Keeping Tank Warm

Mikedawg · Jan 30, 2019

For what it is worth, I have a RedSea E-260 located in a cold part of my house and last night when temperature fell into the 20s here (I'm from Chicago btw so I do know real cold, lol) I covered it as my lights turned off with a cheap"emergency blanket" (actually a piece of Mylar) which I bought from Amazon. Monitoring the temp throughout the night, I saw no change on my InkBird controller and a steady 79 was maintained. My heaters did not need to run steadily. Some precipitation on Mylar this am.

Might be a useful "emergency" solution to minimize heat loss in case of power outage and Mylar can be used again, is non-toxic and waterprooof.

https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Th...sr=8-1-spons&keywords=emergency+blanket&psc=1

ihavecrabs · Jan 30, 2019

-24F before windchill in Chicago today.. Bet you are glad to be in Atlanta!!!

Nice solution to maintaining your heat. Did you cover the top as well? Only long-term concern there is O2 exchange, but overnight wouldn't be a major concern.

Ron Reefman · Jan 30, 2019

Good suggestion Mike.

I'm from the other end of the country (SW Florida) and I need to keep heat out since 90% of the year it's hotter outside than my tank!

BTW, good luck with the super freeze headed your way!

Mikedawg · Jan 30, 2019

ihavecrabs said:
-24F before windchill in Chicago today.. Bet you are glad to be in Atlanta!!!

Nice solution to maintaining your heat. Did you cover the top as well? Only long-term concern there is O2 exchange, but overnight wouldn't be a major concern.

Yep, just laid Mylar blanket on top of my RS mesh top and left an inch or so open space for gas exchange. Noticed that temp fell a little bit about 15 minutes after I took blanket off so I am pretty sure it works.

And bless you; just heard on news that Chicago high today will be colder than Antarctica!

Mikedawg · Jan 30, 2019

Ron Reefman said:
Good suggestion Mike.

I'm from the other end of the country (SW Florida) and I need to keep heat out since 90% of the year it's hotter outside than my tank!

BTW, good luck with the super freeze headed your way!

Ron, I am sure all the Super Bowl visitors from Boston area got a good laugh when our Metro area schools closed yesterday and not a snowflake in sight!

I love Florida except for their brand of football, ha ha.

ihavecrabs · Jan 30, 2019

Mikedawg said:
Yep, just laid Mylar blanket on top of my RS mesh top and left an inch or so open space for gas exchange. Noticed that temp fell a little bit about 15 minutes after I took blanket off so I am pretty sure it works.

And bless you; just heard on news that Chicago high today will be colder than Antarctica!

I don't plan on leaving the house! Hopefully my sump pump ejector tube doesn't freeze up! Luckily it is under about 8" of snow so I have that going for me!

Ron Reefman · Jan 30, 2019

Mikedawg said:
Ron, I am sure all the Super Bowl visitors from Boston area got a good laugh when our Metro area schools closed yesterday and not a snowflake in sight!

I love Florida except for their brand of football, ha ha.

I'm not much of an NFL fan which is a good thing given all the Florida NFL teams, or my old home team, the Detroit Lions! Now college football is a different story and so are the Florida college football teams! But I'm a hockey fan and the Tampa Bay Lightning (2 hours north of me) and my Ft Myers team, the Florida Everblades are both in fist place... for now! ;Woot

Ronny Bello · Jan 30, 2019

Live in Tennessee from Chicago as well. So I feel ya on how cold is cold.lol

vetteguy53081 · Jan 30, 2019

wrap the tank with a moving blanket and insert a large Hand-warmer on each side. Hand warmer will stay warm for about 20 hours.

RamsReef · Jan 30, 2019

I keep my QT tanks in the garage, I put 1" foam around the tanks to keep them warm.

Garage is at 56 F

vetteguy53081 · Jan 30, 2019

Ramasule said:
I keep my QT tanks in the garage, I put 1" foam around the tanks to keep them warm.

Garage is at 56 F

had to laugh (not at your tanks) but you are at 56 degrees.
We are right now at -55 degrees here in WI

ZoWhat · Jan 30, 2019

According to our sensationalized Local News, here in Cincinnati its -459 degrees Fahrenheit.

People downtown are frozen solid in the walking position on the sidewalks.

One field reporter tried to interview a frozen solid biz commuter but they shattered into thousands of pieces when the reporter said "Hello?!?" and tapped their microphone on their forehead for a response while Live On The Air

.

MTBake · Jan 30, 2019

I've used blankets in the past. Worked well when needed. I'll try the Mylar next time to see how it works.

And just for fun, here's a pic from my truck heading into work this morning. That's the actual temperature. I'm 40 miles west of chicago

RamsReef · Jan 30, 2019

vetteguy53081 said:
had to laugh (not at your tanks) but you are at 56 degrees.
We are right now at -55 degrees here in WI

Where?

Im northern Alberta by, your "winter blast vortex 2000" is just my winter

SmartSelect_20190130-180133_Samsung Internet.jpg

jda · Jan 30, 2019

That is nuts.

I use moving blankets too... Just wrap the tank and duct tape them if I ever need to. Just covering the top can keep a lot of heat in.

People think that I live in the super cold of Colorado, but it was 44 here today with the sun out... guess the Rocky Mountains pushed the Polar Vortex further east. I measured a house today with short sleeves on.

glb · Jan 31, 2019

Mikedawg said:
For what it is worth, I have a RedSea E-260 located in a cold part of my house and last night when temperature fell into the 20s here (I'm from Chicago btw so I do know real cold, lol) I covered it as my lights turned off with a cheap"emergency blanket" (actually a piece of Mylar) which I bought from Amazon. Monitoring the temp throughout the night, I saw no change on my InkBird controller and a steady 79 was maintained. My heaters did not need to run steadily. Some precipitation on Mylar this am.

Might be a useful "emergency" solution to minimize heat loss in case of power outage and Mylar can be used again, is non-toxic and waterprooof.

https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Th...sr=8-1-spons&keywords=emergency+blanket&psc=1

Great idea!

Katrina71 · Jan 31, 2019

@Mikedawg I ordered 2 of those blankets JIC. Thanks for the idea! I also have Hot Hands brand extra large adhesive body warmers.

tdunmore2 · Jan 31, 2019

The mylar blanket is a great I deal. I used plastic wrap, myself. It helped, but I doubt as efficient as mylar. I'm currently wating on delivery of a low-e glass panel top. I'm expecting this to be the most efficient solution.

tdunmore2 · Jan 31, 2019

Hopefully it comes in soon...

DHill6 · Feb 1, 2019

I purchased what is used for water heater blankets from JoAnn's, sandwiched it between material, sewed it and added velcro to the overlap to hold it tight to the tank. A tank quilt in case of emergency. I've tried a blanket in the past, didn't turn out well. The next time I'll be prepared.