Switching To Warm Water Auto Drip - What Valving To Use?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
T

tanglovers

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Dec 28, 2007
528
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Michigan
Hi All,

I am currently running a drip system on my main ray tank and love it. I am currently dripping all cold water though which in turn means that my heater runs longer which is counter productive.

I would like to switch to dripping a warm water (say around about 80 degrees). I have looking into tempering valves but the ones I found have the lowest setting of around 95-100 degrees.

Anyone have a good solution / valve setup for this? I have had the idea of using a utility sink faucet and just adjusting by hand but unsure if this is the best route or not.

Thanks!
 
It is expensive to go that route. I just have a coil of tubing that the water goes through from the faucet so by time it hits my tank it is pretty much room temp and doesn't make the heaters do that much more work. It was alot more practical for me and depending on what speed drip you use, the water could be room temp by the time it hits the tank water anyways. Just something to keep in mind.
 
Hey Scott,

Look into water temperature mixing valves used for photography development in darkrooms. I found a computer controlled version from Hass used that should be delivered on Saturday for me to inspect and mess around with. These are designed for lower flow (down to 1/4gpm) and don't require the high pressure. I can keep you posted on its design/how it works. I am also looking into manual adjustments via valves, but depending on how your hot water tanks are designed this could be problematic with temperature spikes/swings.
 
Where are you going to get the warm water from? If you're taking it out of the tap you're still going to be burning electricity [or gas] to heat it up in your cylinder so I'd suspect there isn't much to gain in terms of savings.
How much water are you dripping in and how cold is it? I would have thought most continuous systems would be slow enough to barely make a difference.
 
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