I wouldn't call it a waste. It helps the ambient temps get the proper degrees if the room is cooler. I have have had a bad experience with individual flexwatt strips on my Ranco and think a continous strip is the best choice. I got mine 15 feet long for like 50 bucks. Also the ranco surge protector only has 6 slots and I need 7. And don't want to ghetto rig it to have 2 go into one but not my style.