 thermostat then.

[locolobito]

You should be able to run it all on 1 thermostat then.

Right now I am. But with what I'm trying to build for what I have, will have it run off of a thermostat and rheostat.

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