<HTML>In a message dated 7/13/01 5:49:27 PM Central Daylight Time, pianolover88@hotmail.com (pianolover 88) writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Should the two rods feel hot to the touch? We're not talkin hot enough to burn your hand, but hot. They BOTH rods feel equally hot, even though one is  only 25W, while the other, 48" rod is 50W.</BLOCKQUOTE> Don't worry, that is perfectly normal.  They feel hotter than they really are.  If you grab hold of one, it feels shockingly hot at first but if you hold it just for a moment or two longer, it becomes tolerable. You wouldn't be able to put your hand on a 50 W light bulb.  Even a 25 W one would burn you.  There is the same amount of heat from the light bulbs as there is from the dehumidifier rods.  The difference is that because of the much larger area (in square inches) of the rod, the heat is dissipated in a much less concentrated area.  The reason the smaller 25 W rod feels about as hot as the 50 W rod is because it is smaller, so the heat from it is more concentrated. It is a good idea to tell the customer that is they touch the rod, it may feel very hot but that is normal.  If you install lots of them, you're bound to get a hysterical call from someone who thinks it will start a fire and burn the house down.  It's happened to me many times.  You just have to calmly tell the customer it is not as hot as it may seem and it is normal.   It also doesn't help to have certain people in your area who will jump on this kind of hysteria and tell the customer to "unplug that damn thing!   It'll void the warranty!"  You just have to project an air of confidence in what you say. Regards, Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin</HTML>