heat mats all failing

[tttaylorrr]

I don't know the physics of it: I just know it works.

I don't understand the physics of that either.

Why do people insist the mat has to "breathe"?

ELI5: when air gets hot, the molecules in it start moving and bouncing around super fast as they have lots of energy now and they try to move to somewhere cooler. as they're flying about, they're also more likely to run into each other, which creates even more heat and energy. if the molecules cannot "escape" like they want, they'll keep running into one another and the temperature can rise exponentially.

that hot air HAS to be able to go somewhere, because physics.