Multiple smaller heaters (watts) are better than one larger one! Do you agree?

[Sleepingtiger]

And an aquarium controller is a whole tank single point of failure. Do I want one, sure. Can I afford one, no. What I would prefer is whole system monitor and individual controllers for each function that do not depend on the monitor for functionality. Still single points of failure but only one function gets affected.

What good is Fusion if your phone dies or the Apex fails or the temp sensor fails or even your Internet provider has an issue. The argument for or against multiple small heaters doesn't change just based on the controller available.

I take back everything in this post. You did not say to have the Apex control the heater, only to monitor it. I agree but I still lean slightly toward the two smaller heaters.

Fusion does have a function that tells you if your internet or apex goes down.

My biggest fear is that the heater stays on. I came home to fish soup when my heater with controller stayed on. I lost about $2500 worth of cichlids. That hurt because I was the only one west of the Mississippi who had that fish. I was offered big time money for those fish a month prior. Still ticked.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Why do you think consumption is less with a large heater?

Watts translates directly to degree rise in the water, regardless of the heater type or size or number.

Well, a physically larger heater element or two heaters with a larger transfer area would be more efficient in transferring said energy in form of heat.

The same goes for heater material where titanium is more thermally conductive than glass.

 

[jiffyjhn]

I have 2 of same heaters in each of the tanks. The pair of heaters are connected to same temp controller for redundancy.
if temp drops below 25.9C, first heater will be on. If temp drops below 24.9C both heaters will be turned on. This way the primary heater is used most of the time and the backup heater is rarely getting used. When the primary heater fails the backup will still be working. and if I see temp not reaching 25.9 I know the primary heater is broken

 

[tharbin]

Fusion does have a function that tells you if your internet or apex goes down.

My biggest fear is that the heater stays on. I came home to fish soup when my heater with controller stayed on. I lost about $2500 worth of cichlids. That hurt because I was the only one west of the Mississippi who had that fish. I was offered big time money for those fish a month prior. Still ticked.

Thanks that's good to know.

Stuck on is also my biggest concern and why I lean a little toward the two smaller heaters. It takes longer to cook the tank. Sorry to hear about your loss of Cichlids. I've only lost one Chromis to a heater failure and even that hurt.

 

[Paul B]

Aside from the chemical issues I mentioned, I do not see why several smaller heaters is not a good idea. It makes great sense to me.

It doesn't make sense to anyone but you don't get the same light output from 5-20 watt bulbs that you do from one 100 watt bulb. Five 20 watt bulbs will be very dim compared to one 100 watt bulb. It just is what it is even though you will pay for the same electricity.

There are losses in any heating element and for some reason those losses add up in smaller loads more than they do from one larger one.

 

[kagisexton]

I vote no. Just another piece of equipment in the tank that can potentially fail or worse. I use one large 600W heater and keep a back up.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It doesn't make sense to anyone but you don't get the same light output from 5-20 watt bulbs that you do from one 100 watt bulb. Five 20 watt bulbs will be very dim compared to one 100 watt bulb. It just is what it is even though you will pay for the same electricity.

There are losses in any heating element and for some reason those losses add up in smaller loads more than they do from one larger one.

lol

Perfect. The loses are only heat. That's what we want from a heater.

If it is so hot it is glowing, then the big heaters are bad because of loss of energy as light. lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Well, a physically larger heater element or two heaters with a larger transfer area would be more efficient in transferring said energy in form of heat.

The same goes for heater material where titanium is more thermally conductive than glass.

Where do you think the wasted energy is going?

Heat.

There are NO loses or inefficiencies of a an electric heater when it is fully submerged.

Ever single big of energy going into it comes out as heat to the water, except perhaps super tiny bits of heat up the cord and some lost as light if it has an indicator light on it.'

More efficient heat transfer might get it to the water faster when turned on and cools down faster when off, but it is no more efficient at converted electric energy to a rise in water temperature.

 

[MnFish1]

With it starting to turn cold for many of us let's talk about heaters. More specifically let's talk about the belief that multiple smaller watt heaters are better than one larger watt one. I believe this to be true. So why and what's the thinking behind this? Well the idea is that if one big heater fails then you could lose your whole tank but if one smaller heater fails there is more room for forgiveness. Let's talk about it today!

1. Do you believe that multiple smaller watt heaters are better than one larger watt one?

2. How many heaters are you running (watts) and how many gallons are you heating?

1. Do you believe that multiple smaller watt heaters are better than one larger watt one?
No - except as below. It can lead to multiple more on/off cycles if you're using lets say 3 heaters with the same or nearly the same temperature - which may lead to earlier failure.
2. How many heaters are you running (watts) and how many gallons are you heating?
2 x 300 watt heaters - one set to 78, one set to 76. Such that if the first one goes out, the second will kick in - but they will not 'fight' each other at the same temperature. Of course - were the temp to drop to 76 - hopefully I would get an alert from my controller either way

 

[MnFish1]

Why do you think consumption is less with a large heater?

Watts translates directly to degree rise in the water, regardless of the heater type or size or number.

Here is a thought - of course with a controller - most of the discussion is moot - but - lets say you have 3 heaters and one sticks 'on'. I guess one would HOPE that that one heater could not overheat the water but would just keep things going until the second and third one's kick in. Curious - what temps would you set lets say 3 smaller heaters at?

