Heat mats for concrete floors

[Mate Dave]

Butyl pond-liners will turn an upstairs bedroom into a swimming pool if your brave enough.

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Butyl pond-liners will turn an upstairs bedroom into a swimming pool if your brave enough.

... or a loft... After too many accidents with my homebrewed NFT systems, I put pond liner in all loft grows, seems stupid and OTT till you unexpectedly step into a "new pond" up there when you go and check the girls.



For the OP, with any heater mat on the floor you need to put insulation below it anyway, or else you will be blazing most of your heat into the surrounding ground. You also need to interrupt the power supply with a Thermostat. Use a remote probe and put it in the bottom of one of your pots ( a typical average one, not one by a fan or heater..) Put a Thermometer in around the same place to get a genuine readout of the rootzone temp and adjust your Thermostat till you get the desired Rootzone temps.

 

[stoned-trout]

I have done it before...last resort tho...worked fine...my thermostat had remote probe that I stuck in the middle in a pot....still got the mats and thermostat..altho now shrooms enjoy em ....lol...heating cables can be utilized also if your creative...I don't miss the snow and cold much

 

[Mate Dave]

I just use a hanna meter in the pots to get the ideal temps. Had it since my catering days...

http://www.hotboxhydroponics.co.uk/products/oakton-min-max-memory-thermometer/66/cat

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LZX-Digital...eywords=water+temperature++sensor++hygrometer

The hotbox heatwave comes in 2 types, there is the standard unit and one for Zimbabwe with a lower overall temperature.

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Yes, exactly the things I was on about. I have a few since LIDL did them on offer for a few Euros, they might be cheap as chips, but so far all are reliable and read the same as each other.

Just like professional catering ovens and no doubt most other things, never trust your pride and joy with a thermostat´s temperature dial, always check the actual results with a separate Thermometer.

 

[TedNugget]

Are you going to ever get water on the floor? Are the interlocking floor mats water proof? If so, and if not, you're going to have a huge moldy mess under the mats. Good luck. -granger

Yeah I was worried about this too. I have saucers for underneath the pots but they are a pain to empty after each watering.
Wouldn't I possibly run I to the same problem with a sub floor?
Would a layer of plastic over the flooring (as mentioned) be the way to solve this problem?
(Sorry if this is a stupid question... lol)

 

[Jhhnn]

Yeah I was worried about this too. I have saucers for underneath the pots but they are a pain to empty after each watering.
Wouldn't I possibly run I to the same problem with a sub floor?
Would a layer of plastic over the flooring (as mentioned) be the way to solve this problem?
(Sorry if this is a stupid question... lol)

It's not a stupid question. If you want to go that way, I'd suggest EPDM pond liner, like this-

http://www.pondliner.com/c-12-firestone-pondgard-45-mil-epdm-pond-liners.aspx

It's extremely tough & durable. Cut it a bit oversize, lay it down smooth, fold the corners & tack it up to the walls a few inches above the floor.

 

[wildgrow]

Have you got the ceiling height to get them higher off the floor? Go night 'shopping' for milk crates. Or you can buy small buckets/crates at $1 stores. Put a foam tile on the milk crate, saucer, pot - now your 2-3x as high off the floor as the pallets.

 

[Mikell]

I love "shopping" at night

 

[Granger2]

Jhhnn hit it. I've been using 45 mil pond liner for 9 years. No problems. Just install it right. Make sure it's well sealed all around. I used 2 sided tape under [not much] and on both sides of a bend and all around edge. Then I used Gorilla tape all around for sealing. Ain't all that purdy, but it has held up with not one problem. Only thing is a few times added a little more G. tape in a few spots. Careful about dropping scissors or pruners on it. In that worst case just get the most basic [bicycle] inner tube patch kit. Good luck. -granger