flexwatt and shelving unit question, heat loss?

[Bobtard]

I'm making a little snake shelf at the moment, I got this shelving unit and I'm going to wire it all up with Flexwatt and my Herpstat, but I want some opinions on this.

The shelves have holes on them, will this cause any heat loss of effeciency issues with the flexwatt?

if so I'm considering picking up some foam board (like the art project stuff), and covering each shelf with that.

thoughts?

IMG_0129[1] by Bobtard, on Flickr

[Oxylepy]

Depends.

Having the holes between levels should be fine. It will actually increase the ambient for the whole back region.

The problems come in with:

1. How are you enclosing this rack system? If it is going to be open, heat loss. I'd always suggest fully enclosing the rear, bottom, top, and sides, it creates an insulation barrier.
2. How are you keeping the snakes in their tubs? Just leaving the factory lid on? One of my personal favorite points of a racking system is just letting the shelf of the next tub up be the lid, which keeps a nice rear temperature for the whole rack.

Honestly, it all depends. If the shelves are the proper height (tub, sheet of cardboard for spacing, shelf, repeat), the rear sides and top and bottom of the whole unit is enclosed, and the snakes can't escape, you're good and shouldn't see heat loss

[Ba11er]

flexwatt isnt that good at maintaining ambient temperatures so i would definitely insulate as much as possible to keep the temperatures steady. If you have a heat source to heat the room, insulation wont be as important. I see a problem with the metal acting like a heat sink, without insulation or better yet maintaining the room temperature.

[Oxylepy]

If it is metal. It may well be plastic. That's another question that needs answered

[Bobtard]

It's a plastic unit. My ambients are fine, I just need the flexwatt for belly heat. I just want consistent hotspot temps.

[Oxylepy]

I'd still recommend enclosing it somehow. The insulation will reduce the power usage of the controler.

The enclosing can be wood, plastic, foam board, cardboard, etc. Pretty much anything that will cover the sides, top, and rear of the setup. It will prevent hot side heat loss and reduce the needed wattage, not to mention creating a more secure feeling to their enclosures, and help with consistant heating.