 

[fachatga]

I’m hearing a lot of people who only want one heater that trust 100% that their controller can’t fail. I would want some redundancy so that if an apex failed to do what it was supposed to do I would still be okay. I’m not sure I can see trusting one component to be failsafe no matter what it is

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Here is a thought - of course with a controller - most of the discussion is moot - but - lets say you have 3 heaters and one sticks 'on'. I guess one would HOPE that that one heater could not overheat the water but would just keep things going until the second and third one's kick in. Curious - what temps would you set lets say 3 smaller heaters at?

In my setup I had about 6 typical aquarium heaters. Sometimes more sometimes less.

Most had their internal temperature controllers set a small amount above my preferred tank temp (about 80.5 deg F). , They would always be on if my controller was on, but if somehow it stuck on, their internal controllers would run them up a little then shut off. That gives redundant protection against overheating.

The controller I used was a Dynasense thermistor controller. It was very good and sensitive to small temp swings so the tank stayed steady to about 0.1 deg F.

One or two heaters were in the tank (sump) on their own, not on, just idling and waiting, using their internal controllers. They were the protection against the controller failing (say, a GFCI tripped on it). They would come on if the tank temp dropped.

In the summer, I had a second Dynasense controlling a DIY cooling method using cold tap water in cooling coils in the sump. It kept the temp from ever rising above my set point (about 81 deg F). (except perhaps in a prolonged power failure).

As far as I know, in 20 years I never had a temp problem that wasn't related to an extended power failure.

But I did have several aquarium heaters break over the years, each managing to trip the GFCI.

 

[jacalhou]

I run one heater hooked up to the Apex for its probe control. I don’t have a big tank at this point, so multiple would be overkill and I’m already at a lower wattage. I keep a new spare on hand at all times, though, for when it fails. I do like the idea though of multiple heaters and when my system gets upgraded in size, I’ll do multiples for the redundancy and to prevent a catastrophe from one failing “on” especially.

 

[JKBrown]

I run 2 500 watt Finnex. Each has its own controller. Each is on a separate circuit breaker. I think one would be sufficient for the 150 or so gallon of water volume.

Question: Where do you take the temperature of your tank? My tank is an old Oceanic Reef Ready with corner overflows and a single drain in each. I added a standpipe (and Maggie Muffler) to have about 10" of standing water in my overflow and that is where my temperature probes are.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

In my setup I had about 6 typical aquarium heaters. Sometimes more sometimes less.

Most had their internal temperature controllers set a small amount above my preferred tank temp (about 80.5 deg F). , They would always be on if my controller was on, but if somehow it stuck on, their internal controllers would run them up a little then shut off. That gives redundant protection against overheating.

The controller I used was a Dynasense thermistor controller. It was very good and sensitive to small temp swings so the tank stayed steady to about 0.1 deg F.

One or two heaters were in the tank (sump) on their own, not on, just idling and waiting, using their internal controllers. They were the protection against the controller failing (say, a GFCI tripped on it). They would come on if the tank temp dropped.

In the summer, I had a second Dynasense controlling a DIY cooling method using cold tap water in cooling coils in the sump. It kept the temp from ever rising above my set point (about 81 deg F). (except perhaps in a prolonged power failure).

As far as I know, in 20 years I never had a temp problem that wasn't related to an extended power failure.

But I did have several aquarium heaters break over the years, each managing to trip the GFCI.

Randy, so would you recommend the backup heater and controller not be plugged into the GFCI? And perhaps the return pump as well? I have two of each with the backup set a couple of degrees lower.

 

[LPS Bum]

Yes. Redundancy is always safer, and having multiple heaters means that neither one has to work as hard and there is better heating coverage in the aquarium.

But being an idiot, I don't take my own advice and only run a single heater on both of my aquariums (even on my large FOWLR). Fortunately, haven't had a problem with the Eheim Jaegers yet.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Randy, so would you recommend the backup heater and controller not be plugged into the GFCI? And perhaps the return pump as well? I have two of each with the backup set a couple of degrees lower.

I'd use a different GFCI.

I used a whole bunch on my system. Maybe 20 for all the different things the tank used.

 

[blazn]

I definitely fall on the multiple heater solution side, as I'm a big believer in redundancy.

On a total 150 gallon system, I run two individual Finnex 300 watt heaters (each with its own built-in controller), each plugged into a separate InkBird controller. One heater system is installed in my sump and the other is in the DT. I have the sump heating system calibrated to kick on prior to the DT system so the DT system only comes on if the sump system fails or if additional heat is required, which I haven't witnessed happening so far (other than during testing). I then have all equipment in my sump (heater/return pump/etc) plugged into one GFCI circuit and all equipment in my DT (heater/wavemakers/etc) plugged into another GFCI circuit. Therefore if either of the GFCI cicuits shut-off, the heater in the other circuit will maintain the tank temp while maintaining water movement (unless both GFCI circuits go down simultaneously).

On a side note, I've used Finnex 300 watt heaters for years and I've never had one fail yet.

 

[Malcontent]

On/off cycles shouldn't be a problem for electronic thermostats. The bimetallic strips used in many heaters are a nightmare though. Heaters with electronic thermostats also shouldn't fail on.

I used to use two 150W Aqueon heaters with mechanical thermostats. Those were replaced by a single 300W Fluval E. Now I'm looking at switching to a 1 x 500W Innovative Marine Helio PTC heater.

 

[lagnew904]

As far as efficiency I don't think anything beats a heat exchanger. However with submersible heaters I would think more surface area would transfer heat faster.

However I'm sure there is a calculation based on energy used by surface volume to equal result.

Been years since studying it so I may be wrong