Quote Originally Posted by norwegn113 View Post
that is exactly what im saying. Heat tape should never at any point reach temps higher than 100 deg. If you were to hang a piece like you stated it would not do much at all to raise internal temps. The plastic coating you speak of has no significant mass, therefore is not a good conductor of heat. ( try your experiment and let us know how it works. ) if what you say is true why then would people spend $100.00 on a radiant heat panel when they could just buy a piece of heat tape for $15.00 and put it on the ceiling instead? I will agree in the long run a vision cage is the better value and perhaps a better route for beginners. Wood cages can however create a look that cant be matched by any plastic product and if built correctly can last as long as any plastic cage system.

Ok so to be fair (to myself of course) I said that heat tape raises ambient temperature. I can not for the life of me see a situation where the heat tape would not be in contact with something. Either touching the bottom of the cage or the table the cage is on (unless we are talking about that new hover tape). Either way ambient temperature is raised when heat tape is used for floor heat. I mean one could argue that really it isn't even the heat tape and that it is the electricity powering the heat tape. Or in this case your saying that it is the material the heat tape is touching that is in fact raising the ambient temperature. Either way without the heat tape there is no heat or ambient temperature rise. So I feel my original statement was correct."I find that it raises the ambient temp" & "The tape heats the floor temp to 91 degrees in my tubs and that heat travels up... as heat tends to do and becomes trapped in the tub raising ambient temps to 84 degrees". Clearly I say that it heats the floor first and then raises up creating ambient temps. I was quickly met with "Heat tape doesn't raise ambient temps". Never once did I say that it would create enough heat for his cage he is building. I merely pointed out that 11" would be better than 6" because it would create more ambient temperature because it would be heating more surface area. That is it. So unless i reread this thread incorrectly I still stand behind what I said 100%.

Now somehow I have gotten into a hypothetical experiment (brought on by myself) on wether the heat tape alone by itself hanging in mid air will create ambient temperature. of course this has no practical application and is merely a pointless side track that I should have not brought up and I get enough of that from the wife. I do not have extra heat tape right this second, but I still feel even without it touching anything that it will still raise ambient temps. And honestly all i need to be right is 1 degree in my opinion. See by saying it creates no ambient temps your saying 0, no exception. by me saying it does that could be anything from .0001 degree to 100+ degree increase. My money is on my side of this, sorry.