Delta Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 A long time ago I read about an idea to use a household hotwater system to heat a fishroom. Has anyone here heard of this idea and do you know where to find it?? I have a 50L hotwater system that has been sitting inused for about 2months since. We upgraded the household service so there was nothing wrong with this smaller one when it was disconnected. I'm trying to decide if I will keep it or not as husband is having a major cleanout and I keep dragging thing back from the rubbish pile :lol: Dianna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interfecus Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 Might as well keep it, what type of water heater is it? Cylinder? Instant gas heater? You could convert a hot water cylinder into a heater, but it would be far too big to really be practical. An instant water heater could feed a fish room by having water go through it from the sump back to the sump. On the lowest setting it might work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 See the Heating Multiple Tanks post in this section Dianna. Email me your ideas... I'm keen on more thoughts about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delta Posted January 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 Thanks for the feedback guys, I thought it must have been one of your ideas Pegasus, I just wasn't sure where I'd seen it either here or Borinia. My HWsystem is electric, It had been sitting for 2 months though so I'm worried it might have gone rusty on the inside by now???? I'll read through the post in a min, but I have no ideas... I wanted you lot to tell me how to do it!! :lol: In my favour my father is a Sparky by trade so no added expense in hooking something up. Thanks again, I'll get in touch Pegasus if I get any added info from dad about this idea. Dianna BTW, had a devil of a time getting my computer to connect to the internet this arvo so if I get cut off for a while it's because the computer has a brick in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interfecus Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 If you're hot water cylinder is leaking enough heat to heat a tank then you'd probably save more by insulating the cylinder better and seperately heating the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1 Posted January 26, 2003 Report Share Posted January 26, 2003 Hi Di A 50l hotwater system? Sounds like an "hotwater urn". Do you want to heat the tanks, or the room itself?. Usually systems like that have a hi-wattage element. Just before the boilingpoint. If you want to heat tanks, then it is a waste. Because of the hi-wattage element an thermostat would work overtime. To heat up a fishroom would also be impractical. How? Steam? Or radiated heat?The only other solution would be what I have. A flowthrough electronically controlled waterheater. But, the min temperature is 38°. All the way up to 70°. But in order to make it work, it needs waterflow. You could use a pump. To heat one tank. But to heat more than one is a problem with overflow. It would be a mechanical/electrical nightmare to implement that 50l HWS. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 Hi all, If the original post was read, it would be seen that the reason for using the HWC was because it was surplus to requirements, and would not be heating the room, but just a double run of pipes beneath my tanks. The actual water usage would be nil, as the water is just circulated, and in my particular cylinder (which is marked off from 50F to 180F) the settings could be adjusted to suit my needs. Because the water would be not much more than 90F, a smaller container could be used, which I may do. The small circulating pump would push the heated water through the pipes only if the temp dropped below a certain point, and although it may seem like overkill, the cylinder would hardly be on. Looking at my situation (if EVER I get around to setting all my tanks up) the 1500watts would be far less power usage than say 40 tanks with 100 or 150watt heaters On a further note, the post was asking for comments, and was really not intended to adopt this method....... until it was proven to work of course. Regards, Bill (Pegasus) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1 Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 Hi Pegasus My reply was for Di. My fault. In your case it would be looked at in a completely different light. Using that system for 40 or so tanks is different and probably more economical than standard heaters. Now it makes sense. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 Thanks John. Must admit, with the popularity here, some posts are getting hard to follow if you don't read back a few posts or so :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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