Aesthetics and Insulation
- Thread starter looney417
- Start date
Not sure I follow you. If you are raising the temp of your house by a couple degrees to heat a tank that's certainly more costly then using a heater in an aquarium no?
This is the same reason it's cheaper to run an electric space heater in a closed room than to raise the temp in the whole house with your furnace.
Yes, the unit of energy is more expensive via electricity, but that doesn't mean it would cost more in this applacation.
A higher wattage heater or two might help. Yes it uses more power when its on but it will be on less often and might cut cost, but I doubt it.
If you have to have lights on for plants, upgrade your lights to a multi bulb t5ho setup. Look for one that has a cooling fan on the hood, that means it will generate some heat, with one of these on it will not only be good for your plants, but it will also heat the water up while its on. My mom ran a helios 4x55 cf over head light on a marine tank and was able to turn the heater off during the day.
If you have to have lights on for plants, upgrade your lights to a multi bulb t5ho setup. Look for one that has a cooling fan on the hood, that means it will generate some heat, with one of these on it will not only be good for your plants, but it will also heat the water up while its on. My mom ran a helios 4x55 cf over head light on a marine tank and was able to turn the heater off during the day.
It's blue styrofoam rigid insulation. You should be able to get it at Lowes, Home Depot and any lumber yard. It comes in various thicknesses. 1/2 inch, 1 inch, 2 inches.
You should be able to get it roughly cut up so you can put it into your car. Otherwise you've got a 4 foot by 8 foot sheet to deal with. At home you can cut it with a utility knife, a hand saw etc. just be careful. And yes it is used inside walls.
The soft fiberglass insulation is more commonly used for insulation and that could be used inside your tank stand or where it can't be seen, maybe the back or side of a tank. As for attaching it to the tank, tape or silicone are two alternatives.
Yes, that's true.
Although for some larger tanks (in the 500+ gallon range) I've seen pictures of a heat exchanger that was built to that water from the hot water tank is used to heat tank water, which is going to be more efficient over the long run. But it's OT for your application here.
For the exposed side you could make a "sandwich" with black construction paper on the inside and outside of the insulation. That way the wall of the tank looks blank, and the outside of the blue looks black as well. Cover / paint the exposed edge and you're done.
You may also see some white insulation sheets that are backed with foil one side - avoid these. They are designed to insulate better when cold (around freezing) and let more heat through when warmer (they actually lose some of their R-value at 60+ degrees). Good for some applications, just not this one.
