[M_D]

We maintain the drum about 2/3 to 3/4 full. There is definitely a difference in how much heating power you need to rapidly heat the liquid versus maintain the temperature once it reachs the peak. We leave ours on 24/7 because we anodize all the time. When we occasionally change sealer, we do that in the afternoon and the next morning it is fully heated and ready to go.

So if you need quick warm ups because you don't anodize all of the time, then you might want more heating power. But the insulation still helps a lot, the solutions heat up quicker and it requires less heating power.

The kind we use is a flexible foam which comes on rolls. It is commonly used for wrapping and padding products for packaging, and is used a sill seals for buildings.