Tryingharder,
Any type of heat is essential while PE, whether it’s from a lamp, a heat pad, in a sauna, in a bath…
The more constant heat you apply the more your tissues relaxes and you get a good stretch out of it. If sitting on a heat pad feels good and efficient to you, do it, even though I would recommend wrapping you cock in it instead.
Like with many things here, read about it, try to understand it, try it for yourself if it sounds good to you, try different approaches if necessary and do what works best for you.
PE is a lot about figuring out of for yourself, using as much guidance as possible from reading and exploring thunders.
The search button can be your best friend here, especially as a beginner.
And maybe next time, don’t entitle your thread “newbie question”, be more specific. I’m probably not the only one getting a bit bored sometimes with them.
I see you haven’t measured your girth yet, do it soon, you definitely want to know where you started at.
Good luck