Do pumps generate a lot of heat?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I had a heater in my tank because it dropped below acceptable temperature during winter. But when I removed my old broken external filtration and replaced it with a new filtrationsystem with the waterpump in the tank and filtration outside I could remove my heater since it newer dropped below the heaters set temperature.
So when I set up my black water tank I didn't get a heater for it, instead I hoped for my internal filter to keep it warm enough, and it did :)
 
TheRudeDevil;4430130; said:
I had a heater in my tank because it dropped below acceptable temperature during winter. But when I removed my old broken external filtration and replaced it with a new filtrationsystem with the waterpump in the tank and filtration outside I could remove my heater since it newer dropped below the heaters set temperature.
So when I set up my black water tank I didn't get a heater for it, instead I hoped for my internal filter to keep it warm enough, and it did :)
Click to expand...

nice. i have a few extra low watt heaters that i was planning on throwing into the sump so the temp doesn't get too low, but i think i am going to try and not get a new more powerful heater for my setup and monitor the temps and see what happens. Between the weak heaters and pump i think the tank will remain sufficiently heated...
 
This is an old post and ended up with people bickering like children over heaters being same as pumps.
Some even said you can't heat your tank with a pump. Noobs

Short answer is YES pumps do heat up the tank.

The smaller the tank the more it will raise the temp.

Can you use the pump to heat the tank? - Yes you can. I've had many african Cichlid tanks where I only had a heater for (Just in case) but never actually used it. How is this possible? Well you have the room temp, lights and pump. I just happened to be lucky where the heat produced from those devices gave my 70 gallon the perfect temperature. It never varied much over 5 years. My home has a furnace and air conditioner so my home temperature never varied much. If I turned off my pumps my tank temps would drop a few degrees. So the pump and lights added just enough heat. No chiller needed.

The speed of the water flow creates heat via friction. Use the largest diameter pipes possible, this will decrease the velocity within the pipes and you will lose less flow to friction and create less heat within the pipes. No pipe is too large, I like to use 1 inch PCV for all my plumbing. 3/4 will do. 1/2 is getting puny unless you have very low gph.

You want to put the reducer at the end of the line (to produce faster flow (if wanted) in the tank.

So if you want to heat it a bit more use submersible pumps with narrow 1/2 inch hose. 3/4 will give more flow and pump will produce less heat (will be more efficient)

External pumps in theory put less heat into the water but they do produce lots of heat under the tank which needs to be blow out via fans or it will heat the water in the sump or from bottom of tank.

I swapped external pumps on my 330 marine tank (doubled my flow to 2000) but my temps went up 3 degrees due to the increased velocity within the pipes. I have a chiller so was able to compensate.
 
RAJOD said:
This is an old post and ended up with people bickering like children over heaters being same as pumps.
Some even said you can't heat your tank with a pump. Noobs

Short answer is YES pumps do heat up the tank.

The smaller the tank the more it will raise the temp.

Can you use the pump to heat the tank? - Yes you can. I've had many african Cichlid tanks where I only had a heater for (Just in case) but never actually used it. How is this possible? Well you have the room temp, lights and pump. I just happened to be lucky where the heat produced from those devices gave my 70 gallon the perfect temperature. It never varied much over 5 years. My home has a furnace and air conditioner so my home temperature never varied much. If I turned off my pumps my tank temps would drop a few degrees. So the pump and lights added just enough heat. No chiller needed.

The speed of the water flow creates heat via friction. Use the largest diameter pipes possible, this will decrease the velocity within the pipes and you will lose less flow to friction and create less heat within the pipes. No pipe is too large, I like to use 1 inch PCV for all my plumbing. 3/4 will do. 1/2 is getting puny unless you have very low gph.

You want to put the reducer at the end of the line (to produce faster flow (if wanted) in the tank.

So if you want to heat it a bit more use submersible pumps with narrow 1/2 inch hose. 3/4 will give more flow and pump will produce less heat (will be more efficient)

External pumps in theory put less heat into the water but they do produce lots of heat under the tank which needs to be blow out via fans or it will heat the water in the sump or from bottom of tank.

I swapped external pumps on my 330 marine tank (doubled my flow to 2000) but my temps went up 3 degrees due to the increased velocity within the pipes. I have a chiller so was able to compensate.
Click to expand...

The total energy used by the pump will generate heat, flow, and sound though the sound most pumps create uses very little energy. If you set it up to create more heat, through additional friction and the pump itself heating up more due to increased resistance, you are either increasing the energy used in powering the pump or reducing the flow by using more of the available energy to generate heat. It's more efficient and controllable to use a pump that provides adequate flow through appropriately sized pipes with minimal friction and use a heater in addition to the pump.


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I wonder if this will work with HOBS. It seems most cases have are with sumps and over flows.


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The friction of water in the pipes causes heat? Are you kidding? The electric motor is what causes the heat. Granted, the water movement is going to cause a LITTLE bit of friction heat but not enough to measure. You use lubricants to get rid of friction. Water is a lubricant in this case. That is a very funny statement. Anything that uses electricity is going to produce some heat. Even freezers.
 
If they are in the water, watts are watts. The water doesn't care what device is used to create them.

Another thing to consider here too. A 150 watt heater doesn't stay on 24/7 unless it's an extreme situation. A 150 watt pump stays on pretty much continuously.


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rodger said:
The friction of water in the pipes causes heat? Are you kidding? The electric motor is what causes the heat. Granted, the water movement is going to cause a LITTLE bit of friction heat but not enough to measure. You use lubricants to get rid of friction. Water is a lubricant in this case. That is a very funny statement. Anything that uses electricity is going to produce some heat. Even freezers.
Click to expand...

I thought it was completely bogus too but after reading some accounts it's possible maybe you should try it as an experiment.


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