I have a few garage tanks, as many do. My garage is insulated, but unheated. It can get down into the low 20's where I live and the interior of the garage can get into the low 40's. I get by with around 3 watts/gallon even at the coldest times, and most of the time the heaters cycle off regularly.
I did a lot of tank moving this summer and so I had to insulate couple tanks (a 135 and a 65 hex) so I thought I would take a few photos to post.
I used 1" white foam board. It is skinned on both sides and very cheap. The pink stuff cuts better with a knife, but costs a bit more.
The first couple photos show the first and second layers on the 135, the third is the other side finished.
I only used one layer of styrofoam on the 65, I may add another layer when I have some time to kill.
I feel it is very important to insulate the filters and plumbing as well. Flowing water increases the heat transfer, plus the relatively thin walls of the filter offer little insulation.
I like the aluminized "bubble wrap" type insulation for wrapping canisters. I have used it for wrapping tanks as well, but it is expensive compared to the foam board and I don't think it has as high of an 'R' value (I could be wrong about this).
The last photo is of a really cool tool I picked up at a garage sale. It is an electric hot knife. It cuts through the foam board, pipe insulation, and bubble wrap like butter and leaves nice smooth edges with no little bits of styrofoam everywhere. Plus t cuts curves easily, unlike a razor knife. If you plan to cut much foam insulation it would be worth picking up one of these.
I did a lot of tank moving this summer and so I had to insulate couple tanks (a 135 and a 65 hex) so I thought I would take a few photos to post.
I used 1" white foam board. It is skinned on both sides and very cheap. The pink stuff cuts better with a knife, but costs a bit more.
The first couple photos show the first and second layers on the 135, the third is the other side finished.
I only used one layer of styrofoam on the 65, I may add another layer when I have some time to kill.
I feel it is very important to insulate the filters and plumbing as well. Flowing water increases the heat transfer, plus the relatively thin walls of the filter offer little insulation.
I like the aluminized "bubble wrap" type insulation for wrapping canisters. I have used it for wrapping tanks as well, but it is expensive compared to the foam board and I don't think it has as high of an 'R' value (I could be wrong about this).
The last photo is of a really cool tool I picked up at a garage sale. It is an electric hot knife. It cuts through the foam board, pipe insulation, and bubble wrap like butter and leaves nice smooth edges with no little bits of styrofoam everywhere. Plus t cuts curves easily, unlike a razor knife. If you plan to cut much foam insulation it would be worth picking up one of these.
