Alot of the current heat tapes used for de-ice, such as EasyHeat, are self-regulating. What that means is that the power-per-foot of the cable at say 50 deg F is about 5 or 6 watts per foot, but as the cable or roof warms to say 90 deg, the power out is alot lower, like 2 watts per foot. This type of cable is nice for de-icing because a thermostat is not really needed, and it will never overheat, especially if the ice melts and the sun is out.



For herps, you want the ability to heat up to 90 deg continuously. The new cables may or may not do that. The specs of EasyHeat shows 2 watts per foot above 90 deg (as in the roof temp is 90 deg), but it does not indicate if the cable will effectively heat a surface to 90 deg.



Omega sells silicon heat tapes that are awesome and meant to heat objects. These have the opposite problem - you have to connect 2 in series to keep the watts/foot down to a reasonable level. They sell them with long lead wires so no problem doing that. For example, I think they are 20 watts/ft. Connecting 2 in series results in about 5 watts/ft. 5 watts/ft is ideal for most racks. Silicon tapes are too expensive though to do alot of racks.

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