Heater sizing
- Thread starter yngplo
- Start date
My understanding is the trade off is with two you have twice as many failure points, but if one fails it's likely less catastrophic and therefore two is preferable. A small one failing on will take twice as long to cook your tank. A small one failing off will have a second one to try and keep the temp up.
I assume if you stagger the temps slightly it also would help in that a smaller heater would stay on longer, decreasing the number of on/off cycles.
The ideal being something like two attached to an inkbird which gives you a 3rd backup, but also a 3rd failure point. Though again that failure point doesn't involve it having a heater jammed into the same tube as the temp gauge, so again should be a more reliable system.
I assume if you stagger the temps slightly it also would help in that a smaller heater would stay on longer, decreasing the number of on/off cycles.
The ideal being something like two attached to an inkbird which gives you a 3rd backup, but also a 3rd failure point. Though again that failure point doesn't involve it having a heater jammed into the same tube as the temp gauge, so again should be a more reliable system.
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
For a 150
3watts per gal recommended
I would use either a 500 watt titanium or few smaller submersibles
Regardless
I recommend some form of external controller as the thermostat
3watts per gal recommended
I would use either a 500 watt titanium or few smaller submersibles
Regardless
I recommend some form of external controller as the thermostat
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Depends upon how cold the room the tank in is. If you keep it inside your house and you're one of those who keeps your house at 75, then yeah not much heating needed, if you keep your tank (or sump) in an uninsulated garage then you'll need more heating in the winter.
General rule of thumb I learned (heard about) was 1 watt per gallon per 5 degrees below ambient. So if your 80 gallon tank is in a room that is 70°F normally and you want to keep it at 80°, 80 gallons x 1 watt/gallon x 10°/5° = 150 x 1 x 2 = 300 watts of heating. If the room is normally 65 degrees, then 150 x 1 x 3 = 450 watts. Of course if the tank has a relatively large surface area to volume (e.g. frag tanks) then that number jumps up even more. Now my situation I literally never set the house thermostat to 70°, only when it's really hot (rarely) does it ever get that high in here, so if it were me I'd do what KR said, a 500 watt titanium, or a couple 300 watt titaniums
General rule of thumb I learned (heard about) was 1 watt per gallon per 5 degrees below ambient. So if your 80 gallon tank is in a room that is 70°F normally and you want to keep it at 80°, 80 gallons x 1 watt/gallon x 10°/5° = 150 x 1 x 2 = 300 watts of heating. If the room is normally 65 degrees, then 150 x 1 x 3 = 450 watts. Of course if the tank has a relatively large surface area to volume (e.g. frag tanks) then that number jumps up even more. Now my situation I literally never set the house thermostat to 70°, only when it's really hot (rarely) does it ever get that high in here, so if it were me I'd do what KR said, a 500 watt titanium, or a couple 300 watt titaniums