Semi-emergency flex watt question

[Mindibun]

I had to move my set-up, and its now sitting on the carpeted floor. There's no space between the flex watt and the carpet. It's set at 91 degrees. Is this no clearance thing a problem?

[AndrewGeibel]

If it is set with a thermostat then there will be no problem. If it is with a dimmer of some sort then it might take some tweaking to get it right.

[hoo-t]

I would raise it up off the floor at least a little. If for any reason the carpet would get wet, your flexwatt could short out and cause a fire.

Steve

[Nagini88]

I agree, get a cheap board from home depot or something. I had my red carpet turned green by a heat pad before

[muddoc]

Yes it can be a problem. The flexwatt needs air flow. It should overheat because a thermostat is controlling it, but if that t-stat has a failure, the insulating ability of the carpet and plastic could very well cause a catastrophic incident (i.e. house fire and/or dead snake).

[dotc0m]

As a rule of thumb, never place anythign electrical (ie. DVD players, your XBOX, TV, or anything that may generate static). As you know, certain carpet materials are conductors of electricity, so it can do some damage with static.

I mean if you're using flexwatt and they have those plastic clips on them, I guess it's okay but the risk is still present.