Heating the Fish Room, Advice

+1 Drew is a pro

Matt

blkmjk said:

Wow lots of replies on a very involved subject. I would absolutely recommend insulation around the entire fish room with a r value of 20 or higher. 30 or higher on the ceiling. Steam is a wonderful way to keep the room heated but without insulation it will be a loosing battle to keep the room tempered. I would like stop by and give my professional opinion. I have 12 years experience in the HVAC industry. More than likely a mini split is you best option for effective and efficient heating of your space without compromising the electrical bills in the future. But if I read correctly you don't own the place directly? If that is the case steam would be the more effective option. It's pretty easy to run a line over to the area you need heat and condensate back. Let me know if your interested in having me swing by.

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Hmmmm.... I've been dealing with the issue myself for a number of years. My option was to go mostly with subtropicals, which don't mind cooler temperatures. Not an option for a tropical fish business. Maybe a partway solution would work for you: Partition off the basement for tropicals, and keep the subtropicals in the other part of the basement. I remember that when George R. lived in Virginia, he built a makeshift partition out off green house plastic and made a little room for his discus. I think he used a space heater, but I can't remember, exactly.

... just Google "Dexter Kill Room" and you'll get an idea

Matt

Sonny Disposition said:

Hmmmm.... I've been dealing with the issue myself for a number of years. My option was to go mostly with subtropicals, which don't mind cooler temperatures. Not an option for a tropical fish business. Maybe a partway solution would work for you: Partition off the basement for tropicals, and keep the subtropicals in the other part of the basement. I remember that when George R. lived in Virginia, he built a makeshift partition out off green house plastic and made a little room for his discus. I think he used a space heater, but I can't remember, exactly.

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Ok Josh:
not sure if I missed it or not but here is my 2 cents worth..
I have a florida room, coverted into a greenhouse/growing area for my orchids. I was heating with those oil filled electric heaters until I had a hissyfit over my electric bills.
I decided to try one of the attach to the wall, unvented propane heaters.
I think during it's max output, it puts out about 25,000 or so btus...
they are not real fancy ie... they are not thrermostatically controlled,(with a thermostat) but if I keep it at the lowest setting, I can keep the room (18x12) constant at about 65 to 70 degrees... Now don't freak out...

remember
this is a florida room, with a layer of plastic covering it. it is like heating the backyard in effect.... the r value for this is ridiculous so maintaining 65 in there would be like probably 80 in an insulated room.
I set it up with a tandem two tank (2 75 tanks) that I manually turn from one tank to the next if the gas runs out.
the propane is costing me anywhere from $70-$80 per tank and last year the heater ran at about 1 tank per month. When it was really cold, I think i went through a tank in 20 days, but that is not normal.....
fumes are not an issue, unless you have a "sealed" room and i do not have that. but they are made for basements and family rooms and such.
The units run about 250-350
something else to consider....

David,

I'm looking at some of these on Amazon now, and from what I'm reading, they'll use a 75# tank in about two weeks.... Which type do you have?