Can I run my heater during the day only?

[ilawis]

Hey all
I have a 1500ltr system and wondering if it would be ok to run my heaters during the day only.
I have a solar system on the roof of my house so it will hugely reduce my running cost of heating my tank but also my tank seems to take a long time to change temperature due to the volume of water (biggest change I've seen is 1deg C over 30 hours)
I've had the tank running for about 4-5 months now and don't have a heater in it but now it's coming into winter in Australia I'm thinking I need to start heating it as it's dropped to just over 23C
Just FYI the fish I have in there are all tolerant of temperate water conditions but I do plan on getting some fish and corals that I'm sure won't be so forgiving

 

[Rtaylor]

Get a controller like an inkbird. It will cut the power to your heater if it isn’t needed based on your temperature settings.

 

[mdb_talon]

The only way to know is really to try it. It is going to be based on how warm your house is. Airflow/evaporative cooling, etc. If it was just fish i would say a gradual 2 or 3 degree swing overnight is not a huge deal. With coral i personally would not want that, but i dont know of evidence that it really is harmful. If it was just a degree change it would not concern me.

 

[Pistondog]

Maybe set your heater Temps lower during the night to experiment.
You probably know more about this than I do, but heating water via sun is more efficient than solar cells with heaters. Have to work out thermal storage.
For the diyer.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I would definatly monitor it over the nights course to see how low it gets.
D

 

[Mariette]

The heaters adjust automatically to turn on and off when needed. Is there’s a 1 degree change over 30 hours, I wouldn’t think it takes much energy to run em 24 hrs a day.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Hey all
I have a 1500ltr system and wondering if it would be ok to run my heaters during the day only.
I have a solar system on the roof of my house so it will hugely reduce my running cost of heating my tank but also my tank seems to take a long time to change temperature due to the volume of water (biggest change I've seen is 1deg C over 30 hours)
I've had the tank running for about 4-5 months now and don't have a heater in it but now it's coming into winter in Australia I'm thinking I need to start heating it as it's dropped to just over 23C
Just FYI the fish I have in there are all tolerant of temperate water conditions but I do plan on getting some fish and corals that I'm sure won't be so forgiving

This intrigues me....quite a bit. If you are saying 1 degree max temp dif? On the surface, I would give it a go. Here in Canada I'm obviously not quite able to run this experiment. The electrician in me says those heaters will want to compensate for the degree change but if they are doing it on solar then who cares right? I'd honestly try it for a few days to a week and see what comes of it....you may be on to something here.

 

[blasterman]

I'm in the opposite scenario. Electricity costs me more during prime time hours, so if I were heating a really big tank I would want to do so after hours to save money.

A big tank takes a pretty cold room to cool down more than a few degrees. Corals also don't care about moderate temp changes. Wild reefs vary quite a bit in terms of daily temp due to tidal upwellings and the sun.

 

[CanuckReefer]

I'm in the opposite scenario. Electricity costs me more during prime time hours, so if I were heating a really big tank I would want to do so after hours to save money.

A big tank takes a pretty cold room to cool down more than a few degrees. Corals also don't care about moderate temp changes. Wild reefs vary quite a bit in terms of daily temp due to tidal upwellings and the sun.

He's got solar unpaid full bore during prime hours, so have at er!!! Perhaps I misinterpret your post, I have had 2 pints and 3 wines....likely I did lol. Its thirsty Thursday....

But ya, your post on temps 100% agree, this is a worthwhile endeavor to try would think....

 

[Pistondog]

Hey all
I have a 1500ltr system and wondering if it would be ok to run my heaters during the day only.
I have a solar system on the roof of my house so it will hugely reduce my running cost of heating my tank but also my tank seems to take a long time to change temperature due to the volume of water (biggest change I've seen is 1deg C over 30 hours)
I've had the tank running for about 4-5 months now and don't have a heater in it but now it's coming into winter in Australia I'm thinking I need to start heating it as it's dropped to just over 23C
Just FYI the fish I have in there are all tolerant of temperate water conditions but I do plan on getting some fish and corals that I'm sure won't be so forgiving

So if free during the day, maybe overheat a couple of degrees, so it doesn't drop as low at night.

 

[ilawis]

Wow thanks guys I really didn't expect so much replies to this post.
So based on the replies it definitely sounds like something I'll give a go
At the moment my solar panels produce from around 9-10am through to 6pm so I'll put some heaters in and set them to run during those hours
I do think I'll get a bit more evaporation going but when my tank is evaporating around 8- 10ltrs a day a little more won't hurt
Also to clarify I'm not getting a daily swing of 1deg that 1deg was when the weather turned really bad overnight once. my daily swing is usually about 0.4deg often less

 

[ilawis]

Maybe set your heater Temps lower during the night to experiment.
You probably know more about this than I do, but heating water via sun is more efficient than solar cells with heaters. Have to work out thermal storage.
For the diyer.

At the moment I have no heater at all in the tank so I'm just thinking about putting some in.
In terms of thermal storage I would segest something like a solarhart they work amazing and you could just run a pipe through your tank to run temp exchange and put the pump on a temperature controller.
I'm thinking about doing this but for cooling and rather than catching heat from the sun I'll run a coil underground about 1m down the ambient temperature is 16.5deg in my location so it should work nicely (when I decide I feel like digging and buying some pipe)

 

[Krampus]

Wow thanks guys I really didn't expect so much replies to this post.
So based on the replies it definitely sounds like something I'll give a go
At the moment my solar panels produce from around 9-10am through to 6pm so I'll put some heaters in and set them to run during those hours
I do think I'll get a bit more evaporation going but when my tank is evaporating around 8- 10ltrs a day a little more won't hurt
Also to clarify I'm not getting a daily swing of 1deg that 1deg was when the weather turned really bad overnight once. my daily swing is usually about 0.4deg often less

If you’re only getting a half a degree swing then I wouldn’t worry about it. That’s actually very rock steady! The ocean will fluctuate more than that.

 

[ilawis]

If you’re only getting a half a degree swing then I wouldn’t worry about it. That’s actually very rock steady! The ocean will fluctuate more than that.

I was just a bit nervous about it because I know temp fluctuations can trigger algie blooms. In not really too worried about a bloom because I have a UV sterilizer on my system but I am still going through the ugly Brown stage