# Heat Mats, Glass and Polystyrene



## Pastymaster (Aug 23, 2012)

After looking at some of the advice on here that I've been given, as well as previous posts people have made to put polystyrene underneath the heat mat under my glass tank.

I understand that this is for insulation and to help direct all of the heat where it should be, but is this going to make a difference with the glass cracking? 

I can't see a feasible way of me having an 'air gap' in-between my heat mat and glass tank without really affecting the stability of the whole unit.

Do you think it would be a better idea to have a sheet of polystyrene inside the bottom of the glass tank, and then the heat mat on top of that, followed by slate tiles on top of the heat mat? It just makes a bit more sense to me as the heat mat wont be directly touching the glass, and the polystyrene will insulate it.

What does everyone think?

Apologies for the long post again, I just want to get everything as safe and stable as possible :lol:


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## Pastymaster (Aug 23, 2012)

Here's a picture of the current unit again if that makes a difference


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## Zachary (Aug 1, 2012)

The main purpose, as far as I'm aware, of having polystyrene under a heat mat is to deflect some of the heat that would otherwise be wasted back up into the vivarium. 

So if you are worried about the heat mat being too hot then adding an insulator underneath is probably not the best idea as it would mean that it would effectively be even hotter. 

I would buy a good thermostat and have the probe as close to the base of the tank possible, and just have it all up and running for a day or two before putting the animal in to make sure that it's running smoothly.

I wouldn't waste my time with slate tiles, just have the heatmat as close the the glass as possible(below the tank) and a thermostat probe as close to the glass (above the glass and heatmat) as possible. 

I hope this makes sense

-Z


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## Janine00 (Sep 20, 2008)

Personally I would opt for making a very low 'frame' for under the tank to give a few mm's clearance for a heat mat to go under and just leave a small gap for where wire and probes need to go. Most stable, and probably safest way of doing it.... but that's just me. I have a lot of exo's that already have a gap under bottom, and it is far easier to raise heat mat or cable to touch bottom of tank via newspaper under the foil I use to reflect heat. Also less chance of hotspots and possible burn/fire if you do it carefully so no real pressure where mats touch glass.


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## Pastymaster (Aug 23, 2012)

Perfect, thanks for the advice Zachary and Janine00. :2thumb:

I've actually had a look under the tank now and there actually is a gap under the glass from where the frame is at the sides! Bonus :thumb: I should have looked first :lol:.


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