I have been researching heating and cooling options for my new system and am interested in opinions on the possibility of using the PTC. Here are the details of my system:
210 gallon tank on the main floor, lit by 3 x 250 watt HQI and 2 x 54 watt T5 in a fan cooled canopy.
All filtration equipment is located in the basement which is unheated. This is an additional 200 gallons. Total system is about 400 â€"œ 450 gallons
December through April the main floor ambient temperature is around 65 - 70F and the basement is 50 â€"œ 60F. During these months I kept the tank temperature at 76F using 2 x 500w heaters, but the heaters had to stay on most of the night when the lights were off and even came on occasionally when the lights were on. No cooling was necessary during these months.
May through June and September through November the main floor ambient temperature fluctuates between 65-85F and the basement is generally 65F. During these months I am able to maintain the tank temp at 80F with very little heating or cooling.
My greatest challenge is during the months of July through September. The main floor ambient temperature is between 79-88F and the humidity stays 70%-100%. Because of the high humidity I need to run de-humidifiers in the basement and therefore the basement does not stay cool. The basement is usually 77-83F during these months. Because I currently have no delicate corals in the tank I am running only my breeze fans on the HQI’s and the tank temp is 84-86F with no cooling.
I am assuming that the PTC will more efficiently heat the tank during the winter when the basement is cold. During the summer months I have used a compressor chiller in the past and it makes my hot basement even hotter, so I am reluctant to try another compressor chiller unless I can find a way to cool the basement and keep humidity down. Evaporative cooling is obviously out of the question. The PTC will not add the same amount of heat to the basement, so this may be better then running a chiller and an air conditioner in the basement during the summer.
What do you think? Are my assumptions correct? Will I really need 3 x PTC6 to cool this tank or could I get away with less?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Dave
210 gallon tank on the main floor, lit by 3 x 250 watt HQI and 2 x 54 watt T5 in a fan cooled canopy.
All filtration equipment is located in the basement which is unheated. This is an additional 200 gallons. Total system is about 400 â€"œ 450 gallons
December through April the main floor ambient temperature is around 65 - 70F and the basement is 50 â€"œ 60F. During these months I kept the tank temperature at 76F using 2 x 500w heaters, but the heaters had to stay on most of the night when the lights were off and even came on occasionally when the lights were on. No cooling was necessary during these months.
May through June and September through November the main floor ambient temperature fluctuates between 65-85F and the basement is generally 65F. During these months I am able to maintain the tank temp at 80F with very little heating or cooling.
My greatest challenge is during the months of July through September. The main floor ambient temperature is between 79-88F and the humidity stays 70%-100%. Because of the high humidity I need to run de-humidifiers in the basement and therefore the basement does not stay cool. The basement is usually 77-83F during these months. Because I currently have no delicate corals in the tank I am running only my breeze fans on the HQI’s and the tank temp is 84-86F with no cooling.
I am assuming that the PTC will more efficiently heat the tank during the winter when the basement is cold. During the summer months I have used a compressor chiller in the past and it makes my hot basement even hotter, so I am reluctant to try another compressor chiller unless I can find a way to cool the basement and keep humidity down. Evaporative cooling is obviously out of the question. The PTC will not add the same amount of heat to the basement, so this may be better then running a chiller and an air conditioner in the basement during the summer.
What do you think? Are my assumptions correct? Will I really need 3 x PTC6 to cool this tank or could I get away with less?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Dave
