Replacing normal heaters
- Thread starter Mental1
- Start date
uncleof6
Active member
And what you need to know before embarking on an endeavor which may or may not be worth the effort in the first place. Keith, in the second post in that thread, put it very succinctly.
I suspect we are paying a great deal more for electricity out here, than you are in New Hampshire. I have to run chillers not heaters, a typical system could easily have 400watts of heater or more, before a heater is even purchased.
Another energy saving move is to drop your aquarium water temp to the high 70s: 77 - 78°F, rather than up at the high end in the 80s. (82 - 84.) The other bonus is more oxygen available in the water. Also, as pointed out in that thread, many people set up their systems to be very efficient water chillers, which increases their energy consumption even more.
To answer your question directly, anything in contact with the water has to be titanium or better (graphite, gold, and platinum come to mind.) There are some exotic stainless alloys, that could be used, but they can be expensive, and some other metals on the Noble or Cathodic end of the galvanic chart, but hard to find.
I suspect we are paying a great deal more for electricity out here, than you are in New Hampshire. I have to run chillers not heaters, a typical system could easily have 400watts of heater or more, before a heater is even purchased.
Another energy saving move is to drop your aquarium water temp to the high 70s: 77 - 78°F, rather than up at the high end in the 80s. (82 - 84.) The other bonus is more oxygen available in the water. Also, as pointed out in that thread, many people set up their systems to be very efficient water chillers, which increases their energy consumption even more.
To answer your question directly, anything in contact with the water has to be titanium or better (graphite, gold, and platinum come to mind.) There are some exotic stainless alloys, that could be used, but they can be expensive, and some other metals on the Noble or Cathodic end of the galvanic chart, but hard to find.
Mental1
New member
Thanks -- I keep my aquariums at about 77 degrees. My electric bill this month is $818. Sigh. Add on top of that about $1500 in fuel bills a month and it gets crippling. I need to make some changes, talking to a solar company too...
We also have a problem that the electric company is aware of -- I get electrocuted in my basement, turns out with the meter pulled we have 15 volts going into the floor. I guess they're putting in a larger transformer as ours is too small and they have to isolate the neutral....
We also have a problem that the electric company is aware of -- I get electrocuted in my basement, turns out with the meter pulled we have 15 volts going into the floor. I guess they're putting in a larger transformer as ours is too small and they have to isolate the neutral....
uncleof6
Active member
I am not criticizing on trying to save some $$ on the electric bill, I am running more than a couple tanks, I know the score. I am just trying to keep you from falling into the DIY trap that makes it all sound so simple, and the benefit may only be minimal for the investment.
ReefsandGeeks
New member
I'd try looking up the power draw for all of your equipment and plug it into the power consumption calculator on the homepage. This can give you a very close estimate as to what you should typicalyy be paying for your tanks to run. Also, look at your electric bill to see the cost per KWh. Pretty sure about 10 cents/KWh is typical, and if you're paying alot more than that you may be able to switch electric providers.
Other creative ways to reduce electric bill could be employed as well. Increased house insulation, turn off lights when not in use, lower house temp a couple degrees, turn off computer when not in use, lower water heater temperature for the house, get cooler showers/shorter showers...etc. Personaly, I'd do other things before trying to save on my aquariums, but yours are a much larger chunk of electricity than mine so not realy the same comparison.
As far as what would make the biggest differance, that would likely be reducing the temperature output of the house water heater and redicing shower temps. It takes a ton of energy to heat up water, especialy in the winter when the starting temps are very low. Almost all of this energy is dumped out of your house when the hot water goes down the drain. reducing this waste can save alot of energy, especialy if you have alot of hot water use in your house.
Other creative ways to reduce electric bill could be employed as well. Increased house insulation, turn off lights when not in use, lower house temp a couple degrees, turn off computer when not in use, lower water heater temperature for the house, get cooler showers/shorter showers...etc. Personaly, I'd do other things before trying to save on my aquariums, but yours are a much larger chunk of electricity than mine so not realy the same comparison.
As far as what would make the biggest differance, that would likely be reducing the temperature output of the house water heater and redicing shower temps. It takes a ton of energy to heat up water, especialy in the winter when the starting temps are very low. Almost all of this energy is dumped out of your house when the hot water goes down the drain. reducing this waste can save alot of energy, especialy if you have alot of hot water use in your house.
sfsuphysics
Active member
Wow $818 a month? My ~650G worth of water doesn't get anywhere close to that. It was higher now than it is in the spring/summer but mostly due to the cold (house is naturally colder, heaters work more, etc). How much of the rest of your house is that electrical bill? Any sort of electric heaters in the house? Is your basement with the other tanks cold as all hell?
A very easy thing to do is to use a kill-a-watt meter (or a couple) and hook up your heaters to it just to see how much of the total electrical usage you use is in fact heating. And then you could make a more informed decision if making some sort of gas/oil powered heater is actually going to save you any significant cost savings.
A very easy thing to do is to use a kill-a-watt meter (or a couple) and hook up your heaters to it just to see how much of the total electrical usage you use is in fact heating. And then you could make a more informed decision if making some sort of gas/oil powered heater is actually going to save you any significant cost savings.
mr.maroonsalty
New member
Before charging into such a project, I would hook up a watt reader as mentioned and figure your average draw, then put those watts into a btu calculator in order to see how much fuel oil you will be using in place of electricity.
I believe she is saying that her household electic bill is that much, sounds like you might have animals with electric water heaters too? My builds are as much about electrical use as it is anything, the wild card are the heaters as without a meter on them it's hard knowing how many hours they are on each day. At ¢15 Kw you wouldn't believe how hard it is building a larger system keeping the monthly cost below $65.
I believe she is saying that her household electic bill is that much, sounds like you might have animals with electric water heaters too? My builds are as much about electrical use as it is anything, the wild card are the heaters as without a meter on them it's hard knowing how many hours they are on each day. At ¢15 Kw you wouldn't believe how hard it is building a larger system keeping the monthly cost below $65.
mr.maroonsalty
New member
One more thing, I'm sure it's in one of those threads, but I don't know why a coil of Pex wouldn't suffice.
One thing that I've mentioned before is using a space/survival type blanket, and treating the tank like bird and pull the curtain over the glass at night to prevent radiational cooling. Foil backed bubble wrap is spendy by the roll, but if you know an hvac guy crafting curtains out of that would be better if you could figure out how to fashion a dead airspace. I believe a survival blanket curtain would save a lot of heater use at night.
One thing that I've mentioned before is using a space/survival type blanket, and treating the tank like bird and pull the curtain over the glass at night to prevent radiational cooling. Foil backed bubble wrap is spendy by the roll, but if you know an hvac guy crafting curtains out of that would be better if you could figure out how to fashion a dead airspace. I believe a survival blanket curtain would save a lot of heater use at night.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
