Coolest running pump?

Interesting info. What were the methods/conditions of the experiment?

My thought was that the rate at which the pump and heater heat the water would differ. Since aquariums are not closed systems and constantly lose matter and energy through evaporation and radiation, if the rate of heating differs between the pump/heater, then the equilibrium temperature may also differ, if the rate of energy loss is constant.

 

Just pumps in a bucket, but there was no discernible difference in temp.

That's just it, watts are energy delivered over time. Joules per second. A heater produces 90 watts of heat... that is 90 joules/sec over an hour in a heater are no different that 90 joules/sec over an hour in a pump.

And yes, the heater is a device whose only job is to convert electrical energy into heat. A pump is a device that converts electrical energy into water movement, but a lot of that energy is lost as heat in the motor... and then the energy it does impart to the water... well that is motion which decays to heat. It is still energy. 90 watts.

Bottom line is I understand we do not think of motion as heat, but it is energy. And yes our systems do loose energy to it's surroundings... but take away losses and simply focus on pump power consumed.... if the pump uses 100 watts, and we know from it's efficiency that 50 watts is lost to heat... then where does the other 50 watts go? That energy has not been lost, only converted. When you turn the pump off, what is kinetic energy converted to? .... because the water does stop moving.

 

seems like I opened a can of worms.. LOL!

 

That is a low amount of watts. My Deep Blue Triton 4 says it's 1050GPH @ 40 watts and I thought that was quite low!

Lots of good info coming into this thread tho.

 

Thanks Powerman! I wasn't questioning you, just trying to understand the process I'm no physicist.

 

Me neither, but my job does depend on it.

There are some common myths floating around and this is one of them. You are not the only one that has said this.

If you do need a heater, then pump heat is a good thing. It would be bad to waste it to the air. But on my system I was able to do away with my chiller just by getting a better return pump and skimmer.... I then put it in a closet open to outside walls... and I needed two heaters to keep it warm in the Winter. ;D