Heaters, how do you have them setup?

[JNalley]

I see this topic discussed from time to time, do you have 1 perfectly sized heater? 2 undersized heaters? 1 oversized heater? controller? Please share what you think is the optimal heater setup.

 

[rmorris_14]

I have a biocube (no sump) and space is limited. So I have an appropriately sized heater with an inkbird controller. If I had a tank with a sump, I might go the two under sized heaters route.

 

[jda]

5x Eheim 300w with the thermostats set. They all run on Ranco.

I always double up the controllers even though Ranco is VERY reliable. I never want one heater strong enough to overheat the tank should both thermostats fail, so always at least 2... but my current tank is too large and our humidity is too low (evap cooling is a pain for heating costs) so I have to run 5 heaters.

 

[Gtinnel]

I run two undersized heater controlled by an inkbird, and then monitored with my apex. I don't have the inkbird plugged into the energy bar (so that if the energy bar fails I still have heat) but it is plugged into a wifi outlet so if I get an alarm that my temp is too high I can still manually turn it off from anywhere.

 

[Sean Clark]

I have a remote titanium heat exchanger in the basement that is tied into the hot water system for the house. It is controlled by an Inkbird controller that regulates the house hot water circulation through the heat exchanger. It automatically adjust the flow rate based on the demand (i.e. if someone in the house is using hot water while the tank is calling for heat). The tank water is constantly circulated through one half of the heat exchanger. When the tank calls for heat, the controller turns on and regulates the hot water pump to start circulating hot water through the other half of the heat exchanger. When the tank is warm then the controller turns the hot water pump off.

The system maintains a 0.3 deg hysteresis.

Using this I only use 5 watts of power to heat over 200 gallons. (There is the cost of gas to heat the house water, but that is already warm and given that the water storage is inside the house, Any radiant heat loss is basicly 100% effecient as it radiates into the home which is also heated)

I also have two redundant 300w heaters for "backup"

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

Having recently set up a tank with LEDs I now understand all the threads about heaters. I always ran several smaller heaters vs 1 but always changed them out hopefully before they fail, they all fail eventually . For my new shallow reef tank im trying out the Helios heater system. With all the modern tech heaters sure have not been brought to the current level of tech .

 

[JNalley]

I have a remote titanium heat exchanger in the basement that is tied into the hot water system for the house. It is controlled by an Inkbird controller that regulates the house hot water circulation through the heat exchanger. It automatically adjust the flow rate based on the demand (i.e. if someone in the house is using hot water while the tank is calling for heat). The tank water is constantly circulated through one half of the heat exchanger. When the tank calls for heat, the controller turns on and regulates the hot water pump to start circulating hot water through the other half of the heat exchanger. When the tank is warm then the controller turns the hot water pump off.

The system maintains a 0.3 deg hysteresis.

Using this I only use 5 watts of power to heat over 200 gallons. (There is the cost of gas to heat the house water, but that is already warm and given that the water storage is inside the house, Any radiant heat loss is basicly 100% effecient as it radiates into the home which is also heated)

I also have two redundant 300w heaters for "backup"

Heh, that's quite the setup, but for a bunch of reasons, it's just out of my scope. Maybe when I build my own house one day!

 

[takitaj]

2 "undersized" elements with controller. A bit out of the ordinary though. Using the Helios 400watt (2x200) system.

 

[JNalley]

I run two undersized heater controlled by an inkbird, and then monitored with my apex. I don't have the inkbird plugged into the energy bar (so that if the energy bar fails I still have heat) but it is plugged into a wifi outlet so if I get an alarm that my temp is too high I can still manually turn it off from anywhere.

Is your inkbird dual temp probe dual shut off? or? I'm just trying to figure out the reason for the wifi plug. Is your inkbird just set to alert and not manage?

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

do people have long term luck with the inkbirds, ive tried 2 and neither lasted more than a couple years makes me doubt the heater and the controller. hence trying the helios.

