The Hot Spot

[hungba]

I have 4 inch and I just used a ir gun to see how large the hot spot was. At 1 inch increments from the back. It is a reasonably accurate gun better than many not 100%.

87º
88º
90º
91º
91º
90º
88º
87º
84º
81º
80º for the rest basically 79º at the very front.

Interesting, do you have that slightly cooler couple inches at the back because the heat tape isn't directly at the back of the tub? I see some people who have their heat tape right at the back of the shelves, the corner of the tub exactly matching the heat tape. There are others who have heat tape layed so that it runs across the bottom of the tub a little bit further up the tub length.

How many inches in from the back of a 28 or 32 qt tub would you lay your 4" heat tape? Not from the shelve as that depends how far your push the tub in, but from the back of the bottom of the tub after you push it in. From your numbers I am guessing 2 - 3 inches, depending on whether the first figure is the back or your first 1" increment FROM the back.