Heater Help

[rffanat1c]

So I have a 180 in the basement. Temp down there is about 65 tank is set to 78. house is kept at 70 and is only 7 years old so plenty of insulation.

Running two 300w Hydors using a Finnex controller. They are ALWAYS on. Temps here have been 0-50 over the last month. My electric bill jumped $100 since I put up this tank. Would higher power heaters make a difference or is what I have fine? Thanks


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[Gorgok]

The total energy (from tank heaters) to maintain that temp won't change unless you insulate the tank or heat up the house. More or bigger heaters just means the rise is faster and they will cycle off some, but in the end they use the same power.

If you somehow hit a 100% running but 100% stable temp you are very lucky. More than likely its either cycling a little or not cycling ever and failing to hit the temps you ask.

Having heaters running nearly all the time would bother me, as a single failure would mean you cannot maintain temps at all.

[Kevin Guthrie]

Not sure what your sump is like. If it is on the floor, 1st thing I'd do is put it on a 2 inch sheet of pink foam.

And always choose submerged pumps from now on as all their electric consumption is converted to heat.

[Vinny Kreyling]

+1 on the submerged pump, might as well benefit from it.
Any way to divert some heat to the tank area?

[Zalick]

+1 on the submerged pump, might as well benefit from it.
Any way to divert some heat to the tank area?

Agree on the submerged return if heat is not your issue.

I'm no expert but watts are watts.

How long is the run from basement to tank and what size PVC? If basement is 65 and you have a decent amount of exposed PVC for the run, you will be losing heat there too.

If its sitting on a concrete floor, this will suck heat away quickly too.

[alton]

Your Utility company must have expensive rates?
600w x 24 hrs x 30 days x 10 cents a KWH = $43.20

[rffanat1c]

Kind of what I thought. I ask because some companies rate their 250w up to 90 gallons while others say 250 works 150-180 gallons. I figured watts were watts but was curious if something else was more efficient.

Everything is in the basement which is on laminate flooring then stand then sump. No pvc, braided vinyl tubing for plumbing. Pumps are also submerged.

And yes my cost is 13 cents a kwh here


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[Gorgok]

I ask because some companies rate their 250w up to 90 gallons while others say 250 works 150-180 gallons.

That is mostly because they don't have a standard for heat loss of tanks nor do they specify how they rate them. Both may be accurate for someones tank...

Sort of like rating skimmers by tank volume.

[rffanat1c]

Well alright. It is just odd because I used to have a 90 in my old drafty house that we kept at 68 and the heaters were two 150w (eheim) and weren't on that much. I figured double the water double the heaters but that hasn't panned out really.

[Daddi0]

I have a 4 tank system in my garage that is detached and cold. I went to Home Depot and picked up some 4'x8' sheets of 1 1/2" styrofoam insulation that has film on both sides. I cut them to fit in my stands (at the top, on the inside) I also cut panels to fit all the sides of my tanks. Then I stole some plastic hangers from my wife's closet. I cut the hangers to make big plastic hooks and shoved two into each panel edge. This way I can hang them on my tanks. My tanks are now insulated on 5 sides and stay nice and toasty. When I am in the garage in the winter, I just pop the front panels off and when I leave for work or call it a night, I just hook the panels back on the reefs. It also worked great last summer when our temps hit 95, my reef stayed at 80.
Cheers! Mark

[rffanat1c]

Well it would appear one of the heaters has been failing and I didn't know it. Just picked up an Apex and I plugged in both heaters. One is reading about 270 watts and the other one started at 175 and within minutes was down to 1 then 0 and stayed there despite the light being on. Welcome to my first heater failure!

[Vinny Kreyling]

Luckily it failed when off, most fail in the on position, that's why a controller for the heater is very important.

[rffanat1c]

Luckily it failed when off, most fail in the on position, that's why a controller for the heater is very important.



Exactly. I did have a controller but not one that let me know it wasn’t drawing power.


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