Excess evaporation leading to heating issues?

[CBehr]

I have a 95g tank that's plumbed to my basement for a total water volume of around 150g. I loose roughtly 5g per day in evaporation. The basement is not heated but is insulated and only about 10 degrees colder than upstairs.

How much heat am I loosed to to evaporation and where is the best places to put heaters? I have a 350w heater inside the overflow to the tank, a 200w heater in the skimmer tank, a 200w heater in the fuge, and a 200w heater in the frag tank and tank fluctuates between 76-79 degrees on a daily basis. I'd really like to save some $$ on electricity!

 

[Jefe12234]

Well someone correct me if I'm wrong somewhere.

It takes 1000 BTU's to evaporate 1 pound of water.
1 gallon of water weighs ~8.33 pounds.
(1000 BTU's/pound evap) * (8.33 pounds/gallon) = 8330 BTU's lost per gallon of evaporated water.
(5 gallons evap/day) * (8330 BTU's/gallon evap) = 41650 BTU's lost per day
1 watt-hour = 3.413 BTU
(41650 BTU's/day) * (1 watt-hour/3.413 BTU) = 12203 watt-hours used per day
12203 watt-hours / (24 hours/day) = 508 watts

That means you need ~508 watts of constant heat just to counteract your evaporation. I don't know how you're evaporating that much, but I would definitely try to reduce it. Covering the sump would probably be a big help.

 

[Icefire]

I have about 120g of water and loose mabe 3.5G of water a day and only have a 200 Watts heater which is not on all the time.

The 508Watts is thermal, which means your ambiant temperature will give you most of it.

Best would be only ~300w heater on a ranco controller. I would put them in the basement, as those in the overflow don't help.

 

[CBehr]

perhaps that's my problem then...heaters are not located in the most ideal location?

I wil move them all to the basment sump area.