Heater Wattage?

[Swarf]

I searched but didn't come up with much...

How many watts of heater capacity should I get for a ~250 gal system; 210 gal display, plus sump, and refugium?

I don't think the temperature difference will be very high between the tank and the surrounding air, everything will be in air conditioned/heated areas, maybe 10° F, or 15° F max.

I read 4-6 watts per gallon somewhere, but that seemed to be aimed at smaller tanks. It seems like a larger volume of water would have more thermal mass, and require slightly less watts per gallon than a smaller tank.

Thanks,
Chuck

 

[JohnF]

On your size of tank I would think 4 watts per gal would do it. Use 2 heaters.

 

[Swarf]

Thanks for your reply John. Is 1000 watts going to be too much? It just seems like 2 x 300 watt heaters would do the trick.

 

[sjm817]

I have ~ 250G total water volume and use (2) 300W.

 

[bertoni]

You might get away with 600 W just fine. I'd use a temperature controller and perhaps an extra heater, because I've had a lot of heater failures, and I'm tired of losing fish. Controllers are expensive, though, sigh.

 

[Swarf]

sjm817,
Do the two 300 watt heaters keep up fine, or do you get temperature swings?

Bertoni,
I plan on using two heaters in the sump. I have a heater I'm using right now in a FOWLR tank, which I was going to use in my top off reservoir, or maybe my SW change reservoir, hadn't figured that out yet.

I bit the bullet and ordered a controller yesterday, an AC3, maybe overkill, (expletive) expensive, but I didn't want to buy something and come up short.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[sjm817]

They keep up fine, and that is with a basement sump even in the cold months. Sometimes they are working to keep up, but that is the way I want it. Only temp swings are what I have the ACjr set to do. 78.8 - 79.2.

 

[Swarf]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9476592#post9476592 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sjm817
They keep up fine, and that is with a basement sump even in the cold months. Sometimes they are working to keep up, but that is the way I want it. Only temp swings are what I have the ACjr set to do. 78.8 - 79.2.

Thanks sjm817, that is just what I needed to hear. If two 300watt heaters can keep up with your basement sump, they should be just fine for my setup.