Increasing tank temperatures - long term solution needed

I have a fluval style ( I think it's either style e or f) 150 watt heater. It is only on part of the time. I hadn't thought to check yesterday to see if it was on when the temperature had risen.

 

IMO it never hurts to try the cheapest fixes first. I agree with what others suggested, make sure the heaters calibrated right, and buy a $10 clip on fan from wal mart, maybe put it on a timer to run during the hottest hours of the day.

I'm in Ohio too, trying to make sure my temps don't creep too high being my first summer with the tank set up. Luckily we aren't in the desert lol!

 

I'd suggest biting the bullet and picking up a small chiller. You will not regret the investment. All the time and effort spent trying to "rig" something up will just wear you down. I could never keep my 40 gallon cool and finally broke it down. I picked up a setup with a chiller on craigslist and love the chiller and the amount of stress it removes.

 

Nevermind checking if it is on. Unplug it and see if you still have a temp problem.

 

I wanted to explain my reasoning. If it's not the heater, you have a problem! Unless your house is over 80 degrees all day, you should not have temps so high. Most people that have temp problems have them because they run their lighting during the day and the heat from the lighting (you have LED that produces no IR heat so this should be a non issue for you), combined with the heat from the pumps, combined with the ambient heat in the room make temps rise.

When I am designing a tank I am looking to fight heat each step of the design. You must remember that every submersible pump is a heater and is just as efficient at heating the water as a heater of the same wattage. Do not be afraid of high priced products from Europe, they often are far more energy efficient than others and you can often get the same performance for a similar price.

Your tank:
3- Hydor Koralia Nano 425 (1275 gph) at 13.5 watts = $95.97
1- Mag 7 (700 gph) at 70 watts = $79.99
1- Rio+ 200 (138 gph) at 8 watts = $18.49
That gets you 2113 gph at 91.5 watts for $194.45

That is equivalent to an approx 91.5 watt heater.

I would have recommended:
2- Tunze 6025 (1478 gph) at 10 watts = $124.98
1- Tunze 173.020 (634 gph) at 30 watts = $85.99
That gets you 2112 gph at 40 watts for $210.97

$15 dollars save you 51.5 watts but most of all you remove a 50 watt heater from your tank that is stuck on!

You can put on a chiller and it will just be a band aid and cost you more in electricity as well. For the same costs or less, you could easily upgrade all your pumps and literally throw away the others (but who would do that).

 

Perhaps in my next tank I should invest in better pumps. Thanks for the info gcarroll.

It's a bit difficult for me to take direct action as I am not home. I spoke with my dad and he said he turned the fan off and closed the windows because the water was 78*. So the problem is more likely varrying (not just rising) outdide temperatures.

 

To go a bit further:

Here in upstate NY, the average cost of my electricity is $0.16 per kWh. This takes into account ALL fees and taxes when calculating that number. The 51.5 watts saved translates to ~451 kWh per year in energy savings. That $0.16 per kWh becomes $72.18 saved per year. In 3 years time the new pumps pay for themselves. Every year after that you pocket $72 of free money. Not only that, you live a greener life as your carbon footprint is lower. That's a win-win.

 

Heat problem could be coming from your danner being throttled back that far. It's working hard.