Aquarium Heaters, do you replace or let it ride?

[Acro Junky]

So I saw an interesting post on here a while back that really got me thinking.

Someone mentioned that every year they buy a brand-new heater and toss the old one. I thought that was pretty interesting.

Considering heater failures are one of the more common causes of reef tank crashes, I’m curious what everyone else does.

Do you replace your heaters on a regular schedule, or do you run the same heater for years until it fails?

Curious to hear what everyone’s approach is.

 

[KrisReef]

I have mine on a controller with redundant elements and spares on hand and replace them when they’re old or faulty. Two years is a long service life and I thank you for the seasonally reminder to do a proper review on the current inventory!

They can fail from a few scenarios and they are like windshield wipers, they should be replaced before the storm comes.

 

[exnisstech]

I don't replace them proactively but I have spares if they fail. I use controllers and dual heaters so a controller sticking on is my failure point. I'm not worried about stuck off heaters because the house doesn't get that cold.

 

[Acro Junky]

I have mine on a controller with redundant elements and spares on hand and replace them when they’re old or faulty. Two years is a long service life and I thank you for the seasonally reminder to do a proper review on the current inventory!

They can fail from a few scenarios and they are like windshield wipers, they should be replaced before the storm comes.

just doing my part!

 

[Acro Junky]

I don't replace them proactively but I have spares if they fail. I use controllers and dual heaters so a controller sticking on is my failure point. I'm not worried about stuck off heaters because the house doesn't get that cold.

So how long is your longest running heater?

 

[Subsea]

I don’t use heaters in Texas. I also prefer running my tanks at 72-75 degrees

 

[petcellar]

I think it is a good idea to proactively change them out.... but I've never actually done that :(

I probably should though.

 

[exnisstech]

So how long is your longest running heater?

I have no idea really. I have an ehiem that is probably 15 years old in that drawer. I ran it for years in fresh water then a few more in a mixing station and now it's a back up. I don't worry about heaters not working because our house is never cold enough to be an issue. Over temp is the only thing I worry about.

 

[Reef Jedi]

I change my BRS titanium ones out every year. I always buy them on BRS Black Friday sale since they are always on sale. I do run two on emergency dedicated outlets run by Apex. Since those don’t cycle at all I’ve left them. I do test them at the same time I replace the main two to ensure they function correctly. With apex I run tight margins by shutting off outlets at 80° and alarms at 78.8°. I’m in Colorado so heaters are a must most of the year and a crucial life support item for me. I don’t mind spending the money for the redundancy and knowing they have a very high on and off cycle rate.

Edit: one more note, I’ve had more issues with it getting colder than it being warm. I’ve had a heater fail in the dead of winter and had to overnight them from brs. Thankfully an old Eheim heater I use for mixing saved the day. Since then I always run two main and two emergency.

 

[Impunitus]

I intend to run mine until they die. Tanks are dual heater, on a heater controller and then have an external monitor for tank temp that will cut power based on tank temp.

House doesn't get cold enough to be a problem if I have a long term heater outage.

Also have spares available, so just let them ride.

I'll also share my reef tanks are only a year old but I'm not replacing them yearly like some people do. I have what I understand to be high quality titanium heaters. Seems wasteful to toss them out if they are still doing their job.

 

[Acro Junky]

I have no idea really. I have an ehiem that is probably 15 years old in that drawer. I ran it for years in fresh water then a few more in a mixing station and now it's a back up. I don't worry about heaters not working because our house is never cold enough to be an issue. Over temp is the only thing I worry about.

I see We are the opposite. Wife likes the house cold haha

 

[Acro Junky]

I don’t use heaters in Texas. I also prefer running my tanks at 72-75 degrees

I don’t know Texas whether but it has snowed, maybe in some parts. I’m guessing where you are, stays warm?

 

[Acro Junky]

I change my BRS titanium ones out every year. I always buy them on BRS Black Friday sale since they are always on sale. I do run two on emergency dedicated outlets run by Apex. Since those don’t cycle at all I’ve left them. I do test them at the same time I replace the main two to ensure they function correctly. With apex I run tight margins by shutting off outlets at 80° and alarms at 78.8°. I’m in Colorado so heaters are a must most of the year and a crucial life support item for me. I don’t mind spending the money for the redundancy and knowing they have a very high on and off cycle rate.

Edit: one more note, I’ve had more issues with it getting colder than it being warm. I’ve had a heater fail in the dead of winter and had to overnight them from brs. Thankfully an old Eheim heater I use for mixing saved the day. Since then I always run two main and two emergency.

I never thought about putting a spare heater on a spare outlet for redundancy! Going to do this!

 

[exnisstech]

I see We are the opposite. Wife likes the house cold haha

We keep it 70ish which isn't a problem short term and lower in winter but I'm retired and never away from home more than a few hours at the most so chances of low temp issue is minimal.

 

[Subsea]

I don’t know Texas whether but it has snowed, maybe in some parts. I’m guessing where you are, stays warm?

It can freeze in Austin, but not in my house. Even when power failed, a wood burning fireplace kelp living area warm.

However, in summer, if power fails, even with a UPS system, it’s an emergency.

 

[Acro Junky]

It can freeze in Austin, but not in my house. Even when power failed, a wood burning fireplace kelp living area warm.

However, in summer, if power fails, even with a UPS system, it’s an emergency.

I see, well can’t go wrong with a cozy fire!

 

[Euphyllia098]

Redundancy via an inkbird, and I keep spares on hand.

Plus I need 2 heaters to heat my tank, and I sized them so that they can barely heat the tank. Aka I've got the temperature set to 78, but they can't get there, they can only get it to 77.6 by themselves. So it'll never overheat, which is the real danger.

I'm not against changing yearly though. For the cheap cost of the heater vs. the cost of the livestock it's cheap insurance.

 

[tritonpower]

I have 4 titanium BRS heaters. Been running for over 3 years thus far. Once a year I clean all my pumps/skimmer/UV/etc. I take them out of the water and look at the heaters then once a year to be sure they look ok. That is about it.

 

[Subsea]

Installing redundancy of network controls is the right solution for stuck heaters. However, replacing devices has its pitfalls.

As a Subsea Engineer on underwater
“Blow-Out Preventors” used in deepwater drilling, we changed out $10K pressure transmitters rated for 10,000’ of water every 5 years. Even though we bench tested these transmitters to 5000psi, they sometimes failed on the first well. Due to cost of digital transducers and their reliability at depth, I submitted a Quality Improvement Proposal to discontinue remove & replace. With a total of 100 transducers, that’s a savings of 1 million dollars on one deepwater rig and we had 30 rigs. As department head, I allowed my trainee to submit the QIP which won him a new Ram pickup truck.

 

[mcarroll]

Someone mentioned that every year they buy a brand-new heater and toss the old one.

"Someone..."

Not someone. BRS.

Chevy thinks you should get a new car every two years. Yeah.