I was wondering if anyone has ever timed how long heat tape runs
I plan on converting a shed to a reptile room full insulation and holding room temp at 75F and thermostat around 85-90F depending on species
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If you are using the thermostat it will run until the temperature is met and the thermostat turns it off.
There’s no real way to give you an idea because things like enclosure materials or builds will affect it as well.
My temperature indoors is usually between 74-78 and you’ll hear different thermostats flick off and on at different times.
If you are serious about timing it, I would consider a Kill-a-watt meter and testing out each thermostat for a week to give you a better idea.
Also, keep in mind that the heat from the tape can affect a small space like the shed and that could cause issues as well. It may easily pop over 80 degrees in there
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Yea im planning on leaving mini split at 75 the racks are PVC. The kill a watt is a good idea trying to determine how much my daily watts to run the heat tape
As @armiyana said; I’m not sure you’re going to get an answer as to “how long” it runs for.
Are you using a on/off thermostat or a dimming/pulsing stat? If it’s a pulsing/dimming one, it’s going to be using power regularly, just at different percentage levels as needed to keep it at the desired temp.
I really don’t think there’s a good answer here
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Yea i believe its off/on. But honestly i am mostly looking for kilowatts used per day
Then I’d simply stick with @armiyana’s method. Due to the fact that the wattage of your heat tape will be dependent on the length of the tape you’re using, and other factors specific to you. The likelihood of your heattape using much KwH/month is pretty low. Especially if you’re keeping the ambient room temp at 75.
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