Can I plug multiple strips of heat tape into a power strip?

[Trackstrong83]

Then connect the power strip to the herpstat 1?

I have a 3 shelf rack with 3 separate 12"X12" strips of THG tape, and the tapes will all be at the same temp.
I have a piece of heat tape on each level, so could I connect each of them to a power strip, then the power strip into the herpstat? Since they will all be at the same temp.

Just wondering, and I know this has been covered before but for the life of me I can't find it

[Tigerhawk]

Yes you should be ok. As long as the heat tape is the same size. What I mean is that the tape should all be the same width eg 3,6 or twelve inches wide. Also be sure that you do not exceed the wattage recommendation on your thermostat .

[DestinyLynette]

Yes, I did that until I found a multi-plugin thing that would fit between my herpstat power cord and probe cord.

[Trackstrong83]

Yes each piece of tape is 12"x12"

[OctagonGecko729]

You definitely can do that so long as it does not exceed the wattage of the thermostat. One thing that I would be concerned about would be adding one more device that could fail.

[Trackstrong83]

You definitely can do that so long as it does not exceed the wattage of the thermostat. One thing that I would be concerned about would be adding one more device that could fail.

The herpstat 1 can handle up to 700 watts I believe. So I'm good on that part. And good thing about the herpstat 1 is that if there is a failure, the herpstat shuts off immediately

It also shuts off if the probe comes undone from the tape and the tape tries to heat up too quickly, the herpstat detects that and shuts off.

[Boosted350z]

Why do you have to plug only the same heat tape watt size together and not say a 4" and a 6" or even a 12"?

[Boosted350z]

I have a zoomed thermostat that is rated for 1000 watts. I have 11 shelves on 1 rack with different size watt heat tape. Can I use a power strip for all?

[Tila]

I wouldn't. If they are a different wattage to each other and all plugged into a power strip for example, the power strip will receive power through the thermostat at 1 wattage. Let's say the thermostat has decided to supply 9 watts to your power strip. On a 4"×12" strip of flewatt on shelf 1, that might be full power and dangerously hot. The second shelf may have 11"×12" flexwatt and those 9 watts supplied by the same power strip might only heat it slightly. Let's say the third shelf has your thermostat probe and a 17watt uth. The input of temperature from that pad is how your thermostat gets the information to send out 9 watts of power and has no way of knowing how that is impacting anything else on the power strip that does not have a probe attached to it. I hope this helps and I've only ever used this method when I had matching (identical wattage) uths.