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Re: BIG tank heating cables



Dave Gomberg wrote:

> So much nonsense is being bandied about on this topic I was gonna
> pass, but 
> now I gotta write.

[[[[I hope our nonsense doesn't ever stop you from writing.  We'd miss
your contribitions.   ;-)   ]]]]

 
> The original request was for something cheap (presumably to buy and 
> run).   The laws of physics will give you the same amount of heat for
> a 
> given amount of electricity regardless of Jaeger heater, cables,
> bricks, 
> reptile heaters, fireplug or whatever type of heater you choose.

[[[[The laws of physic remain immutable.  That's why why substrate
heaters can be more efficient application of the heat generated.  With
substrate cables, the heat must rise through the entire water column to
escape from the water surface.  With tube heaters, a lot more heat can
rise to the surface before passing through much of the tank water
(relatively speaking).  I can maintain temp in my substrate cabled 150
gallon tank with roughly the same amount of electricity as my
tube-heated 30 gallon requires.]]]]]

>  So
> forget operating costs being different by type of heater.  You can
> save on 
> operating costs by insulating the surfaces that you don't look thru. 
> The 
> 2" foam insulation sold by building stores is quite cheap.

You can do this regardless of what heater you use and it's a very good
thing to do to save on heating costs.  It might (maybe not) be more
effective with cable heaters than tube heaters since 1) with cable
heaters, a lot of the heater infra red is radiated through the bottom
panel and a reflective insualtion panel could send that back into the
tank and 2) the bottom panel is one that you most likely won't need to
look through.
> 
> The next consideration in my mind should be reliability.  A
> submersible 
> Jaeger 300w or two should be fine for the job.  And cheap enough.  Go
> for it.

Who can question with Jaeger reliability?  But I wonder if 600 watts
will be adequate for 1,000 gallons.  I'm guessing something closer to
1,000 to 1,200.  But so what?  4 Jaegers are still relatively cheap and
reliable as a Model T.

Respectfully,
Scott H.


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