heater question...
- Thread starter chrishicks
- Start date
Ambient room temp makes a difference. I keep my house between 60-68. I ran 300W heaters in everything but the 20, and it had a 200W. The standard recommendation is for a heater that is 3-5 times the volume of water (55 x 3 = 165, x 5 = 275), so something between 150 - 300 watts is appropriate. As long as the heater is capable of keeping the tank at the appropriate temperature and sized to fit in the tank, it's okay. All heaters recently produced are supposed to fail in the off position--if you have ones that are older, IMO, it's worth replacing them.
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I'm not sure this applies but.
I use to be a building facilties engineer.
after spending a lot of time with HVAC and involvment in servicing these..you can over kill with a heater.
if you get a large heater for something..the heater will do what is called short cycling.
runs frequently for short periods of time..what this can do is cause thermocouples/thermostates to work too much and shortent the life of the heating unit.
most thermostats(for buildings) use older mercury switches..so the problem is not the switch but the heating element.
in essence there are problems with using too large of a heating unit..atleast for buildings.
in these aquarium heaters..large coils take more time to disipate heat..but it does sound like a short cycle issue.
I have to side with many here and suggest you get a new heater..and it will take time to get the heater adjusted.
I like the idea of using a bucket to monitor a new/old heater to see if it's failing.
since I am ready to replace my heater in my 55 I may set it up using a bucket..
good idea
:clap:
I use to be a building facilties engineer.
after spending a lot of time with HVAC and involvment in servicing these..you can over kill with a heater.
if you get a large heater for something..the heater will do what is called short cycling.
runs frequently for short periods of time..what this can do is cause thermocouples/thermostates to work too much and shortent the life of the heating unit.
most thermostats(for buildings) use older mercury switches..so the problem is not the switch but the heating element.
in essence there are problems with using too large of a heating unit..atleast for buildings.
in these aquarium heaters..large coils take more time to disipate heat..but it does sound like a short cycle issue.
I have to side with many here and suggest you get a new heater..and it will take time to get the heater adjusted.
I like the idea of using a bucket to monitor a new/old heater to see if it's failing.
since I am ready to replace my heater in my 55 I may set it up using a bucket..
good idea
:clap:
That's some interesting info star rider, and I am interested in knowing if it applies to aquarium heaters. My thinking has been that a larger heater is more efficient since it doesn't have to stay on as much, but if the life of the unit is being shortened then maybe it's not more efficient in the long run. Does anyone have the lowdown on how this effects aquarium heaters? I am currently running a Via-Aqua titanium (300W) on my 40.
well i guess room temperature is a very important factor
a 200w works for my 130gal cuz i live in southern california
hehe my house is never under 65 degrees
a 200w works for my 130gal cuz i live in southern california
hehe my house is never under 65 degrees
Yeah I've always had to go around 5w per gallon in my house. I tend to keep my heat at 60 or so during the day, 55 at night. I have a 100w on my 30 gal because its all I had at the time, it runs 24/7 and keeps the tank at 76-78. for now its off since there's no fish, but I want the water closer to 80-82 so I'm going to have to upgrade before I stock it.
It's all about the ambient temperature in the room. A friend of mine has a 29g setup in his basement. This is Iowa in the dead of winter, so the ambient temp down there is probably around 62-64F. He used to have a 100W heater in there, but he traded up to a Hagen Tronic 200W because the other one was on all the time. This one cycles normally and keeps the temp nice and even.
Around here, most folks let their furnaces chill out at night to same money on natural gas or LP, so that's where the heaters around here have to step in and really do their job effectively.
Around here, most folks let their furnaces chill out at night to same money on natural gas or LP, so that's where the heaters around here have to step in and really do their job effectively.
