Heating Mat

[Dr. Cres]

I have several Heating mats for starting my seeds. Can anything be put under them that will increase the heat. I don't use thermometers. What gave me the idea was I put my hand on the underside of my growing table and it was really warm so I'm wondering how much heat I'm losing that could somehow be reflected back upwards.

 

[FarmerGuy]

Use a piece of 1" or 2" thick extruded polystyrene insulation (pink board). Heat naturally rises but if you put your heat mat on top of the XPS, that will hugely slow the conductance into the (I'm assuming) wooden table.

I start all my seedlings on top of insulation with my cheap "ghetto-tastic" setup which uses outdoor "rope lights" - not the LED's but the ones that have little bulbs in them. A 20' or so section cost be less than 10 bucks at Home Despotism right after Christmas a few years ago and I used it to start 8 flats of seeds. Kept the root zone at 80-degrees F +/-2F the whole time and I always get 85%+ germination rates.

 

[punn177]

I paid 10$ for a heating mat a kmart, no auto shut off, 3 levels of heat, you guessed it , "high" "medium" "low"!!! I used medium, worked perfect!

 

[Beelzeboss]

I paid 10$ for a heating mat a kmart, no auto shut off, 3 levels of heat, you guessed it , "high" "medium" "low"!!! I used medium, worked perfect!

I paid 10$ for a heating mat a kmart, no auto shut off, 3 levels of heat, you guessed it , "high" "medium" "low"!!! I used medium, worked perfect!

i have one too but mine has auto shut off and and yes, you medium is perfect, even low gets it done, you dont need to make it hotter dr.cres,

 

[Dr. Cres]

Use a piece of 1" or 2" thick extruded polystyrene insulation (pink board). Heat naturally rises but if you put your heat mat on top of the XPS, that will hugely slow the conductance into the (I'm assuming) wooden table.

I start all my seedlings on top of insulation with my cheap "ghetto-tastic" setup which uses outdoor "rope lights" - not the LED's but the ones that have little bulbs in them. A 20' or so section cost be less than 10 bucks at Home Despotism right after Christmas a few years ago and I used it to start 8 flats of seeds. Kept the root zone at 80-degrees F +/-2F the whole time and I always get 85%+ germination rates.

Thanks Farmer!

I paid 10$ for a heating mat a kmart, no auto shut off, 3 levels of heat, you guessed it , "high" "medium" "low"!!! I used medium, worked perfect!

Thanks Punn!

 

[Hinky]

Yep, put a chunk of insulation underneath it. I use the kind with the aluminium backing on it. There is a noticeable rise in temps when you insulate the underside.