This past weekend I searched online and offline for the best deals in heating pads.

To my disappointment, there were no deals to be found.

Gone are the good old days of one-temperature-heats-all charred plastic heating pads. No, today the big box stores carry super foam, moist and dry heat pads with six different temperature settings and safety-first auto shut-off switches.

Great for a bad back, but not so great for starting seeds.

Time for a little Math 101:
The average heating pad is 12″ x 15″ and cost around twenty to twenty-five bucks. The CPPC (Cat-Proof Protection Chamber) is approximately 24″ x 48.” Each flat of seeds would need one heating pad, possibly one and a half.
Estimated heating pad cost: $40 - $60.

Then the boyfriend and I popped into Midwest Hydroponic and Homebrew. The space and the staff were anything but welcoming. However, there are advantages to being ignored.

After I located the hydroponics section, I was able to unpackage, and thus, fully inspect my mat options. Some were flat and thin as mylar. Others were thick and foamy. Depending on the brand, an 11″ x 24″ propagation cost around $30. The largest mat, the 22″ x 44″ Fast-Gro behemoth was $67.95.

I could pay less and struggle to outsmart the auto shut-off. Or I could pay a little more and line the entire floor of the CPPC with toasty goodness.

I walked to the counter with my new Fast-Gro bottom heating propagation mat in hand.

The cashier looked me up and down. “You know this is $67.95, right?”

I handed him my credit card. “Yeah, don’t remind me.”

Total heating pad cost: $72.37.

When I got home, I discovered that my new purchase was actually bigger than the CPPC. The actual product dimentions are more like 26″ x 48″ with a heating surface of 22″ x 44.” It took two people to lift up the CPPC and slide the mat underneath.

So much fuss for such little seeds!

Last night, I reread my seed packets. It seems that my peppers are a little more persnickety than your average seed. To properly germinate, they need a constant 80 degree soil temperature.

The instructions recommended using a seed heating pad. I was completely flummoxed. A heating pad for SEEDS?

Who knew such a thing existed?

Do you use a heating pad? Is this a total gimmick or totally worth the investment?