How hot do heat cords get?

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camt44

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Hey,
I was wanting to add a liittle more heat to my tanks... The basking spots are fine, it's just the ambient temps aren't high enough. I was thinking of running a heat cord (don't know what wattage) under all the sand on the bottom of the tank to bump it up a bit. My question is, how hot do they get? It would be under maybe 5cm of sand, and would be on 24 hours a day. I would prefer not to have to use a thermostat if possible, so would a low wattage one (say 50w?) running the length of a 4x2 foot tank present any problems if it weren't on a thermostat, such as burning the wood or something? Or, if this doesnt work, is it possible to have a 60w ceraminc bulb running 24 hours a day to achieve the same thing?
Thanks
Cam
 
i run heat cords, no thermo's, on click-clacks, it gets to 35- 36 degree's..
 
Ok cool, what wattage were they? I'm thinking like a 25w one shouldn't be an issue
 
I run a 50w cord on my tubs. If the thermostat isnt on it gets to about 42 degrees. Needless to say i have a thermostat.
 
As this is a 4x2 foot tank, and it's on an outside (sheltered) verandah, would the extra area make a 50w one acceptable do you think? As I imagine with a tub it is coiled up pretty densely
Thanks
 
Sorry not meaning to hijack or anything, but didn't think it was worth starting a whole new thread, are the heat cords able to be buried in substrate provided they are on a thermostat?
 
Yeh that's what I am intending to do, just without the thermostat
 
dont put heat mats or cord in a reptile enclsoure. 1st because natural behaviour makes reptile want to burry themselves when it gets to hot. 2ndly because it's a waste of money.
 
As this is a 4x2 foot tank, and it's on an outside (sheltered) verandah, would the extra area make a 50w one acceptable do you think? As I imagine with a tub it is coiled up pretty densely
Thanks
firstly, do not EVER coil a heat cord so it looks like a mozzie coil, they are designed to be run in lengths like an 'M' (like in electric blankets) the closer the cord is placed the hotter the 'hot spot', a 50w cord is around 19ft long so you'd get 5 strands along the bottom of the tank,personally i think under 5cm of sand you are being a bit hopeful, maybe 2cm on the bottom to protect the floor of your enclosure, then the rest on top, all you can really do is try it and see, it also depends on what you are planning on having in there.....

you could always bring a tank that size inside in the winter.......

i have successfully had heat cord buried in sand, wouldn't do it with aspen or similar though,
 
Yeh burying them seems to be a bad idea as it traps in heat, but I'm trying to think if it would be a problem to bury a 6m 25w heat cord under a few cms of sand as it would be so spread out... I might test it in a tub first
Thanks for the help everyone!
 
Depends on the wattage. I use 15W, 25W and 80W with no thermostats but the bigger ones (like 150W) can get pretty hot so I have them on thermostats just to be safe.
Also depends on the size of the tubs/enclosures - I use the 15W on small tubs and the 80W on bigger tubs. You can also play with how many "runs" of cord are under each tub to get the right temp. I can't really comment on using them inside enclosures as I only use them under tubs.
 
Without a thermostat they can easily melt plastic. I speak from experience.
 
i find heat cords need to be run on a thermostat. they dont give a constant temp unless the room is at a constant temp. i heat all my snakes with heat cords on thermos, havnt had a problem. never done it with lizards tho.
 
You beat me to it... Yeh I couldn't think of any other way to describe it besides coiled, but I knew not to do that. Bringing them inside is unfortunately not an option, I have tried over and over again, but Mum is not a fan of that idea, despite my many attempts to convince her... I'm thinking I'll buy a few 50w ones and just test it out, as Jaxrtfm was saying, they are like 6 metres long, so I would doubt they get too hot when spread out so much. And they are going in a wooden enclosure, so no plastic to worry about. Would it also be an idea to line the bottom of the tank with ceramic tiles as a heat shield type thing, just in case?
 
Without a thermostat they can easily melt plastic. I speak from experience.
raise the tubs to be 1/2cm above the cord, heat doesn't build up and melt the plastic, and the heat is more diffused, currently use this for for my tubs, 24/7, no thernostat, no fluctuations in temp, except the normal day/night fluctuations, and i have very happy snakes...
 
ya gotta love parents... they will happily have a dog or a cat inside to shed all over the place, but dont' dare bring a reptile inside LOL

what are you keeping ? i'm guessing lizards by you avatar, maybe use a smaller 25w cord in a shallow 'sand sandwich' with a tile on top at one end and leave the rest of the floor with the 5cm of sand so they can dig and brumate if they choose to (assuming they are over a year old)
 
raise the tubs to be 1/2cm above the cord, heat doesn't build up and melt the plastic, and the heat is more diffused, currently use this for for my tubs, 24/7, no thernostat, no fluctuations in temp, except the normal day/night fluctuations, and i have very happy snakes...

I would have thought raising the tubs that much would have too much airflow and diffuse the heat too much? I have had no problems with melting tubs, mine are directly on top of the heat cord. This way i have a great 'hot spot' and a great temp gradient.
 
Yeh I know, took me 4 years to convince her to let me get a bearded dragon, I tried telling her over and over all the advantages they have over dogs, but still no! I managed to sneak one tank inside when she was on holidays, which wasn't taken well, but it is "so hard to move back outside!" so it's still inside luckily. Yeh all lizards; 1 Central Beardie (outside), 4 adult Central Netteds (inside), 5 (medium?) Central Netteds (outside, unfortunately), 4 baby Central Netteds (inside, and up for sale!!!) and 2 Ridge Tailed Monitors (outside). Yeh the sandwich idea is very good to protect it, nice one! I was wondering if it would be a problem if they dug to it, they wouldn't chew through it or anything you wouldn't think, but maybe I'll use the tiles just to be safe. Thanks again everyone!
 
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