Waterproof heating cables

I'm talking about the super sensitive GFCIs you see in bathrooms, also in Erik's case they make them in 3 way adapters. What you are resetting is the circuit breaker and the only way that trips is if the circuit draws more current than the rating of the breaker. GFCIs trip when there is a minute difference between outgoing vs incoming current in the circuit.

oh, OK, thanks for that explanation.

So...gotta ask.
How come people have the bathroom-type on the exterior of their home?

Barb

oh, OK, thanks for that explanation.

So...gotta ask.
How come people have the bathroom-type on the exterior of their home?

Barb

It's electrical code in the United States. Anywhere where moisture is present, i.e. garage, bathroom, kitchen, outside needs GFCI outlets. Normal people don't use the outlets when it's wet outside. Remember, we're abnormal with power cords running everywhere. 😯

My ol' double wide is too old to have them, even in the bathroom.
I left the one in place out in the Sabal bed for now and will re-evaluate over the next week or so, when it finally becomes necessary. The Chammie and the palm hut don't have them--just the Sabal. --Erik
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving! I'm giving thanks for needle palms in cold weather 😀

Yes, Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends.

Canadian Thanksgiving was mid-October...still wearing that meal on my hips 😕

Bill,
don't log off! I need your insight.

The 250 watt light (designed for chickens, don't ya know 😆 ) is in the palm hut (other thread, with photo).
Too much? It alone draws more current than all four heat tapes, by a lot. Good thing they are on different circuits.
Part of why I like the pipe heating cable is that it draws very little current, compared to heating with light bulbs which seems inefficient to me as so much of the juice gets wasted making "light." I just want heat, in moderate amounts. The heat tape seems the best way to do that. If I lived up north, I'd use more heaters--ceramic or oil--not lights.
I keep figuring I'm missing something, though, as everyone else uses the C-9 lights. I even bought a string of them but for the life of me I can't figure out how to use them usefully so they just sit there in their box.

--Erik

Erik

I think the first thing you want to decide is....what are your overwintering goals.

Do you want to save ALL the leaves?
If you do then obviously you need to decide what protection (as Bill said)fits with your area.

These all don't need to be in any order actually but should all be decided before you build-
you obviously don't want heating cables in a small house enclosure like Barb uses,you need a small
heater with a blower for that.

The thing I see with heating cables is,they warm the area they touch,right?
What about the rest of the palm?

Do they give off enough heat to warm an enclosure that is more than an inch or two away
from the surface of the palm?

Don't know,I haven't used them but I wouldn't think so.

For me,I have a limited amount of wattage I can pull from my house(apt),that actually is
a benefit because I can't go to crazy planting every dang cold hardy palm and cactus out there!

I also don't want to pay a fortune of my utility bills,so this year I am insulating better and using less wattage-
actually less than last year with 10 more enclosures.

I will post some pics of what I made/did this year in another thread,maybe it's not for everyone.

We are all advancing this cold hardy gardening hobby so fast with all of us sharing ideas on forums like this-
anyway,you have already seen what I am trying,basically like the Washy enclosures only smaller. 😀

Stefano,
thank you for sharing your protection methods here.
Of the various palm forums, this one is the best for exchanging winter protection ideas.
As with you, and Duncan (in Canada--he was -23 oC today!), I use the thermostat controlled pipe heating cable.
I'll place mine in the next few days and will share photos.
--Erik
P.S. -- congrats on the shark pups!

Dear Erik,

I have also bought some hessian to cover all the trunks as you did, so the heating cables shouldn't disperse the heat.
Today morning at 800 am I registered 2 °C, the heating cables were running and they never seemed too hot, but a little warm, in fact 30 watt aren't a lot of energy. It means that heating cables will not burn the palms.

I have really enjoyed this thread, and want to keep it going to share successes and failures with this method.

Jim,
key question about goals. If I want to keep all foliage on a palm, I bring it inside the house! Or at least construct a heated palm hut over it. For the rest, I really just want to keep the growth bud/spear alive; surviving foliage is a bonus. My avatar Butia has had to put up with this maltreatment for years. It does NOT get any electric heat, just cover. It is always defoliated but recovers quickly in my hot summers. My Chammie had to deal with that for a few years as well. Last winter, as an experiment, it got a short (3' / 1 metre / 6 watt) heat tape for it
(Amazon.com details:
http://www.amazon.com/M-D-Building-Products-4309-Thermostat/dp/B0006VAMRE/ref=pd_sim_hi_2 )
which actually let it keep most foliage despite air temps to -16 oC and several days with highs below freezing. The Chammie had its best growth year ever this year as it could start growing earlier in Spring. So, Jim, at least down here, I think the little bit of heat on the trunk/spear did help the foliage.

