100 or 200w heater in garage with cold temp ?

[eminor]

Hello, I would like to start a 15 gallons aquarium in my garage which has no insulation just concrete, in winter it rarely goes below 0°c. Is it better to take a 100w or 200w heater? thx

i want at least reach 18°c, 22°c might be better for plant

 

[The grumpy one]

I will start the ball rolling in this thread:
I would say:
To raise the temp by 10°c you need 1w per 1ltr of water.
You have 15gal, which if imperial gal is 68l. So for 10°c difference you would need 68w.
For 20°c difference you would need 136w.
So 150w heater will keep your water at 22°c when the air temp is 0°c
I would probably get 2 x 100w low profile heaters (I personally like the Dennerle nano heater compact range, they are so small and not glass).
That way you can turn one off in the summer to save electricity and if one goes wrong, you will still be able to keep your tank warm whilst you go and purchase another one.

But I am sure you will get loads of ideas from everyone and a consensus of opinion will occur.

 

[eminor]

I will start the ball rolling in this thread:
I would say:
To raise the temp by 10°c you need 1w per 1ltr of water.
You have 15gal, which if imperial gal is 68l. So for 10°c difference you would need 68w.
For 20°c difference you would need 136w.
So 150w heater will keep your water at 22°c when the air temp is 0°c
I would probably get 2 x 100w low profile heaters (I personally like the Dennerle nano heater compact range, they are so small and not glass).
That way you can turn one off in the summer to save electricity and if one goes wrong, you will still be able to keep your tank warm whilst you go and purchase another one.

But I am sure you will get loads of ideas from everyone and a consensus of opinion will occur.

thank you, the real volume of water is near 40-45 liters actually, so the 100w could work ?

 

[dino21]

Agree with @The grumpy one , but you will find a warm tank in a cold garage will lead to lots of condensation !

To overcome that problem with used some 25 and 50mm polystyrene and created a box around the tank with removable top and front pieces.
We also put two 40mm pipes though the garage wall, one bringing air in the other extracting the moisture filled warm air via a small controllable dc fan.

 

[dino21]

thank you, the real volume of water is near 40-45 liters actually, so the 100w could work ?

With Insulation around the tank, probably yes, without almost certainly not.
As said, think a single 150W or 2 x100w better.

 

[MirandaB]

That way you can turn one off in the summer to save electricity and if one goes wrong, you will still be able to keep your tank warm whilst you go and purchase another one.

Heaters are on a thermostat so no need to turn them off in the Summer

 

[eminor]

Agree with @The grumpy one , but you will find a warm tank in a cold garage will lead to lots of condensation !

To overcome that problem with used some 25 and 50mm polystyrene and created a box around the tank with removable top and front pieces.
We also put two 40mm pipes though the garage wall, one bringing air in the other extracting the moisture filled warm air via a small controllable dc fan.

Does using polystyrene save a lot of energy ?

 

[dino21]

Does using polystyrene save a lot of energy ?

Yes, its a very good heat insulator, though cannot give you any exact figures of how much it will save you, but with energy prices going up dramatically its worth saving as much as you can.

We used it because its cheap, easily cut, is relatively solid and not affected much by water, though it is flammable.

Is Polystyrene A Good Insulator? | Pricewise