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Posted by Mr. D on September 28, 2001 at 00:35:58:
In Reply to: Re: Heat panel vs CHE posted by HD on September 27, 2001 at 20:01:19:
Safer and more efficient "in my opinion".....
While I haven't seen any "efficiency ratings" done on RHP's by any government energy conservation group, here is my reasoning for this. CHE's, correct me if I'm wrong as I DON'T use them and therefore could be incorrect, reach approximate surface temps in excess of 250-300*. Regardless of the actual number, suffice it to say that they DO get hot enough to ignite paper if any should happen to come in contact with it. This I DO know for a fact because I actually spoke by telephone with the gentleman in England whose iguana, Rex, was featured in the Daventry Express and posted here several months ago thanks to Wes Von Papineau (please forgive any spelling Wes). Reason? Rex started a fire in his apartment when he dragged some paper into his enclosure which landed on the CHE that his owner used. I've also heard several other stories along these lines as well as burns associated with them as well. Incidently, the Daventry Express is online. I'm sure that the story would be available should anyone care to go back and search for it. It may still be in the archives here as well.
Strictly from an energy pov it makes sense to me that it would take less energy to heat something to 140*, the approximate surface temp of an RHP, than it takes to heat something to 2,3 or 400*. Also, less chance of ANYTHING burning at 140*. You can actually hold your hand to the surface of a panel for several seconds before it becomes uncomfortable. I'm not sure if you can do that with a CHE or not. Mounting RHP's, provided that you have a way to make holes in your enclosure wall or ceiling, is also easy. While they have more surface area that a CHE, the model I have is only approximately an inch thick. Much thinner than a CHE unit which, I'm guessing, measures out at about 4-6 inches.
Depending on the manufacturer, an RHP comes with built-in safety measures whereas I personally don't know of a CHE that does. Could exist. I don't know. As I stated, after taking a look at CHE's I made the choice not to use them.
As far as RHP cost, that is generally proportional to the SIZE of the panel you purchase. I just looked at HerpSupplies.com earlier tonight AAMOF as we need to purchase several RHP's in the near future for more enclosures. They have a 7"x12" panel for sale at a whopping $54. The RHP I purchased was $109 but it was also the largest panel that HerpSupplies sold at the time. That's STILL only $11 per year as it came with a 10 year warranty. At the time, not being familiar with the actual amount of heat that they throw I opted to get the largest size that I could for Mel's 6x6x3 thinking bigger is better and that I can control it easily enough. Suffice it to say that since we didn't have Mel's doors on last winter, Mel was still quite comfortable in her house and we were walking around in shorts in February. Stretch it out over 10 years and a 7x12 panel costs you a whole $5.40 per year for purchase price. The question here is how many CHE's will you have to buy in a 10 year timespan. And what kind of warranty do CHE's come with?
Both RHP's and CHE's can be controlled by temp controllers. We've been running an ESU controller with our RHP for the last year without any problems at all. Haven't had to touch anything with the exception of making adjustments for winter/summer temps.
Sorry, folks. Forgot the "my opinion" disclaimer... Shame on me.... Didn't seen you around her much this summer, Jeff. You must've been busy as a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest this season...How are the collareds doing?
