If your using a home heat pad, like he said put it on low, but go get a brings timer (cheap brand around me at walmart) and there for lights to prevent "thefts" to turn on why your away like every 15-30 mins you can set to (well the low, I think you can go up to 6 hours) but the actual timer does run 24 hrs....it well help for the pad not to heat up so much, because they over heat but takes a minute to warm up especially on low so that 15 mins that it's on, it's only giving a jolt of heat kinda lol?