I will say this. I have tried 3 of the Top brands of PVC enclosures and they varied drastically as far as how a RHP heated them. AP was the best holding heat, their 1/2” PVC is EXCELLENT for insulating. The other was Boaphile. For a very expensive enclosure, my Panel ran 50% more under the same temps and same conditions as when in the AP. Measuring the PVC on the boaphile was hard, looked like 1/8th inch and its flimsy as a sheet of that cheap shower enclosure crap at lowes. Also is brittle without flex and i cracked a corner easily.
The other one I tried was Vision. This is much sturdier that Boaphile, as a matter of fact no comparison. It also held heat more like my AP. Measuring the thickness it was a bit less than the AP, but not brittle like the Boaphile I cracked.
The RHP still ran about 20% more than when in the AP.
The reason I mention all this is the Watt of the RHP has 1/2 to do with it, but the other 1/2 depends on the enclosure quality. The PVC and items inside is what absorbs heat and in return gives you your ambient temp, without a good thick PVC enclosure, reaching that can be hard no matter how many watts your RHP is if your loosing it like a Siv. Hope this helps.
Ohh and In my T-12’s I run 150 watts. They are double the size of a T-8. Because we keep our home cool all year around, we need a higher watt Rhp even for a 4’ enclosure... if your home is 70 plus degrees 24/7 a smaller RHP like 80 watts will do for you.
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