Side Mounted UTH with an insulation foam background?

[Sundrop10]

I have a 50 gallon tank with a custom insulation foam background (aka the same stuff u see with vivarium building for dart frogs, geckos, etc) and as the weather gets chilly, I’m worried about heating. I have a heat lamp going with a dimmer rn, but I’d much prefer to use a UTH in the long run so it can be warm without disturbing day/night cycles. Does anyone with a similar setup have one?? Does the insulation foam prevent the heat from absorbing into the tank??

[GotButterflies]

You can always use the UTH on the side of the tank

[Xenocrab]

We have UTHs on the back and one side of all our tanks. It gets really cold during the winter months and the side heater really helps.

[wodesorel]

It probably will affect the amount of heat coming through, but with a good quality UTH that is large enough you may be able to get away with just it for heating, or at the very least a smaller wattage of bulb. I would sugges the largest Ultratherm or Flukers brand pad that covers the back. I'm honestly not sure if I would recommend insulating it further than that since sandwhiching it could cause it to overheat. One side should have an easy outlet for the heat to dissipate.