heating crazy big tanks
- Thread starter hardwood07
- Start date
I have 4-300watt visi-therms hooked to a Ranco controller. Tank is 750g sump is 180g. No problems been running it for 3 years? I think temp steady 80 degrees the Ranco kicks on when temp drops 1 degree so it's efficient
On my 1400 gallon system i have 2 heaters a 300 watt, so 600 wat in total, they are set at 26 degrees, and tank temp is 28-29. So they are really not on all that much. I drip cold water. I keep the room at 28-29. So about heating the room, it works.. I do have heating cables in the floor of the room, so they cost a little, but i would have had those anyways, no matter.
IIRC, Arapaimag heats his 52K gallon tank with a natural gas water heater on a heat exchanger and I believe VL Design's 2,600G is also heated via gas heat exchanger.
JohnPTC heats his 10K with 24,000 watts of electric heaters.
Either fuel source can work, it's a matter of choosing what's best for your particular situation; typically electric heaters are cheap and easy to setup, but usually more expensive to run whereas gas heating systems are expensive to setup, but cheaper to run.
Regardless of how you choose to heat, insulating is going to help a lot. Insulation and lids are crucial to keeping your heating costs down.
I run only 1,800 watts (six 300W Jagers on a Ranco Controller) on a ~850G (770G tank + 150G sump) setup. The tank is in an unheated but well insulated room that gets into the low 50s during cold winter nights (outside air temps can get into the upper 20's on colder winter nights). I have no problems maintaining 80F and my heaters cycle on for roughly 4 or 5 hours per day during the winter months to maintain 80F and they had no problem getting up to 86F when I had to treat for Ich. I have 1.5" rigid insulation on the back wall of my tank, around my sump and I have lids on my tank and sump to help keep the heat in.
If you make insulating the tank a prorioty in your design, it's going to save you lots of money over the long run.
JohnPTC heats his 10K with 24,000 watts of electric heaters.
Either fuel source can work, it's a matter of choosing what's best for your particular situation; typically electric heaters are cheap and easy to setup, but usually more expensive to run whereas gas heating systems are expensive to setup, but cheaper to run.
Regardless of how you choose to heat, insulating is going to help a lot. Insulation and lids are crucial to keeping your heating costs down.
I run only 1,800 watts (six 300W Jagers on a Ranco Controller) on a ~850G (770G tank + 150G sump) setup. The tank is in an unheated but well insulated room that gets into the low 50s during cold winter nights (outside air temps can get into the upper 20's on colder winter nights). I have no problems maintaining 80F and my heaters cycle on for roughly 4 or 5 hours per day during the winter months to maintain 80F and they had no problem getting up to 86F when I had to treat for Ich. I have 1.5" rigid insulation on the back wall of my tank, around my sump and I have lids on my tank and sump to help keep the heat in.
If you make insulating the tank a prorioty in your design, it's going to save you lots of money over the long run.
Concur with heating the room. Unless you can insulate the tank as mentioned. It is much more efficient and practical insulate and heat the room. Here's why: The amount of heat loss is proportional to the temp of the outside air because the water in the tank will try to reach an equilibrium the surrounding environment. The way convection works is heat always moves from higher temps to lower temps, not the other way around. If the room is heated your tank heater will spend less time (and energy) heating water because there is less of a differential (or delta) temp difference and less space for the heat to be displaced to. In a manner of speaking. LOL
Heating air is only more expensive if you have to do it continuously. This is why insulation is so important.
Additionally reducing heat transfer from the room to the outside air is simply a matter of insulation.
Insulate and heat the room and you will save more money in the long run than heating the tank alone.
Heating air is only more expensive if you have to do it continuously. This is why insulation is so important.
Additionally reducing heat transfer from the room to the outside air is simply a matter of insulation.
Insulate and heat the room and you will save more money in the long run than heating the tank alone.
