How much heat does your tank give off?

[shackscs]

Has anyone done a study or seen any increase in ambient room temperature with the addition of their tank to said room, not including MHs.

My 225 is in the basement and I am about to bring it upstairs and was wondering how much of an increase in room temp can I expect when I make the move, if any at all.

With all of the items that we have plugged into our tanks both in and out of the water is there a side benefit to having this heat during the winter months?

 

[DoubleM 10]

Well I have 2 tanks in the basement. A 30 with 2 pc bulbs @ 65 watts a price with a 12 watt led light fixture attached and a 55 with a 48in HO T5 unit with 4 bulbs @ 54 watts a piece. Now yes they get hot. But not enough to offset the temp by enough to measure down their. And the basement here in Chicago right now is significantly colder than the upper floors. So if it were to happen it would be easy to notice

 

[Mike321]

What size room are you moving it into?

 

[Parrotfish100]

My 120 with a chiller and 4' 4-bulb T5's gives off enough heat in my room (about 15x20 feet) for me to crack the window when its 40 degrees outside. I also have the vent for the heater in my house closed.

Not a very precise answer but I hope it helps.

 

[twintrades]

Really ?? T-5 dosnt put out hardly any heat.

I have a 6 bulb t-5 setup and i can hold my hand on the fixture without wincing. So ill call BS on the need to crack a window with a t-5 setup. And my room is 12x20.

Not wanting to start anything but also i want you to be properly informed. It will put out some heat but not enuf to be of any consern.

 

[shackscs]

What about the heat coming off the tank itself? We run them between 75-80 degrees. Does this factor in at all?

 

[JHemdal]

Maybe I'm over-simplyfing this, but since the tank will be in an enclosed space, can't you just add up the wattage of all running devices (taking into account run time on intermittant things like heaters) and then say - o.k., the system draws X watts. Then, just imagine (or even test) running the same wattage heater (or hair dryer for smaller tanks) in the same room.

I mean, conservation of energy means that energy going into the room will stay there - the only question is what about energy that isn't transformed into heat - light for instance. Still, I think this would get you a worst case scenario.....

Jay

 

[Parrotfish100]

*edited*
Delete this, i'm not getting into any arguments. Thanks.

 

[rogersb]

Really ?? T-5 dosnt put out hardly any heat.

I have a 6 bulb t-5 setup and i can hold my hand on the fixture without wincing. So ill call BS on the need to crack a window with a t-5 setup. And my room is 12x20.

Not wanting to start anything but also i want you to be properly informed. It will put out some heat but not enuf to be of any consern.

I don't have a chiller, but I would guess that is where most of the heat is coming from, not the lights.

 

[xlotus123x]

I have a 130 gallon with leds and my living room is always atleast 5 degrees warming than other rooms. probably cause my chiller always kick on even in winter. :spin3:

 

[skanderson]

jhemdal is exactly correct. except the tiny amount of power that is converted to chemical energy through photosynthesis the rest of the electricity is converted to heat. to get it right i would use a killawatt and check the real energy use and then that is the amount of heat you will be adding.

 

[alton]

Maybe I'm over-simplyfing this, but since the tank will be in an enclosed space, can't you just add up the wattage of all running devices (taking into account run time on intermittant things like heaters) and then say - o.k., the system draws X watts. Then, just imagine (or even test) running the same wattage heater (or hair dryer for smaller tanks) in the same room.

I mean, conservation of energy means that energy going into the room will stay there - the only question is what about energy that isn't transformed into heat - light for instance. Still, I think this would get you a worst case scenario.....

Jay

You hit it right on the nose, watts is heat

 

[shackscs]

Ok, so before I move the tank I will take some temp readings. I will take more after I move the tank. I will post my findings then.

Thanks for the input.

 

[jdpiii3]

I don't have a chiller, but I would guess that is where most of the heat is coming from, not the lights.

Yea my chiller was adding a ton of heat to our dining room, So I re-plumbed it, now the hot air blows into a small bathroom and the bathroom exhaust fan comes on when the chiller comes on and pulls all the heat out of the room.

Plus my wife loves the hot bathroom.

 

[chilwil84]

i have run tanks with t5s (8 over a 90 and 6 over a 40) and have never needed a heater in those tanks as long as the house was set at 68 at night. the problem you would have would be at night in the summer when the rest of your house cools and your 225 retains the heat and will def make the room 5+ degrees warmer than the rest of the house. i wouldnt close the door a lot during the summer

 

[Tradewinds]

One watt equals 3.412 BTU (British Thermal Units) A 250 watt light fixture will use 2500 watts if ran for 10 hours, which produces 8,530 BTU.

I believe BTU would be a better gauge of heat than the watts.

 

[smoyer]

sorry I just canceld my post because I miss read the post and I started talking about another topic. Sorry

 

[Fishfish0001]

Humidity would also play in I would think. I know when it s damp in our basement, it is a lot warmer then when it is dry.

 

[Drewbaby]

There are too many variables to consider without doing a controlled study.

If the room is 60 and the tank is 80 your going to get evaporational cooling of the tank which will make a small impact on the room temp.

As for the tank itself being a heat source/cooling source that's unlikely if we are talking about just the tank of water. Not including chillers, lights, giant external pumps, but only what's in the tank/water and the tank itself. The glass acts as an insulator. That's why your tank can maintain steady temps longer than say a plastic cup of water. The shear volume also comes into play. If you had a room with an inwall tank that wrapped 3 walls. That room would obviously be warmer/cooler than other rooms. A room with vaulted ceilings that is big enough to hold a concert in that has a nano tank wouldn't be effected either.

The room I have my 180 and 55 in measures 18'x26 and I don't notice a temp compared to the room next to it. I run halides and old school vho's on the 180 and T5's on the 55. The 180 is always 2.5 degrees warmer than the 55 but both tanks (glass) feel the same temp to touch.

 

[Cj923]

My tank is near a sliding door and I wish my T5 would give off a little more heat so my tank would be at 80 degrees