Can you buy in?

[JoshSloane]

From my research it seems that some models don't really sap the electrical bill that much. Eric would probably be able to address that best

[jclaiborne]

Yeah, see thats what I was just thinking. I like the idea you had about the oil based heater. After reading reviews it seems to be the best option. I really want to move over to the ambient only practice. I feel like having one central heater, rather than yards and yards of heat tape, connectors and multiple thermostats is safer.

Any thoughts?

I am speaking to the safety aspect only, IMO it really is a toss up, depeding on what aspect of safety you are talking about. I have seen heat mats, flexwatt, heaters, and tstats all fail. Are you talking safety of the animals, fire/electrical hazards?

[Eric Alan]

From my research it seems that some models don't really sap the electrical bill that much. Eric would probably be able to address that best

You'd think so, but here in AZ, our electricity structure is a little different than most of the rest of the country. This is the time of the year when both temperatures and electrical bills tend to skyrocket with the A/C running pretty much 24/7 starting in a few weeks. It's also the time that the oil heater doesn't run at all (our house A/C is set to 80 - trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds when it's 115+ outside). During the winter, the rates and usage are so low that when the oil heater does run, I hardly notice a bump at all. I'm sure it'd be a different story in the rest of the country that gets actual winters.

[JoshSloane]

I am speaking to the safety aspect only, IMO it really is a toss up, depeding on what aspect of safety you are talking about. I have seen heat mats, flexwatt, heaters, and tstats all fail. Are you talking safety of the animals, fire/electrical hazards?

Im only worried about the fire risk really. Ive had all kinds of racks and Tstats before have issues as well. Im trying to decide if having one oil heater is safer than a heat tape wired wooden rack.

[Black Hills Reptiles]

This would be a fun thing to test. If I had a room full of reptiles I would. I only have one rack so you could do the math on it.
11" heat tape is 20 watts per foot.
Let's say you have 6 racks 6 foot tall back heat that's 6ftx6 racks
36ftx20 watts per foot
720 watts total
Let's say you have 10 4ft cages with 2 ft heat tape each that's 20ft
20x20 is 400 watts
Let's say your running a hot spot light bulb to keep ambient up in 4 ft cages so you have 10 60watt bulbs running
So you have 600+400+720=1720
We will put 1720 in the watts to kWh calculator
1.72 kWh/hour of it being on so let's say that you burn that 15 hours a day 25.8 kWh per day nation wide average is 12 cents per 1 kWh
$3.10 per day running that exact set up.
So most space heaters are 800 watt or 1200watt since I'm estimating high let's say you live in the north and your house is average for insulation. The heater will probably kick on for 15 mins ever hour so lets say 30 for 12 hours at night
15x12= 180 min/60 is 3 hours
30x12 = 360min/60=6hours
So it's running 9 hours a day let's go high and say it runs 12 hours a day
1200 watts is 1.2 kWh 1.2x12=14.4
14.4kwh per day
14.4x12 cents
$1.73 per day is what you would spend estimated
The numbers say it's cheaper to heat a room than to heat a ton of cages.

[JoshSloane]

This would be a fun thing to test. If I had a room full of reptiles I would. I only have one rack so you could do the math on it.
11" heat tape is 20 watts per foot.
Let's say you have 6 racks 6 foot tall back heat that's 6ftx6 racks
36ftx20 watts per foot
720 watts total
Let's say you have 10 4ft cages with 2 ft heat tape each that's 20ft
20x20 is 400 watts
Let's say your running a hot spot light bulb to keep ambient up in 4 ft cages so you have 10 60watt bulbs running
So you have 600+400+720=1720
We will put 1720 in the watts to kWh calculator
1.72 kWh/hour of it being on so let's say that you burn that 15 hours a day 25.8 kWh per day nation wide average is 12 cents per 1 kWh
$3.10 per day running that exact set up.
So most space heaters are 800 watt or 1200watt since I'm estimating high let's say you live in the north and your house is average for insulation. The heater will probably kick on for 15 mins ever hour so lets say 30 for 12 hours at night
15x12= 180 min/60 is 3 hours

30x12 = 360min/60=6hours
So it's running 9 hours a day let's go high and say it runs 12 hours a day
800 watts is 0.8 kWh 0.8x12=9.6
9.6kwh per day
9.6x12 cents
$1.15 per day is what you would spend estimated
The numbers say it's cheaper to heat a room than to heat a ton of cages.

This also assumes you need the heater every day. Most places in the US wouldn't need a heater in the summer months to maintain 80 deg avg temps. So the space heater would be even cheaper.

[Black Hills Reptiles]

Correct! The way I see it is there is way less that can go wrong with only one heating element. I use space heaters in the winter at my house and I have yet (knock on wood) to have a problem with them.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Would this have a lowered fire danger than a standard space heater?

Yes oil filled heater + a RELIABLE external thermostat are the safest thing around I have used this method for close to a decade now.

You can also use a heat pump if you have the ability to keep each room at different temps.

[jclaiborne]

Im only worried about the fire risk really. Ive had all kinds of racks and Tstats before have issues as well. Im trying to decide if having one oil heater is safer than a heat tape wired wooden rack.

Limiting the number of heating elements used will reduce the fire risk, I think the key is a high end TSTAT that will cut power to the element in the instance of a TSTAT failure, also another precaution would be to ensure that the breakers that your room is wired to are AFICs for an additional level of protection.

[Jhill001]

This also assumes you need the heater every day. Most places in the US wouldn't need a heater in the summer months to maintain 80 deg avg temps. So the space heater would be even cheaper.

Unless you count that many summer homes ambient around 65-70 due to air conditioning.