is my new heater too powerful?

719 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by HypnoticAquatic, Sep 21, 2010

Dave-H

Discussion Starter · Sep 20, 2010

Hello all -

My heater is making some odd knocking sounds and it's making me nervous, so I thought I'd go for a new one.

I got my ViaAqua Titanium Heater - 300W in the mail and it looks great. Except for two things:

1) The instructions say to put the little electronic controller on the wall above the tank, but one of the reasons that I like this model is that I could put the controller under the cabinet. Most likely this isn't a problem, I'll put the controller/display down below with a drip loop and it should be fine (unless there's something I'm not getting).

2) In the online product description, I read that I needed a 300w heater for my 54 gallon corner tank. In the instructions, it says I needed a 200w or maybe even a borderline 150w.

My tank is in a room that is generally warm, and even in the dead of winter (in Denver) the room is never below 60 and usually in the mid 60's. So, we're not talking about huge requirements. I am nuts about saving electricity and don't want to overpower the heater, or wear it out with constant cycling.

I haven't opened the product yet so there's still time to send it back to Amazon. But now I'm not sure! I think I might have read the notes wrong at some point

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ridewake210

· #2 · Sep 20, 2010

Only thing to be worried about when "overheated" like that is if the heater malfunctions, and the thermostat gets stuck on. Your tank is going to heat up very quickly.

a 150w heater would have been fine for your tank, the 300w will work fine as well.
Its just going to raise your tank temp quicker if its low.
It will have better control over the tank temp, but the extra wattage really isnt needed.

The instructions probably wanted you to put the controller on the wall above the aquarium
incase any water made its way onto and down the power cord, it wouldnt make its way
to the controller. It would simply drip onto the floor.

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Dave-H

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 20, 2010

An overpowered heater is gonna cycle, and cycle, and cycle.
That's a recipe for a worn out heater, not to mention the extra electricity!

It seems like a 150 or 200 would have been ok from what I'm reading on the internet, but each heater has different efficiency so it's hard to say.

Agree the controller should be ok under the tank as long as it's not at risk of getting wet.

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stewardwildcat

· #4 · Sep 20, 2010

I purchased a 300W catalina heater when I started my tank. It was only a few buck more than the 150W that was recommended. Yes you do run the risk of cooking everything if you have a heater malfunction, however it does give you the ability of having the tank in a colder room or drafty area and keep the temperatures stable. My big heater runs far less than the 15W in the 10G I have. I personally like the fact that if my water is a bit cooler after a water change it will be rapidly warmed back up to the 80F where I keep it normally. When cost isn't a problem, a little bit of overkill is never bad in my book.

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Dave-H

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 20, 2010

When sizing air conditioners or furnaces, there is quite a bit of risk to overpowering a system. The idea is generally to get it sized 'just right' with a margin of safety, for efficiency but also wear and tear on the unit and best function.

A little bit of overkill isn't overkill, but I'm worried that twice the wattage that is recommended aint good

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stewardwildcat

· #6 · Sep 21, 2010

Dave-H said:
When sizing air conditioners or furnaces, there is quite a bit of risk to overpowering a system. The idea is generally to get it sized 'just right' with a margin of safety, for efficiency but also wear and tear on the unit and best function.

A little bit of overkill isn't overkill, but I'm worried that twice the wattage that is recommended aint good

See how it works! The heater is a heater all you need to be worried about is the controller electronics never failing.

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HypnoticAquatic

· #7 · Sep 21, 2010

all it means is it will get to that temp faster. i use a 300 on my 150g. shut it off or keep it submerged when doing wc even though its titanium, it wont break but it can be damaged still. its not going to be using much more electricity because it shuts off when the tempature is where you want it. i like the titan ones because there smaller/dont shatter, so if your going to upgrade later on or move it near a window its best to just keep it.

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