Back vs. belly heat

Under what conditions would back heat be more beneficial?

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Thats fine. You want belly heat.

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Alrighty thanks.

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeGuy

Under what conditions would back heat be more beneficial?

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If you have a dedicated herp room thats already pretty warm then you wouldn't necessarily need belly heat.

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeGuy

Under what conditions would back heat be more beneficial?

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I have no idea lol exactly why i was checking on here.

belly heat when your ambient temperature isn't as high. back heat when the room temp is already in the 70ish. belly heat use more electricity and rans a little hotter. i have back heat on my rack and my room is at a constant 75-78f and its works perfect. any colder than back heat would not be able to create the optimal thermal gradient

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Originally Posted by threezero

belly heat use more electricity and rans a little hotter.

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No, back heat runs hotter. Belly heat is in direct contact with the tub and creates a hotspot. Back heat has to warm the air to create a hotspot. Back heat (flexwatt) usually isn't right against the tub either.

It depends on your ambient room temps.
Back heat is easier if you can maintain room temps high enough. If your house is cooler, belly heat is more effective and safer.
Back heat uses more power since it's heating up the air compared to belly, which is creating a specific hot spot.


Back heat is only easier if your ambient temps are around 77-80+. Since it's heating up the air, the actual flexwatt is hotter than if you were doing belly heat.
It's not effective if your room temps are low.

I used back heat for a while. I loved it, but the flexwatt had to maintain 120 degrees in order to get a 90 degree hot side and 80 cool side in the tub. My room temp was 70-75. Flexwatt isn't designed to safely run over 100-105 degrees, so I wasn't comfortable with that hazard. I switched the belly heat, and the flexwatt runs at 98 degrees to achieve a 90 degree hot spot and 80 cool side.

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Originally Posted by Inarikins

No, when you're heating a rack you don't use heat lamps.

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You can use a lamp with a rack system. Animal Plastics has a rack designed for lamp placement. (This rack and lamp use will kill humidity though)

http://www.animalplastics.com/BEARDED-RACK.jpg

Well, I suppose I should have qualified that with a 'mostly'. Usually people that need setups like that are working with things that need the light and BPs don't, so it doesn't make much sense to use a lamp for a BP rack unless you really have to. /shrugs

Thanks for all the input everyone!

I'm building my rack today, it's going to use back heat and its enclosed on 3 sides, only the front will be open. With I hope will hold in heat great