Using Home Heating To Help Heat Tank?

[cm11599ps]

In a few years I'd like to upgrade to a 300+ gallon system. I have the perfect area for a fish room but it's about 15' away from where I would want the tank. The wall from the tank to fish room has baseboard heating all along it.

What are your thoughts about running my piping between the tank and fish room a little bit above the baseboard heating? Not sitting on the heating part itself, but maybe an inch or two above it. Here's a pic of basebaord heating if you're not familiar. Hot water flows through copper piping inside these things and heats the room.



Do you think it would keep the tank heaters off? I'm sure all this depends on the length of pipe that is in contact with the baseboard heating as well as the overall tank volume. Just curious if anyone encountered this before.

[scbrooks87]

So I did some math... and I think your tank would probably be more effected by ambient room temp, even running the pipe past your baseboard heater...

Lets say you're using 2" pipe for a tank as big as yours (probably 1.5" is more realistic) depending on how many feet of heater it's passing, it wont get it hot enough not to go pretty quickly back to the temp of the water in the tank, which is going to be more effected by the ambient room temp... And depending on how many GPH you have running past it, the water would probably not have time to gain a considerable amount of heat...

That's my thought on it though... I'm sure someone else would have a lot more in depth equasions than I did to come up with a more scientific, fact based answer.

-Scott

[sedor]

If your going out of your way to run tubing past the heater I would just use the ambient temps as well as I don't think it would have that dramatic of an effect on the tank. Not to mention, it seems to be to be an unreliable source of heat. A few quality heaters will kick on when you need them and keep the tank exactly where you want it...for cheap. A household heater is better used to simply keep the home warm and if the temp in the room helps keep your heaters off then its just a bonus.

[cm11599ps]

I'm not talking about using that is the main source of heat, just something that might help along the way. I wouldn't be going out of my way to run this because the piping would be heading that way anyway.

[iamwrasseman]

it may help but here is a scenario that will make you rethink your plans . if you are trying to keep your tank at 78 degrees lets say and the aquarium heater has just turned off and your tank temp is at 78 right when you come home from a hard day at work . then you turn your house heat on to your desired temp which is usually 5 to 10 degrees above when you gone . your tank will be getting blasted with the heat from your house heat at the worst possable time as your aquarium is at its high end and now you are further heating it when you heat your house . you may end up with some severe temp swings and it will be diisaster if you aquarium heater sticks on ,which happens .

[sslak]

Not worth it. Most people focus on cooling big tanks, not heating them.

Are you really going to need more heat when you have 3 or 4 halides blasting your 300g system?

Not only that, the amount of surface area on the pipe, combined with the minimal exposure time of water running through it, as well as the fact that PVC is not a good conductor of heat...the pipe would be almost useless. Waste of time and PVC.

[Drez]

+1

Don't see it being terribly effective or cost effective

Good thought all the same.

[cm11599ps]

I figured it wouldn't heat the water up too much. This isn't a project that I'm choosing to do, it might be a project I HAVE to do. I might be forced to run the piping over the baseboard heating.

I'm actually kind of glad to hear people saying it wouldn't have much effect.

[iamwrasseman]

it will certainly add heat to your tank ,just not efficiently .if you would like to further insulate the piping they sell insulation for it also