Cages to racks/tubs heat conversion

[AdamF]

Currently own 3 BPs set up as follows

Ambient room temp=between 65 and 70

Each cage (Bush Herp and Neodesha)) has a 50w heat lamp and flexwatt under tank with tstat set at 90. 2 Flex watts are 8 x 10" in size, the other 4 x 16"

Daytime warm side stays at 90 plus at warmest spots, 80 plus on cool sides. With lights off at night those drop about 5-7 degrees each. Snakes are healthy, and actually pretty active at night even on the coolest sides.

I am buying the racks below and I know I need more heat. Will simple addition of belly Fwatt solve my problem? How much? Any other heating suggestions for this setup?


NEW SET UP:
racks are1/2 inch PVC with back heat 12" x 12" Fwatt, closed on all sides.
1 unit is 36 ' x 24"
1 init is 24" x 24"
remco thermostat included

[BPLuvr]

Actually back or belly heat wont help much with room temp. If you have the option to choose back or belly choose belly heat that will be for you warm side. Then use a small oil filled heater near the rack (on a thermostat) to bring the ambient temperature up to 78-80. I personally use Ceramic heater but I know many here use oil filled such as this

[el8ch]

I use an oil filled heater hooked up to a thermostat to keep the ambient temperature of my snake room at 80 degrees. I also have a small fan running to circulate (not cool) the air to prevent any cool/hot spots at the floor or ceiling.

[AdamF]

Thanks. This set up already includes back heat. The question remains if i add belly, will that be sufficient?
Also, hoe can I figure out how many watts an 11" x 12" piece of flex watt consumes?
Gotta watch the amperage

Actually back or belly heat wont help much with room temp. If you have the option to choose back or belly choose belly heat that will be for you warm side. Then use a small oil filled heater near the rack (on a thermostat) to bring the ambient temperature up to 78-80. I personally use Ceramic heater but I know many here use oil filled such as this

[kitedemon]

Generally no. It is possible to heat a rack to correct temps with out heating the room but it means much more effort and modifications to the rack and t-stats. I actually am running a rack in a room that is about that range.

I run belly heat 4" the top 3 tiers are on one probe the bottom 2 on a second tstat probe. I use low wattage 17" flexwatt for the cool end the top 3 again on one probe and the bottom 2 on a second. (that means a herpstat 4 to run the rack) With 100% coverage of heat on the tubs I would say a failsafe is NOT OPTIONAL so add a fifth probe middle hot side on a on off t-stat.

The rack is fully insulated top bottom and sides. The tubs are vented towards the rear not at the front. (can be flipped for summer weather) this helps hold ambient air temps. I also routed slots in each shelf below the flexwatt. The flexwatt seals the slots to the top and holes drilled open them to the bottom front. They are open at the back. This helps to draw air from the cool room run it on the underside of the flexwatt to heat it up some and then it enters the tub at the front. This is partially ambient air temp heater. The rack holds highest/lowest temps as follows;

H/S= 91/89
cool=81/79
ambient D=84/78 (day)
ambient N=82/76 (night)

It took me a week of tinkering to get this stable before I placed snakes in it. It is possible but not easy. The simple solution and the one I would advise is just heat the room it is way easier! Or don't use a rack.

[BPLuvr]

Also, hoe can I figure out how many watts an 11" x 12" piece of flex watt consumes?
Gotta watch the amperage

From what I see 11" flex watt is 10 amps per foot. If you are at 110v then it would be 0.09 amps.

[AdamF]

From what I see 11" flex watt is 10 amps per foot. If you are at 110v then it would be 0.09 amps.

Dont you mean 10 watts per foot?

[BPLuvr]

Yup that's it was at work so not thinking straight.