Heating Fish Room - Gas

[HapPeacock]

Hello All, looking for some suggestions. Does any one heat the fish room with natural gas instead of using tank heaters?

Please let me know your suggestions as I am planning to convert.

Thanks.

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

Would this be a centralized system that also heats the rest of the house?

Plenty of people heat the room and not individual tanks, but I think most people use space heaters, mostly electric.

 

[HapPeacock]

Thank you, looking to heat only the fish room (insulated one car garage). One of my friend uses the garage heater that runs on natural gas, but it's his whole basement and I am not sure how effective it wld be for the garage.

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

I'm not experienced with gas heaters, only electric, so I'll defer to someone else who might have practical advice. Either way I think its more efficient than heating individual tanks if you have more than a few.

 

[HapPeacock]

Thank you, can you please let me know about your electric heater cost & specs like how many watts, room size, no of tanks and tank temp etc?

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

I don't know the exact cost because it was a gift, but I think it was in the $50 range. Its a 2,000 watt heater, my fish room is about 120 sq. ft., so not a large space. I've had as many tanks as 35 tanks in there, but I don't think the number of tanks really factors into the equation, the water adjusts to the ambient temperature independently I believe. I set the heater at 74, it kicks on when the temp hits 72. I'd say the tanks always stay at 70 or above, but I don't really monitor them anymore. I don't know how often the heater runs since its set on a thermostat, and I couldn't say how much the electricity costs to run it, but I'm sure its much cheaper than having a bunch of heaters in the tanks.

 

[HapPeacock]

Thank you for the inputs and it definitely helps.

 

[JLW]

Heating the room is definitely the way to go, but also consider insulation. Adding those stiff styro boards to the walls (before the tanks go in) can save you a pretty penny.

A gas heater is way cheaper to run than electric, but you do need to vent it. Otherwise, you'll get carbon monoxide. For most smaller fish rooms, an electric is adequate.

Determining which is going to work for you is going to depend on a lot of factors. The size of the room and its insulation (in theory, if you had enough insulation, you could heat it by inviting Mike over to let out some hot air here or there), the difference in temperature -- if you keep your house at 62° and want the fish room at 84°, you're going to need more than if you keep the house at 74° and want 78°, and the type / brand of heater.

 

[HapPeacock]

Thanks JLW, I have the walls and door insulated as well as the ceiling.

Who is Mike?

 

[lkelly]

Thanks JLW, I have the walls and door insulated as well as the ceiling.

Who is Mike?

Mike is the gasbag also known as DiscusnAfricans.

 

[HapPeacock]

Mike is the gasbag also known as DiscusnAfricans.

Thanks Lane.