Grow mat with thermostat for vegetable seed raising

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Grow mat with thermostat for vegetable seed raising - maybe grow lights too

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ubernoob

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#1390889 21-Sep-2015 08:13

Have you been to your local Pet store. Animates comes to mind
They have all sorts of mats/pads tanks and lighting for reptiles that need to be kept around 30 deg usually with thermostat regulation?
All sorts of lighting for aquatic plants to so are insulated for water being about

timmmay

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#1390892 21-Sep-2015 08:21

Interesting idea. The 30W heat pads from trademe are cheaper than the 8W pet ones, but 30W seems like a lot to keep seeds in a container warm. If I had one that large I might need to have it toggle on and off constantly, ideally using a thermostat.

Is there any thermostat that could go into a damp growing box to regulate a mains heat mat? I have a heatermate but they're not meant for wet environments. I may just have to use a timer that turns on and off regularly.

ubernoob

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#1390898 21-Sep-2015 08:32

I'm in the hort trade and when I was an apprentice (cough cough) many moons ago, we had underbench cable heating in our propagation glass houses on thermostats as well as overhead mist systems that kept cuttings wet. The atmosphere in the glass houses was always 90-100% humidity and we never had any issues with electrocuted apprentices, so they are about. I can't recall brand names but maybe nurseries could help.

timmmay

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#1390936 21-Sep-2015 08:48

Thanks :) I'll probably just go for a heat pad and not worry about a thermostat, I'll probably only run it a few weeks a year so no huge cost. My UPS uses that much power even when it's turned off.

MikeAqua

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#1391204 21-Sep-2015 12:43

Just a suggestion - water bed heater: Power supply thermostat and element in one tidy water resistant package.

Not sure how low the thermostats goes.

Mike

timmmay

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#1391352 21-Sep-2015 15:16

Seems too DIY. It's made for immersion, too much hassle to find and risk to get it wrong. Thanks for the thought though. I think a premade heat mat will be the way.

1eStar

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#1391565 21-Sep-2015 22:02

Here's a cheap thermostat with remote probe that should suffice. I grabbed a couple off eBay last year to run oil heaters etc.

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timmmay

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#1391641 22-Sep-2015 07:04

Perfect, thanks star :)

MikeAqua

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#1391723 22-Sep-2015 10:58

Just so you know ..

Most water bed heaters don't immerse. They are thin mats about A3 size that go under the water bed bladder. But they are water resistant.

The temp range is typically about 20C -30C. You put it under your seedling tray, and plug it in (assuming AC power is acceptable).

timmmay: Seems too DIY. It's made for immersion, too much hassle to find and risk to get it wrong. Thanks for the thought though. I think a premade heat mat will be the way.

Mike