considering commercial rack with belly heat - is 4" flex watt enough "coverage"?

Hi all - I'm really not the DIY type and frequently it's preferable for me to buy a commercial product that's more or less ready to go with just some minor assembly. To that end, I've been looking at AP and Reptile Basics commercial racks. If I recall all I've seen, they each would come with 4" belly heat option. But in one rack I was looking at, the tub dimensions were 16 x 24 x 6 inches (rounded up). Is 4" flex watt sufficient floor coverage for a tub of that dimension? And then the larger size was 18 x 34 x 5 inches (again, rounded) with 4" flex watt for belly heat. In both those options, isn't that a pretty narrow band of heat relative to the floor dimensions? How do you provide an adequate hot spot for "basking" in such a small 4" strip relative to the floor space of the tub? All options I am considering would be back/sides enclosed for better heat retention. (Am I making sense? I thought there was some rule of thumb about covering some ratio of your tub floor for belly heat, and it was way more than what would be provided in these examples?)

Thanks much!

Not sure if there is a general "rule of thumb" .....
but my racks all use 4inch heat tape. Until you get to the 41 qt size. Here's a picture! I even use 4 inch in my incubator..lol.
http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/...i/DSC_0707.jpg
http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/...i/DSC_0719.jpg

I guess it mainly depends on what you set your thermostat to. Smaller tape means it will stay on more, and larger tape means it will not be on as long. I place my temp probe mid way down the rack and set the temp per rack...None of my 3 are actually set at the same temp :)

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Originally Posted by Wapadi

Not sure if there is a general "rule of thumb" .....
but my racks all use 4inch heat tape. Until you get to the 41 qt size.

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I really like your set-up! Out of curiosity, what size heat tape do you use on the 41 qt size? Thanks for taking the extra time to post the pics - very helpful!

I've only seen 11" flex watt used for incubators. 4" seems sufficient enough for even larger tubs.

Many racks use 4 inch. Mine does, it works fine because the tape has some separation from it to the tub allowing the heat area to spread. It spreads quickly exactly like light does. Racks also rely on ambient temps to help out. They simply do not perform correctly um modified below 68 degrees. They really do best at or near 80. This helps control the cool side temps. Flexwatt being radiant heat does not efficiently heat air so typically it can only add a few degrees.


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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Racks also rely on ambient temps to help out. They simply do not perform correctly um modified below 68 degrees. They really do best at or near 80. This helps control the cool side temps. Flexwatt being radiant heat does not efficiently heat air so typically it can only add a few degrees.


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I'm glad you pointed that out. I'm in central Indiana and have the whole cold winter ahead of us yet. I have my tubs set up currently as simple, individual tubs with UTH for each, on a shelf. THey're in a small spare bedroom (about 11ft x 13 ft) and I keep the door shut and run a Lasco electric space heater to keep the ambient temps about 76-77. I am hopeful that an enclosed rack in that same spare room will add some heating efficiency over what I have now. I only have a couple snakes, and don't intend to get into any large scale racks (else, I'll have to fill the tubs!). So I'm investigating which kind of enclosed rack design (back heat, belly heat) will be the best bet for cold climate where I have to use supplemental heat for ambient temps as it is.

I have a rack form c serpent being delivered tomarrow with two rows of 4 inch flexwatt in it he only charged me and extra 50 for the extra row. When i was big into fish tanks i always found you could never over filter or over heat a tank. what i mean is i would double the heaters in a tank so if a 75 gal needed one 200 watt i would put into two. you can always turn your heater down but once you max it out and your still not at the temperature u are trying to reach you can't go any higher i would rather have my heating system running at 20% but have the perfect temp than have your flexwatt running at 100 % and you still can't get the correct temp. i never understood people that have 500 dollar snakes in 15 dollar setups.

Both my racks have 4 in. Both are RBI racks 1 sweater box and 1 cb70, both work perfect. I prefer 4in over any other size. Maybe it's just me but in a chance my herpstat fails I would rather have 4in area ungulates compared to an 11iin area unregulated.

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Originally Posted by Geminiluna

I'm glad you pointed that out. I'm in central Indiana and have the whole cold winter ahead of us yet. I have my tubs set up currently as simple, individual tubs with UTH for each, on a shelf. THey're in a small spare bedroom (about 11ft x 13 ft) and I keep the door shut and run a Lasco electric space heater to keep the ambient temps about 76-77. I am hopeful that an enclosed rack in that same spare room will add some heating efficiency over what I have now. I only have a couple snakes, and don't intend to get into any large scale racks (else, I'll have to fill the tubs!). So I'm investigating which kind of enclosed rack design (back heat, belly heat) will be the best bet for cold climate where I have to use supplemental heat for ambient temps as it is.

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I would guess (based on my experiences) that an enclosed rack is slightly more efficient but what I found is the reduction was in the power required to hold hot spots, the ambient air temp still comes from the room for the most part. It can be altered but the modifications I made to the rack were extensive. To the point that I would suggest having one built rather than buying and taking it apart. If you were interested in what my solution is PM or post and I'll describe it. In the end I have held the rack in a room that is 68º or cooler most of the time with not problems with warm/cool/ambient temps. It just isn't easy or cheap.

I will only use 11X12 flexwatt under 41qt tubs, 4 inch and 3 inch are great for smaller tubs but do not provide a large enough hot spot for large females IMO.
There is no way 4 inch heat tape will keep the cool end of a 41qt tub warm enough without jacking the rooms ambient temperature to 78 to 80 degrees