How much Flexwatt per fridge?

[slartibartfast]

So I have a little fridge I'm going to make an incubator out of this season...it's not the tiny dorm cubes, but it's not full-sized either....about three feet high, and by two and a half wide.

It can get down into the 60s at night here, and I don't want to risk any fluctuations, especially Dec-Feb. However, I can't really test it at those temps because we won't reach them for another couple of months. Is there a good way of guesstimating how much heating it needs, or is it just a matter of trial and error to reach the temperatures you want? Is there such a thing as too much Flexwatt?


I'm hoping to have 4-5 clutches this year, if the snake gods heed my prayers.

[ladywhipple02]

Since you regulate the temps using a thermostat, I would say it's better to over-do it than under-do it. You can always lower the temps, whereas you wouldn't be able to up them if you didn't have enough flex. And, if it still gets too warm, you can always unplug a strip or two.

Just throwing out my two cents... never built an 'bator before.

Awesome question

[Larry Suttles]

When I built mine out of a full size fridge I went with the "just enough would be best concept" so I used about 4 feet. Once I got it set up and running I kept getting unstable temp swings so I added another 6 feet and it's been spot on ever since.