Heat Cables vs Flexwatt?

[Rusty]

What's the difference and which is better? How do heat cables work and do they use more or less power than flexwatt?

[kavmon]

i don't use heat rope for reptiles. i'm a flexwatt guy. i have used heat cable to keep pipes from freezing. there are resistors in the rope that alter the flow of electricity and create heat. by changing the resistance in the wire and the length of the wire changes the total wattage(the longer the wire the more watts used). i lke flexwatt and have had no problems using it. you must use a thermostat to regulate temps properly. flexwatt comes in different sizes and wattages per ft. also. 3 inch wide at 10 watts per ft. is popular. and so is 11 in. wide at 20 watts per ft. they can be cut to your desired length. check out this link on flex, they make alot of it.

http://www.calorique.com/

and if you are into the heat cable check this one out.
http://www.morelectric.com/easy.htm


i prefer flexwatt, and have had no problems. i buy my flex at local shows or order from rich at
www.reptilebasics.com


vaughn

[justcage]

Flexwatt is a better way to heat your herps because of the surface area is has compaired to the cable.. When you have a 1" cable compaired to a 3" sheet using the same wattage your heat dispursion(sp) will be greater.. Also the cable would have to be routered into the rack/cage. I get my flexwatt from the Mofia

[elevatethis]

I've got an AP rack with heat cable routered in the back of the rack. Thanks to AP the setup was very easy to assemble. I use a proportional thermostat and the heat cable works great.

I also have a rack with flexwatt. With both racks used in an uncontrolled room, regular house temps, I found the heat cable to perform much better than the flexwatt.

In a 70 degree room, flexwatt really has to kick butt to get your temps where the they should be for ball pythons. If your house gets cold at night, I don't think flexwatt is the best choice of heating.

I now have both racks in a smaller room kept at around 78 degrees. Both the flexwatt rack and the heat cable rack work great. I don't know about the whole "surface area" thing Matt brought up, but my snakes are thriving with the heat cable. Hope that helps.

[justcage]

I have heat cable in some of my AP racks as well and it works well becasue of the size of the tubs and the thermal mass of the PVC.. If you have larger animals then you will need a larger element.. Flexwatt will be better for larger tubs..

Surface area: A two-dimensional measurement of the size of the surface of an object

[elevatethis]

Surface area: A two-dimensional measurement of the size of the surface of an object

I know what surface area is, lol...

[mr~python]

I get my flexwatt from the Mofia

ROFL!! hmmm, where do you get your flexwatt?

[justcage]

Honestly the dude will not give me his name. Says just call him "Godfather". I just know there is always a guy in the back seat with a tommy gun....

[cassandra]

Potential customer: What the heck* is this?
Matt: It's a Sicilian message. It means MG Reptiles heats with the Flex-watt.


*edited for a PG rating. =)

[justcage]

LOL Leave the guns, take the flexwatt