heat mats all failing

[tttaylorrr]

If that were the case, you would need an air space on both sides of the heat mat, and they wouldn't make stick-mats.

being attached to something solid doesn't create this problem because the molecules have a place to "go" and solid objects hold heat better, needing less energy overall.

heat mats use radiant heat. they have to expend a lot of their energy to travel through the solid object, but the solid object holds onto the heat, so less energy is needed to maintain a certain temp.