 

[WVNed]

2 300w and 2 200w on Inkbird.

 

[Gtinnel]

Is your inkbird dual temp probe dual shut off? or? I'm just trying to figure out the reason for the wifi plug. Is your inkbird just set to alert and not manage?

I'm using the inkbird ITC-306A and it is the main control, the thermostat built into the heaters is just a backup. The only reason for the wifi plug is so that if something happens to where the controller and heaters both fail on I can still turn them off remotely. My temp is monitored with my Apex and if I get an alarm that my temp is to high I can still remotely turn off my heaters.

ETA- The wifi plug also gives me the ability to check the wattage and make sure both heaters are still working. I selected two undersized heaters for the poll but during the summer one heater is probably enough for my tank. During the winter it requires both.

 

[JNalley]

Having recently set up a tank with LEDs I now understand all the threads about heaters. I always ran several smaller heaters vs 1 but always changed them out hopefully before they fail, they all fail eventually . For my new shallow reef tank im trying out the Helios heater system. With all the modern tech heaters sure have not been brought to the current level of tech .

2 "undersized" elements with controller. A bit out of the ordinary though. Using the Helios 400watt (2x200) system.

So, from what I can tell with the Helio systems, they use some ceramic mechanism to increase resistance as the element gets hotter, doesn't this mean it uses more watts and loses efficiency? Just trying to understand, if I use 2x 100 watt heaters, which they rate to "up to 50 gallons", it doesn't seem to be the same as 2x 100 watt finnex with a controller which is rated up to 60 gallons?

 

[Gtinnel]

do people have long term luck with the inkbirds, ive tried 2 and neither lasted more than a couple years makes me doubt the heater and the controller. hence trying the helios.

I'm going on 3 years with no issues at all.

 

[takitaj]

So, from what I can tell with the Helio systems, they use some ceramic mechanism to increase resistance as the element gets hotter, doesn't this mean it uses more watts and loses efficiency? Just trying to understand, if I use 2x 100 watt heaters, which they rate to "up to 50 gallons", it doesn't seem to be the same as 2x 100 watt finnex with a controller which is rated up to 60 gallons?

Yes, something like that except it doesn't use any more than the stated wattage. If the controller sticks on and the temp gets higher than the set point the element will increase resistance, which reduces wattage, and will only heat to a certain temp so as to not overheat the tank. Otherwise it's the same as a 400 watt heater. Keeps really tight temps with a max spread of 0.4 deg F. As to the gallon rating, it's probably not an exact science and more of just a recommendation from the mfgs.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

So, from what I can tell with the Helio systems, they use some ceramic mechanism to increase resistance as the element gets hotter, doesn't this mean it uses more watts and loses efficiency? Just trying to understand, if I use 2x 100 watt heaters, which they rate to "up to 50 gallons", it doesn't seem to be the same as 2x 100 watt finnex with a controller which is rated up to 60 gallons?

i read the same, went with 700 watts where i would have normally went with 500 just for this fact.

 

[JNalley]

For those of you with InkBirds, do you put the probes in the tank? or in the sump with the heaters?

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I run dual 250w heaters controlled by APEX. I have two temp probes, one in tank and one in sump. Each heater is controlled by a separate probe. Main heater uses the sump probe, backup uses the display probe. Temps are staggered for on/off temp so that only one heater is typically running.

 

[JNalley]

I run dual 250w heaters controlled by APEX. I have two temp probes, one in tank and one in sump. Each heater is controlled by a separate probe. Main heater uses the sump probe, backup uses the display probe. Temps are staggered for on/off temp so that only one heater is typically running.

So, I'm not sure that's how the InkBird works. It says it will alarm if there is a significant temperature difference between them, I dunno if that's able to be set or not (haven't tried yet.) And it looks like the secondary probe might be just for backup? Who knows. It's good to know I can do that with an Apex or GHL though.