# Cheaper Heat Mats



## Lu Lizard (Jul 24, 2011)

I need to buy a couple of new heat mats for my inverts. 

I usually buy the more well known brands, such as ProRep or Habistat, but I've seen some cheaper heat mats on the internet (ebay). Does anyone else use heat mats made by Aqua Heaven or Critters LTD? Are they reliable? I'm only after 7 or 5 watt mats (very low) but they will be on 24/7.

I don't want any house fires! 
I assume that as they are for sale in the UK, they have passed all safety standards, but I want to hear some reassurance or recommendations from the RFUK community.

Thanks


----------



## buddah (Dec 23, 2009)

Hi, ive not used one of the eBay heat mats but don't assume because its on ebay its been safety tested there's plenty of fake goods on there and some eletrical ones have caused fires. I don't know wether I would trust some eletricals on eBay.


----------



## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

read this and make your own mind up!

Not all heatmats are born equal...


----------



## Microclimate (Oct 2, 2012)

Many of the heat mats being sold by companies you haven't heard of before are being imported from Chinese factories and do not carry an official ce stamp. Unfortunately these factories can be crafty by putting ce on the product but it not being 100% to the correct dimensions by doing this they say that the ce stands for Chinese export. The ce Mark has a set spacing with how it needs to be printed basically it forms 2 circles.

There has been many threads about these types of mats normally they have 2 large black strips running along the length of the mat. 

Many of them use incorrect cabling/fusing and don't provide the correct double insulation standard. The best way to look at things like this is if it's looks cheap and is from a company who aren't known for manufacturing then the chances are it's being made in a Chinese factory and the ce Mark is debatable if it is actually correct.


----------



## Lu Lizard (Jul 24, 2011)

Yeah i see your point which is why i posted on here in the first place. Aquaheaven are a uk company tho so surely they have to sell ce approved products?


----------



## Microclimate (Oct 2, 2012)

i cant comment on specific businesses but many UK companys buy these products from china and have their own name put on them then sell them believing that they are CE approved and meet the bs specs. Some big name companys got stung by this last year. The mats that are normally produced by the factorys in china normally have 2 large black panels running from by the plug along the length of the mat also on the length of cable these chinese mats sometimes have a switch on them like a bedside lamp inline switch that is the only way of telling off pictures on the internet unfortunalty. Just be carefull what you buy as the mats we were sent to look at from a UK company that had imported them from china were not double insulated, failing a flash test, had incorrect cabling and fuses all of these are things that are required to gain CE approval as stated before these mats again branded by a uk company had the CE mark displayed on the label. To be honest the quality of these chinese products is sometimes shocking and quite dangerous so please be careful and check what you are buying first if in doubt by a heatmat that has been produced in the UK and carries a genuine CE approval for example Microclimate, Ultratherm, Habistat, Prorep and the newer Komodo mats.


----------



## alecwood (Apr 3, 2012)

Is it worth the risk just to save a quid per heat mat? I'm not going to say that big brands are good and Chinese eBay stuff is rubbish because it's not true - China's the factory of the world now, and even if not Chinese made, the big brands sell plenty of rubbish stuff too. Personally I only use carbon-impregnated cloth mats, having had three failures in two years I just don't like (or trust) the printed ones, but that's just my personal opinion


----------



## Microclimate (Oct 2, 2012)

i agree with you completely about china being the factory of the world at the moment. However there are massive differences in the industries in china for example most high end electronic products are produced in the Foxconn factory or very similar factories where they are dealing with hundreds of thousands or even millions of units at a time and truth be told the actual product that comes out of these factories are of high quality are all certified correctly in the relevant countries for example Foxconn produce all products for Apple, Sony etc etc. The reptile industry in china is at the opposite end of the scale the industry is tiny in comparison one of the factories in question is actually an old barn in the middle of nowhere when the address is looked up and the products they are producing aren't being made to within the British standards specification or European specification. One way you can find out is if the company in the UK is putting their name on the product it then becomes their responsibility to have the product tested to BS specs, comply with WEE legislation etc so you could always ask the company if they have had the product tested in the UK by a UK test house (costs quite a lot of money for each product) and also if they are registered for WEE. If its been tested and has a test certificate number then the product will be of a quality that is safe to use if they haven't had it tested in the UK for BS specs then i would steer well clear.

Any of the manufacturers above to my knowledge all have their mats made in the UK and all are certified to comply to BS specs so its just personal choice really on the manufacturer of mat that you would prefer to use.


----------

