Heater energy saving tips

[b4tn]

I was just wondering how you all heat your reef? I have a 75 gallon with a 40 breeder sump and have lots of water movement. I keep my temp around 79.5 which in turn has my ehiem 250watt heater working almost full time. My temp probe is sitting right at the drain lines nest to my skimmer and the heater is in the next section over right before the return pump. Are there any energy efficient heaters or better ways to keep the temps up? Several times I have come downstairs int he morning and my wife had left the window open and the tank was running at 76 degrees with the heater going full blast.

 

[TheEngineer]

There's not much you can do to save energy here from efficiency of the heater. It takes a certain amount of energy to heat the water above the ambient temperature of the room.

There are things you can do to slow the heat loss. The biggest one is covering your tank. Evaporation takes heat away with it.

 

[twilliard]

Heaters are a true double edge sword.
No way around wattage.
Insulate all lines is a good choice

 

[TheEngineer]

Here's a link to a really thorough calculator...

https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/HeaterChillerSizing.php

You can see which changes have the most effect and try some different combinations.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Well, actually, the heater is very efficient at converting electrical energy into heat to raise the temperature of the water. The issue is that the water requires a lot of energy to raise the temperature due to its relatively high specific heat capacity. Not a whole lot you can really do other than insulate lines and put covers on areas where evaporative cooling results in heat losses.

 

[b4tn]

Here's a link to a really thorough calculator...

https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/HeaterChillerSizing.php

You can see which changes have the most effect and try some different combinations.

Nice link! According to this I am 250 watts is under powered for my tank and I should be closer to 500 watts. I had been thinking of getting a second 250 watt heater. right now if I loose 2 degrees over night it takes almost 12 hours to get the temp back on target.

 

[TaylorPilot]

The key is to use the heat created by other equipment. Are your pumps submersible? If so, make sure they are all submerge and not running external. Placing a lid on it is the only other thing I can think of that may increase temps. It sounds like 250 isn't enough wattage. Maybe 2 200 watt heaters would be better. That way in case one breaks, it still wont be able to nuke your system, but both running together properly would be better able to maintain temps.

 

[Irsug1]

Maybe run 2 heaters so you don't get any temperature drop. And they won't have to work as hard.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Maybe run 2 heaters so you don't get any temperature drop. And they won't have to work as hard.

This is exactly what I planned to do. I have two 200W Jager heaters that I will be running. It's nice to see that the heater calculator agrees with my sizing calculations