The Six Do’s and Don’ts of Installing a Waterbed Heater

1. Before you even touch the heater make sure you read the instructions on or with your heater, doing so should keep you safe. Remember “The life you save may be your own”.
2. Make sure you are using the right heater. If the waterbed is 7” or deeper we recommend you use a heater in the area of 300-400 watts. For shallower fill waterbeds, we recommend that you use less than 200 watts. Heaters usually have instructions printed that indicates what type of beds they can be used with. Using use a high watt heater in a shallow bed and you can start a fire.
3. A common mistake waterbed owners make is installing the waterbed  it in the wrong location.
   1. They should always be put on a solid, flat deck.
   2. The heater should always go under the safety liner.
   3. Make sure heater is not positioned over any seams in the decking or knots holes. The uneven surface can flex and breakdown the heating element or air from underneath the heating pad can cause hot spots which can burnout your heater.
   4. Never put the heating pad to close to the edge of the bed. A comforter or mattress pad tucked under the water mattress and on top of the heating pad traps heat from the heater and causes a burn out.
   5. If you hide your money under the mattress make sure it’s not on top of your heating pad or you will literally be burning money.
   6. Never position your heating pad across the bed. Not only can it damage the heater but also if you have Dual Bladders and lay the heating pad cross ways under both bladders, air from the gap between the two bladders meet will cause a burnout. Always position the pad lengthwise under one bladder only.
4. A waterbed heater must have water to operate properly. Air is the heaters worse enemy. It is designed to have its heat absorbed by the water in a water mattress.  Water absorbed heat much faster than air.
5. When installing a heater make sure all the wrinkles in the bladder and safety liner are removed from the area directly above and in contact with the heating pad. These wrinkles have air in them and this traps heat. Side not: We have seen wrinkles burn heating pads in half.
6. Make sure your mattress is not under filled. If there is not enough water the heater cannot get rid of or dissipate the heat quick enough. Be very careful with the free flow mattresses, concentrated weight in one spot can force the top of the mattress against the bottom forcing out the water. If done over a heater pad  for an extended period the mattress, liner, and heater can over heat and burn, bond, or weld together.

The above heater information are direct results of not reading the installation instructions that come with or on it. If you don’t read them you can get burned.