Which heat pad for my warming cabinet?

[alfazer]

I use an old fridge with a STC1000 and a 60W light bulb, but I want to sack the lightbulb and replace with a heater pad for better efficiency.
It needs to be 240V and the fridge is a typical small counter-height model.


I'm seeing 5W, 7W, 14W reptile heaters on ebay and guessing something like that would do.

Any suggestions about the power (W) or links to suitable ones?

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Not a pad a one foot 45w tube heater... Amazon has them

 

[Finman]

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None of those. With that price you get a heater with thermostat. Then buy an air ventilator which moves air and keeps heat even.

 

[David1976]

I bought a 1 foot tube heater from amazon to put in my home made heater and it works a treat.

 

[Eyeman]

Not a pad a one foot 45w tube heater... Amazon has them

Make sure the heater isn't fitted with a high temperature cut off as it will have difficultly getting much above the early 30's'C

 

[Millet]

Make sure the heater isn't fitted with a high temperature cut off as it will have difficultly getting much above the early 30's'C

Good tip.. i think my two heating tubes have a cut out at 50C.. i did a test run the other day to try and get it up to 60C and 50C was as high as it would go.

 

[alfazer]

Ah thanks. I forgot about the tubes rather than pads.

 

[theeggman]

Make sure the heater isn't fitted with a high temperature cut off as it will have difficultly getting much above the early 30's'C

A pair of long nosed pliers adjust the internal thermostat quite well.

 

[Eyeman]

A pair of long nosed pliers adjust the internal thermostat quite well.

I've tried it with one I bought but the end with the 'contact' is sealed so can't get to it!
I did switch it off first!

 

[oliver90owner]

If the light bulb was satisfacory, power-wise, doesn’t that give you a clue?

 

[alfazer]

If the light bulb was satisfacory, power-wise, doesn’t that give you a clue?

Not really, because 60W bulb is mostly light energy and the heat is just secondary, so it uses far more electricity than necessary.

I've now ordered a 1ft, 45W heater tube that should heat the space quicker for less electricity consumption.

Was just seeking a bit of advice from others that use heaters, that's all.

 

[deemann1]

I bought a 3 foot eco tubular heater and combined with a inkbird itc 308 thermostat which is hard wired and has 2 sockets on it .works great . Built a plywood box with 150mm insulation can fit 6 supers in it if ever needed in future...

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

I used to manage with a converted fridge/freezer then managed to pick up a used api melter which has been a god send, I do not know how I managed, it warms up four times the amount in a third of the time, bit big for someone small scale but a smaller variant might be worth a look.

 

[Beecat]

Not really, because 60W bulb is mostly light energy and the heat is just secondary, so it uses far more electricity than necessary.

An incandescent bulb emits 97% of the energy put into it as heat. Only about 3% comes off as visible light.

 

[Beefriendly]

I used to manage with a converted fridge/freezer then managed to pick up a used api melter which has been a god send, I do not know how I managed, it warms up four times the amount in a third of the time, bit big for someone small scale but a smaller variant might be worth a look.

I find I need both an apimelter and a warming cabinet this time of year. Apimelter full of draining cappings pretty much continuously this last few months But still need somewhere to warm last years heather/borage/ and this years OSR honey. But come the end of the season apimelter does the business in spades, powerful fan really swirls the hot air around.
It's also going to be a godsend for melting out the remaining wax from heather frames later this year when solar wax melter won't work any more.

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

I know what you mean, already looking for another.

 

[Millet]

Not really, because 60W bulb is mostly light energy and the heat is just secondary, so it uses far more electricity than necessary.

I've now ordered a 1ft, 45W heater tube that should heat the space quicker for less electricity consumption.

Was just seeking a bit of advice from others that use heaters, that's all.

I have put two in my standard size fridge.. it warms up twice as quick so it turns of quicker and the fridge holds the heat for a long time before it cools down... using one tube means it is on for a lot longer when the temperature drops till the required temperature rises again and if one breaks for some reason you still have back up from the second tube..

 

[oliver90owner]

Not really, because 60W bulb is mostly light energy and the heat is just secondary, so it uses far more electricity than necessary.

I've now ordered a 1ft, 45W heater tube that should heat the space quicker for less electricity consumption.

Was just seeking a bit of advice from others that use heaters, that's all.

Please don’t talk rubbish. A light bulb uses electrical energy. That energy is changed into heat energy. All of it - unless lost to outer space. What do you think the Sun’s rays striking the Earth end up as? Yes, that’s right, as heat.

All electromagnetic waves are the same, only of differing energy content. X-rays can kill cells inside the body, UV can burn the skin, infrared is more efficient at being absorbed without burning.

Radio and microwave rays are not good in large doses (don’t dry the cat in the microwave, or stand in front of a high powered radio transmitter (mobile phones can even present a danger to heavy users who ignore the recommendation to keep the phone remote from their brain).

Light bulbs are only about 5% efficient in converting electrical energy to light - the rest is dissipated as heat. Does the light build up inside the vessel? No, it is absorbed and changed into thermal energy.

There is a physcics law ( Law of Conservation of Energy) which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed - only changed from one form to another. Of cours, mass is yet another form of energy - check out Einstein and E = mc^2.

No, you are completely wrong. All the energy from a light bulb, inside a closed container, is converted to heat energy within that container, unless it is transparent to light and allows some that 5% to escape. Simple physics.

 

[alfazer]

An incandescent bulb emits 97% of the energy put into it as heat. Only about 3% comes off as visible light.

Interesting! If I'd known that I might not have bothered buying a heater.

 

[alfazer]

Please don’t talk rubbish. A light bulb uses electrical energy. That energy is changed into heat energy. All of it - unless lost to outer space. What do you think the Sun’s rays striking the Earth end up as? Yes, that’s right, as heat.

All electromagnetic waves are the same, only of differing energy content. X-rays can kill cells inside the body, UV can burn the skin, infrared is more efficient at being absorbed without burning.

Radio and microwave rays are not good in large doses (don’t dry the cat in the microwave, or stand in front of a high powered radio transmitter (mobile phones can even present a danger to heavy users who ignore the recommendation to keep the phone remote from their brain).

Light bulbs are only about 5% efficient in converting electrical energy to light - the rest is dissipated as heat. Does the light build up inside the vessel? No, it is absorbed and changed into thermal energy.

There is a physcics law ( Law of Conservation of Energy) which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed - only changed from one form to another. Of cours, mass is yet another form of energy - check out Einstein and E = mc^2.

No, you are completely wrong. All the energy from a light bulb, inside a closed container, is converted to heat energy within that container, unless it is transparent to light and allows some that 5% to escape. Simple physics.

Thanks for your explanation and I'll stand corrected.
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Got to say though, you do sound like a patronising old git.