Heating a Drip System... How do you

[West1]

So I am running into the same problems that most new drip system owners do... my tank was at 86* and now its down to 76*! ran and got another 300 watt yesterday.

With that said, has anyone added an inline heater to the actual outlet of the drip system?
What are your thoughts...? any Con's to doing so?

 

[FinHunter101]

I ran into the same prob so here was my solution works good so far.. tapped in my water supply line 3/4" from my well added a Pressure Regulator then reduced down to 1/2 for my Hydor inline Heater then come out the heater with a T compression fitting(Murlock Brand) 1 side of the T is reduced to 1/4" for my 2gph drip emitter the other side of the T goes to my ABS Float Valve in the tank for water changes or evaporation loss. I have a 500gph pump on a Timmer to siphon out my water out for my WC with a ball valve on the Float to stop the float valve from kickin on when the pump kicks on. once the timmer stop i turn the ball valve back on then the Float Valve kicks on filling my tank slowly with the same temp water as in the tank.. I also have a overflow pipe installed inside the tank for excess water from the constant drip system.. a little overkill but loving every minute of the system..

 

[houie925]

I'm planning a drip system and now you have me thinking of building a heat exchanger for my dripline. Small insulated container, many wraps of dripline, and a ceramic heater- the bulb style ones used for reptiles. add a thermostat so it only runs when needed. Or possibly a liquid based one- same concept but using a small reservoir of water to house the coils and a submersible heater


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[JK47]

So I am running into the same problems that most new drip system owners do... my tank was at 86* and now its down to 76*! ran and got another 300 watt yesterday.

With that said, has anyone added an inline heater to the actual outlet of the drip system?
What are your thoughts...? any Con's to doing so?

Yes I have added a inline heater to a drip. It depends on the GPH your running as to how effective it is. I found it's no longer effective beyond 4 GPH with a 300w Hydor inline heater.

I'll snap a pic real quick for ya bro so you can see the plumbing. I use softline to threaded barb fitting to quick disconnect to 1/4" ID.

 

[JK47]

I run my drip systems with fully adjustable GPH, heated and power outage proof. Heres a pic on how to plumb one inline with a 300w.

Give me a call when your ready and I can give you some dos and don'ts for what worked for me.

 

[stempy]

I simply ran a line from my hot water line and cold water line with valve on each line going into a 't' so I could control the temp of the water being dripped, works perfect. I was actually able to take the water more to the hot side and unplug my heaters so I now use FAR less electricity and keep a rock solid temp in the tank.

 

[Rayne]

^ Thats how I would do it. Seems the simplest solution and is far cheaper in the long run. Only thing I might add would be to use a temperature mixing valve.

 

[rbarn]

FYI: Water out of hot water heaters has lots of contaminants and hot water will destroy an R/O membrane. (even just luke warm is not good for them)

 

[DIDYSIS]

I run a cold and hot line and love the ability to let the hot water heater which uses gas to heat my huge tank. My heaters do not run at all anymore. And get unlimited fresh water for the fish, highly recommend the hot and cold line drip system, With them on different valves I can have whatever flow I want, but be warned it takes some time to adjust and get the proper settings that will be best for your setup at first you will have need to watch it close to make sure your not too hot or too cold. I do not run an RO unit and I have been running this system for a good long while with expensive fish and all are really well.

 

[West1]

Yes I have added a inline heater to a drip. It depends on the GPH your running as to how effective it is. I found it's no longer effective beyond 4 GPH with a 300w Hydor inline heater.

I'll snap a pic real quick for ya bro so you can see the plumbing. I use softline to threaded barb fitting to quick disconnect to 1/4" ID.

Just went the easy route and added a 250 watt. No problems since, Thanks buddy

I simply ran a line from my hot water line and cold water line with valve on each line going into a 't' so I could control the temp of the water being dripped, works perfect. I was actually able to take the water more to the hot side and unplug my heaters so I now use FAR less electricity and keep a rock solid temp in the tank.

I have read more Con's than Pros with this, if its from a Water Heater. Becareful pal