Setting up the temps in our new animal plastics rack

we got our new animal plastics rack last week and first off im very impressed. its the 10 high enclosed model that holds 32 quart tubs with a herpstat 1. i put some tubs in with a thin layer of aspen bedding and started out with the thermostat set to 92. the back up the tub didnt seem to get warm enough with the ir temp gun. my room is usually about 77 degrees.

long story short i had to set the thermostat to 103 to get the plastic above the heat tape to 91 and the bedding to like 87.

should i have to set it this high? i have the thermostat probe attached directly to the heat tape on the 5th level.

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With your room temps in the upper 70's you may well have to run it that high.

i was thinking that may be it. my old home made rack had a tighter fit and user larger peices of 11 flex watt and didnt need to be set that high

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i cant get the temps to keep the bins warm without cranking the thwrmostat over 100. what kind of ambiebt room temp do i need to get the right hotspot without doing this

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I actually just double checked and the temps in the room are about 80. Could it be that the tubs are indented and not letting the heat stay on the proper side or could it be my ceiling fan blowing warm air out of the rack?

Is 102 dangerous as a temp for flexwatt

I have a oil filled radiator space heater that is hooked up to a ranco thermostat. This keeps the room at 80 all year.

I have flexwatt set that high, it isn't the best but is in't dangerous either.

How thick is the layer of aspen?

I'm assuming that your rack is using belly heat... am I correct?

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Originally Posted by Billy305

Is 102 dangerous as a temp for flexwatt

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I have run mine at 101 to 102 for years.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

I have flexwatt set that high, it isn't the best but is in't dangerous either.

How thick is the layer of aspen?

I'm assuming that your rack is using belly heat... am I correct?

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Yes Belly heat, and about 1/2 inch id say, enough if you moved it around gently with your fingertips you would see the bottom of the tub right away

ok, sounds good. nothing seems wrong... so I would just turn the thermostat up.

ok thats what i thought. i had a friend who said flexwatt wasnt rated to run that hot for extended periods of time but i dont believe thats true

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It is best to keep it under 100, but that isn't always possible... as I said, 102 is fine. I wouldn't run it hotter than 105 but that is just me.

Its still just weird to me that my room is 78-80 degrees and it needs to be that high. Would having a room that was just 3 degrees higher make it possible to set the thermostat that much lower? In my home made rack that bin touches directly to the bin and still needs to be at like 94 degrees. Could my room fan be blowing the hot air out of the rack or something?

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Originally Posted by Driver

I have a oil filled radiator space heater that is hooked up to a ranco thermostat. This keeps the room at 80 all year.

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Hi, How do you achieve this in the summer months?? Do you run your central air and then let the space heater compensate?? I am trying to figure out my temps/room for this summer (see my post from today about snakeroom temps)