I am using more of it this year (details on posts above). I'll let you know come Spring how it worked for me. Please leave the Sabal palmetto out of the trial though--I am pretty sure it is doomed no matter what 🙁

Stefano, please let us all know your experiences with this type of product.

In response to information about the hardiness of Sabal "Louisiana" on another thread, I added heat cable to it today. Because I am curious about heat cable, I bought a different brand than the MD brand made here in Oklahoma. I bought it at my neighbourhood farm store ("Tractor Supply Company" or TSC) when I was picking up a heated chicken waterer (background in photo below). Farm stores are full of winter protection supplies every Autumn.

This pipe heating cable looks more like what Stefano is using. It is made in New Jersey and so might be more available out East. It seems to be generally similar. The thermostat is at the end, so you have to place that where you want air temps measured. For pipes, it is expected that you wrap insulation over it. I use hessian as I don't want plant tissue to get too hot, but that is probably overly cautious. These cables come on at about 38 oF and max. out at about 95 oF or so--the manufacturers don't specify, they just imply that.

I now have five heat cables running off one circuit. I have to double check the load, but it is much less than the load on the other outlet powering the "palm hut." If it works for Stefano and I this winter, pipe heating cable might be a good idea for others who need some heat but not a lot.

--Erik

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href=" http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Z7KpxkyZrh-dRLp6QPcIMg?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" " height="640" width="383" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href=" http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/December2010?feat=embedwebsit e">December 2010</a></td></tr></table>

Just have to see how it works..........it may also be that you don't need anything.

Hello everyone! Im new here 😀
It will take me some days before i have time to look around this forum but when i have i will start spamming!

Stefano, i havnt read all the posts so maybe someone else have told you? Dont cross the heatingcable. There are a few types of heatingcables you can do that to but never recommended. They will normally get to warm and melt and cause a fire.

Im sitting here worrying about my palms outside. Its now -15!!!!! And inside my protection for my Butia its -9.6 degrees. I had some trouble with a temp. sensor and when i fixed it i got a chock! So i turned on my heatingcable, it was off because i thought it was warmer, but after 2h the temp is still unchanged so i just throwed in a candel...

I guess its dead 😳

Cold greatings from Sweden
/Frisk

Frisk,
welcome!
Please start an "introduction" thread to show us your cool palms and how you protect them in climates as cold as Canada has.
As for your comments, I agree that -10 oC is not good for Butia but not hopeless either. I think it can recover. My avatar Butia has seen worse several times. It does not like it, but always recovers.

I didn't say anything earlier about crossing heat cable, but you are correct that the instructions specify clearly not to do that. So, I try to avoid it. It occasionally happens anyway as they slip but I have never had a problem. Still, I try to correct that when I notice it. I am trying three different models this year. All give the same warning, but maybe the model Stefano uses does not have that problem. He had an electrician help him, who would presumably have let him know if it was a problem with the particular one he was installing.

--Erik

Frisk in Sweden, welcome to Palms North.

-9.6C Butia is a good time to join 😉
Hope it surprises you by living and that your heating cable stays on.

My LaCrosse remote thermometer is terrible too, each day for a few hours it reads "--" 👿

Once your cold emergency is over, we'd love to see some pictures.
Good luck with the Butia heat.

Barb

Welcome to the forum, Frisk! I used to browse the Norwegian palm website ScanPalm, but it doesn't seem to be in operation anymore!

Hi Erik, what is the wattage of that heating cable?
I will inform all of you about the results when in spring at 20°C I will se how reallt the palms are.

Regards
Stefano

Stefano,
it varies by length, and also among different manufacturers for the same length.
All are quite low. My one trial with Christmas lights uses 125 watts for a single string, which I think is as much as all of my pipe heating cables combined.
I'll record them when I get home if W has not discarded the packaging while I am away.

I have also been taking photos of ornamental Cycads growing here which I cannot identify. One is nearly as big as the Cycas you have.

I'll try to take shark photos for you today (nurse sharks).
One of these years you and I should meet up to swim with whale sharks!
--Erik