We are not impressed with this pad. We are using this for the outdoor stray cats now that the weather is cold. The past 3 days we have used this pad and it barely heats up. The wire around the cord is excellent at preventing any of our kittens and cats from chewing on the cord. (before we put this outside, two of our kittens where trying to bite it) This is a very basic pad with no type of controls and no information about how long this remains on when plugged in or if it is on. I don't think this thing is Energy Star rated and with the price of electricity here in Ohio, this is VERY important as we intend on using this 24/7 for the duration of the cold.Since there is no controller for this the only way to turn it off is to unplug it. We purchased this for outdoor use so it has to be able to withstand the elements. We have this under our porch which is partially covered over and though we have had two days of rain, it seems to hold up with indirect moisture. It has been in the twenties the past couple of nights and this pad warms up slightly but doesn't seem to stay on all night. We have unplugged it and re-plugged the cord in to restart the unit because a number of times, the pad was not on and the cat moved off this to the self heating pad. (not a product of this manufacturer)We are going to purchase a different product featured by this same company which claims to be controllable by a Bluetooth app. So far we have not been impressed with this item and reading the other reviews, we are hoping that the other unit holds up to use. I hope this helps.UPDATE 11\13\23: This item has been working but the temperature is very low, particularly when the cold is below freezing. We have decided to keep this since we have been using it since we received it.Further update 12\29\23: We have had some bitter cold days lately here in Ohio. We have outdoor cameras to monitor the strays and we noticed the one stray stays for many hours sleeping on the mat. When we restock the food and water we have noticed that the mat is very warm. I even warmed my hands on it! While there is room for improvement, we have given this a third star today from our experience. The mat seems to warm to a comfortable temperature when there is weight on it but otherwise it seems to have a standby mode and so far, not a lot of electric usage.Update 1\1\25: I am upgrading my recommendation. I have had no trouble using this pad continuously since November. We have an outdoor stray gray cat that uses this every day and has made himself to home on our porch. He has respiratory problems and he’s constantly sneezing all over it. I have had to unzip the cover and wash it nearly every other week and yet the cover and heating pad still works fine. The heating pad cover is holding up to the normal wash cycle of our front load washer. Also, I have washed it in the gentle cycle, the sanitary cycle and the allergen cycle and the cover has held up without any problems. The cover still looks brand new, and the heating pad has not failed yet. I have been running this daily for three months now and the heating pad is holding up very well. I’m thinking of adding a second heating pad because we have another stray cat that is on our porch daily also. I will include pictures as soon as I can.1\8\25: I added pictures of ( first set followed by a solo shot of the separated area ) Greys pad before cleaning today and after cleaning. The solo photo is Marbles pad that we keep separated so Grey cannot pick on him. I put padding using a self heating mat and cotton towels around Grey's area since he stays here continuously. These mats do not consume a lot of electricity and I keep them plugged in constantly, because they activate when the cats are laying on the mats only. The mats are pressure, sensitive, and activate when there is enough weight on them. The rolled up mat that I have is actually heavy enough that it stays warm underneath it and Grey likes resting his head against it when he’s laying on the mat.01\08\25 Grey’s bed before washing, I removed the cover and used a cotton towel to cover while washing. The solo bed picture is Marble’s separated new bed I purchased from Amazon and received 01\04\25. And the after washing photo. I have put rolled up towels, weighed door draft blockers and a rolled up self warming map to try to buffer Grey from the cold. The first photo is from our security camera.These mats are only 50 watt consumption and while they take a while to warm up, they do work and best of all they do not raise my electric bill. I have used Grey’s mat continuously since November 2024 and I’ve been using that mattress off and on since I purchased it two years ago. I have to say I’m actually very surprised how well it is working to date. I do not recommend using the inflation tube since air in it seems to actually prevent the heater from detecting when my cat is on it. Worse, once you put air in it, it seems to actually allow more air in as it is stepped off and on by the cat.