UTH vs. Heat Tape: Why ever use the former?

[Heeltoeclutch]

I intend to use tape when I buy a rack, so as of now I only have experience with UTHs, that said... A few observations I've had

-I use ultratherm UTHs... and have used others. I prefer the ultratherms to use on tubs because they will not heat up enough to melt a tub, which seems safer to me (even using with thermostats).

- The ultratherms don't have a "sticky" side, so you attach with metal tape, just like heat tape.

That's interesting - I was actually looking for something that said "our UTHs don't get hot enough to ______" That is definitely helpful and could affect my decision, thanks

Convenience

You seem to be greatly underestimating the importance of this (and greatly over-thinking the other things).

1. For pet owners, it's more convenient to pick up what's available at the pet store down the street and peel/stick it on right away.
2. For breeders, it's more convenient to run a single strip of heat tape per rack and are willing to take the extra step to wire it properly.

Hehe that makes sense.

I've just been trying to figure out what to do for myself. I will eventually be a pet owner, with one snake. However, to me it does not make any sense to pay more for something that does the exact same job as something lower-priced, more modular, expandable, repositionable, more easily replaced and all that.

EDIT: D'oh. I forgot to factor shipping into heat tape costs. That'll affect things; unless it is available locally or places do free shipping... but in researching I didn't want to tell them all my info just to get an estimate.