The electrician should be inexpensive and quick as long as your breaker panel is in the garage. Hopefully you have at least one blank breaker slot he can use. It's a matter of taste as well as regulations, but I am perfectly OK with electrical conduits that run on the drywall surface in the garage.
Electrical question !
- Thread starter John Rambo
- Start date
KaiserJeep;1866884; said:
There is always room
There are breakers called 'slims' and 'double slims' that are designed to replace original breakers. Two slims or a double slim will replace one standard breaker. If they are not regionally available due to code restrictions, they can be had from eBay or any online electrical supply. They are a God send for us tinkerers.The first law of Thermodynamics basically states that the energy into a system equals the energy out of a system. It doesn't matter where you add the energy, what matters in our case is at what rate it is leaving. The heat loss of the total gallonage is maximized since it is broken down into smaller volumes (the six tanks). In other words, the heat loss occurs at the surfaces (including sides, etc) of the tanks and sumps. The heat loss would be slower in a single tank system because the surface area to mass ratio would be minimized.
For a garage system, it is best to invest in insulation and then heat it with the rest of the house. Then supplement the tanks with electric heaters.
Actually the best way to save money on heating is to consider the method of heating. Electric heaters are the least efficient way of heating tanks (but the easiest). If you are lucky enough to have natural gas, purchasing a small hot water heater and using the lowest setting will save a ton in the winter. It is also possible to tap into an existing hot water heater with a small DIY heat exchanger.
For a garage system, it is best to invest in insulation and then heat it with the rest of the house. Then supplement the tanks with electric heaters.
Actually the best way to save money on heating is to consider the method of heating. Electric heaters are the least efficient way of heating tanks (but the easiest). If you are lucky enough to have natural gas, purchasing a small hot water heater and using the lowest setting will save a ton in the winter. It is also possible to tap into an existing hot water heater with a small DIY heat exchanger.
CHOMPERS;1868350; said:
You gotta tell me how to do this. I have been p'd that I have gas heater, so i pay for that heater to heat the same water over and over while im not using it. If I could some how heat my aquarium with this, I wouldn't be as peeved. Before I feel in love with fish keeping I was saving to switch my natural gas water heater over to an electric on demand; now its saving for my 240 gallon.
I ran a breeder setup in my garage for a while. I had built and insulated the stands. My 30 gallon tanks used 50 watt heaters, the 55 and 60's used 100 watt heaters and I used 150 watt heaters on the 125 gallon tanks. The tanks were fine even over the winter. I used foam insulation from home depot, it was a 4x8 sheet that was 1 1/2 inches thick that I cut up.
here a picture of the 30 gallon rack that I dont use any more you can see the front covers next to the side of the stand.
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x126/rmslant/P1010146.jpg
I found that without insulation and larger heaters the temp fluctuated more than I liked. As an added bonus when we had a heatwave a few years back. (2 weeks over 100) I didn't loose any fish from the heat and I had several friends that lost fish durring that time.
All the tanks used foam filters powered by air pumps it didn't cost that much to run the setup.
here a picture of the 30 gallon rack that I dont use any more you can see the front covers next to the side of the stand.
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x126/rmslant/P1010146.jpg
I found that without insulation and larger heaters the temp fluctuated more than I liked. As an added bonus when we had a heatwave a few years back. (2 weeks over 100) I didn't loose any fish from the heat and I had several friends that lost fish durring that time.
All the tanks used foam filters powered by air pumps it didn't cost that much to run the setup.
CHOMPERS;1868350; said:
Heating the Space vs the water is ALWAYS the best idea
However I've had much better results with heating a single sump vs multiple tanks seperatly, It takes much longer to change the temperature in (in this case) 360+ gallons vs the 60 in a single tank (mind you all my tanks are in a heated room and require minimal heating but the results have still be very noticable)Not to mention you'd save huge amounts of money on not having to buy 6 heaters and six filters and the electricity that those filters will use will be a huge savings as well.
The most efficent way would be to heat the space and use Bubble filters.. but just doesn't look as cool
Thanks everyone! I had all the materials for months now, but I just started setting up the tanks. Although I am fixed on the fluvals, I am reconsidering my heating situation. If I dont have to use 6 300 watt heaters, I wont even need the electric man. I'll get pics up this weekend. I have 3 tanks set up, the others have small leaks that require patching.
What are your winters like? You may only have to insulate the garage and re-duct if the winters are mild.
Are you going with a single sump and a couple heaters in the sump? You should only run 70% of the max rating for any given residential breaker. This is for continuous load, which is what you will be running.
Look at USMCtankers thread.
You should split pumps and heaters between multiple circuits. If you are going to run 20 amp then you need to rerun the wire to 12AWG. just run another 14AWG and drop in another 15 amp circuit. A little pull chain and an existing construction box from HD or Lowes and you can get the wire fished, and the box cut in quick.
Look at USMCtankers thread.
You should split pumps and heaters between multiple circuits. If you are going to run 20 amp then you need to rerun the wire to 12AWG. just run another 14AWG and drop in another 15 amp circuit. A little pull chain and an existing construction box from HD or Lowes and you can get the wire fished, and the box cut in quick.
