Most efficient Aquarium heater?

[Abyss]

With the cost of living crisis hitting hard, I'm just trying to make sure all of my equipment is the most efficient it can be.

I've put energy monitoring plugs on all my equipment.

My filters (2x Eheim 2080) are superb. My Arcadia lights are okay, and my wavemaker are okay too. But my heaters use like 4x the power of everything else combined.

I know they probably just the way it is...but are there any really energy efficient heaters out there? I suspect I already have two of the best (2x 300w Eheim heaters) but just want to check.

Thanks.

 

[esoxlucius]

You're right, it's just the way it is with heaters. The obvious thing to do is go cold water so you never need them, but of course that is rather drastic.

The next best thing to do is to choose fish that don't require the "usual" tropical temps and are quite happy living in slightly cooler temps. But this isn't for everyone either.

The only option left, and what a lot of hobbyists strive for, is to minimise heat loss out of their tanks. This can be done with styrofoam sheets for insulation. Your heaters will still come on, but because of the insulation the loss of water temp won't be as great and so the heaters won't come on as much, thus saving money.

Don't worry too much about it, we're all in the same boat regarding heaters. They're a real pain in these uncertain times regarding the energy crisis.

 

[fishguy1978]

It’s the way they are. Best is to have more heater than you need to minimize the time they run.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

but are there any really energy efficient heaters out there? I

Not really, the only mainstream options are all just resistive electric heaters, which are only 100% efficient. There are other heating options like insulating and heating the room, then you've got things like heat pumps, gas heaters etc. It's kind of annoying there aren't any of those more efficient options available for directly heating the tanks though.

Even something like a couple peltier elements heating a block the water is pumped through should be better. They're pretty poor efficiency at cooling, but should be more than 100% efficient heating.

There are some small heat pump water heaters, but nothing I can find that could be directly used for a fish tank, and hacking up a whole giant water cylinder $2000 water cylinder seems a bit of a waste, and overkill.

 

[Fishman Dave]

Some heaters state 200w or 300w but over time you may find them pulling more than this as they age, others you may find pulling less. Obviously the amount of time the heater is on is the main issue so the warmer the room, the less time the tank heater is on. But that’s only money saved if the room was to be heated in the first place. Painting polystyrene sheets black (if you use black backing) and sticking the tank almost in a three sided box of styrene would stop it loosing heat but it works both ways, it stops it picking up heat from a warm room too.

One last thing to consider is where you position the heater. Most folks put one heater in a corner.
If your gonna use just one - put it half way along the tank. Or alternatively, use two, one at a third in from each end If it’s a real long tank or no circulation.