Here comes winter!

[Racersk]

It's starting to cool down now and with the tanks in he garage and a sump swap planned, I wanted to get some water heating ideas going...

Here's the current set up:
-one 90G
-one 125G
-two 45 show's
one 20 gallon sump with a huge 'bio tower' with ~400W of glass heater in the bottom next to the pumps.


The new sump will be a 37gallon tank and I'm planning on setting up baffles. With one of my concerns being the heating of all this water. I was thinking x2 300W Titaniums, or even bigger, but starting to think outside the box here. Anyone ever set up a home style (or RV style) hot water tank heaters? Like running a small pump that runs water through a copper heating coil in the sump?


Let get some grand ideas out there, as I need to get rid of those glass heaters that I seem to pop ever 3-4 months!

 

[wildman6809]

That might work ok but i dont know about cost effectiveness. You could make it a closed loop with a recirculating pump and when a controller calls for heat the pump comes on and hot water flows through the pipe under water in sump ( like a chiller works). You would want to insulate the pipe from the hot water tank to the sump. This might work.

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[DIDYSIS]

Run a Hot water line and a hot water drip into the system will add allot of added heat.

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[Racersk]

That might work ok but i dont know about cost effectiveness. You could make it a closed loop with a recirculating pump and when a controller calls for heat the pump comes on and hot water flows through the pipe under water in sump ( like a chiller works). You would want to insulate the pipe from the hot water tank to the sump. This might work.

Pretty much what I was thinking...Closed loop system with a pump. I like the idea of a thermo switch for the pump too-great idea! Now how big of a hot water heater should i be looking for? I'm warming 250-300 gallons of mostly covered tanks. I have gas plumbed to the garage alreadyso I can get either a gas or electric water heater. I was thinking like a little 12 gallon RV type of heater... thoughts?

 

[Racersk]

Run a Hot water line and a hot water drip into the system will add allot of added heat.

I am planning an overflow for the sump, but currently, not a constant overflow, but one in case of emergencies or power outs-just draining out of the garage not down the garage floor(like now)

Plus I'm looking for a system that does not interact with the water in the tanks at this time.

 

[wildman6809]

I dont think the drip will add what you think for heat. Also what if it gets too hot i think dripping hot water is a no go. As for gas water heater i would get a small high efficiency with a power vent so you dont have to worry about the fumes. You may need to flush the water once and a while to keep it clean but i guess it doesnt matter

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[Racersk]

I have rethought the idea, and instead of trying to reinvent the wheel...(I saw how much water heaters are!) I think I'm going with a 4' -6 ft universal baseboard type heater. I have 220VAC and I think keeping the garage at a consistent 65-68* should be fine for all the fish I have to overwinter. They have before and its been pretty cold out here.

 

[dhardwick]

Look up some of VLDesign's threads he used his hot water heater to heat his tank seemed to work well

 

[Oughtsix]

An electric hot water heater external to the sump will never be as efficient as a submersed heater in the sump. If you have a natural gas water heater you may get a benefit from your copper coil idea.

Heating the tank water directly will be more efficient than heating the air and having the air indirectly heat the water.

The best way to reduce tank heating costs is to reduce tank evaporation. Covers on the tanks and sump would be a considerable help in reducing heating costs.