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ambient temp and my 75 gal

906 views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  robinc 
#1 ·
I'm getting ready to set up a brand new 75g tank in a room that is only heated by a free standing oil heater. I live in N.W. Washington, which isn't bad compared to say Minnesota but still Dec thru Feb gets cold even here. My question is, what's the best temperature to keep the room?

I plan on a 300w Hydor inline with a heat controller probably one of the Finnex ones. I can't decide which will draw more electricity keeping the room cooler and letting the tank heater do the work or heating the room and having the tank heater not have to work so much. Any input would be great.
 
#2 ·
I'm in a similar situation and I let my tank heaters do the work. Also at night I turn the heat down in my house and it gets brrr friggin cold. It may drop to 60 or so in my house but my tanks stay toasty at whatever I have my heater controllers set to.
 
#3 ·
I'm probably going to end up doing the same. In order to get a space heater that would really heat this room warm, it would probably draw too much wattage and blow the breakers, especially with the added pressure from the tanks and my computer. I really need to do a test and see just how many breakers are wired to this room.
 
#4 ·
Experience in the North end of Ohio tells me to heat the tank in this situation. Part of the equation has to be how the room is heated as well. Different heat like gas, electric or wood heat all have different expense involved.
But in general the room will have far more heat lost due to the vast amount of exposure to far colder air. The outside walls of the room are exposed to freezing temperatures over a far great area. The tank walls are far, far smaller area and also the room acts somewhat like insulation even if totally unheated. Say 10 -20 square feet exposed to 50 degrees versus 100 sq. ft exposed to 30 degrees? Think of heating a tent versus heating a sleeping bag.
The room loses far more if the cost of each heat is near the same. I would look at insulating the tank and leave the room colder. Throwing a blanket over the tank at night actually helps a lot.
 
#5 ·
Thank you. I was just thinking about the blanket idea but wondered if it was a dumb idea. I'll keep the oil space heater I have. It's the radiant type and doesn't draw a ton. I believe it will keep the room at least 55 in the coldest part of the year. If it gets any colder than that I'll throw a blanket over the tank. Maybe to a tank that's not as cold as it sounds to me. :)
 
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