Nice! I also use foil and some sheets of styrofoam underneath my heat mats, to try to keep the heat from just flowing out the bottom of the shelf. I like your ideas though and I may have to try something similar with the rope lights. Thanks for sharing this creative solution!

A cheap, effective process that works for me is: I place 2 shop lights, facing up; then plexiglass on top of the lights; then the plants/trays on top of the plexi. Works wonderfully and costs about $20 for 4' of heated surface.

bob

Brandond, did you have a chance to check the temperature increase(or the soil temperature in containers placed on the tiles) you get from using the rope lights? Also, how did you place the 18" ceramic tiles, were they resting directly on top of the rope lights (touching them?). Were they stable, or wobbly?

John

Would the common household heating pad work?

Novascapes, be very careful. Household pads are NOT waterproof; and you are dealing with wet soil. Not a good combination!!

"Novascapes, be very careful. Household pads are NOT waterproof; and you are dealing with wet soil. Not a good combination!!"

Mine are water proof and I thought they had to be. I would hate to think about using one with a child in bed that wasn't. Seems like it would be a lot safer under a plant. But a GFI plug just for safety sake wouldn't be a bad idea either. In a greenhouse all plugs should be GFI's.

Off topic but how do you guy post quotes and put links into you text? I pretty illiterate when in comes to this, and, I guess, a lot more. Mabe a link that I can learn from?

I am using heatmats for the first time this year, so I appreciate the styrofoam/foil tips.

Thanks!!

You can use a heating cable in much the same way as the rope light - cables are much cheaper than heat mats.