[mci services]

mosts of the hot water users are running it at way below your 70-80 degrees, most have said they run it luke warm to lower the risk of cracking the window

Thats not true matt, i use mine at about 60 deg c, thats the whole point, its nice and hot.  The glass cracking baloney is a myth, I've never had such a problem.

However, if you're just looking to prevent freezing and want luke-warm water it might work.  But for me, if you're going to go hot water, then its worth getting it properly, and being able to use it nice and hot (not luke warm)

only a post from yesterday / today

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=87070.0

i was going to quote the same post but couldnt be bothered

[matt]

mosts of the hot water users are running it at way below your 70-80 degrees, most have said they run it luke warm to lower the risk of cracking the window

Thats not true matt, i use mine at about 60 deg c, thats the whole point, its nice and hot.  The glass cracking baloney is a myth, I've never had such a problem.

However, if you're just looking to prevent freezing and want luke-warm water it might work.  But for me, if you're going to go hot water, then its worth getting it properly, and being able to use it nice and hot (not luke warm)

only a post from yesterday / today

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=87070.0

i was going to quote the same post but couldnt be bothered

 

[drwindows]

yeah i saw that. he's doing something wrong.  Dunno what, but I've never had that problem.

And you said "mosts of the hot water users are running it at way below your 70-80 degrees, most have said they run it luke warm to lower the risk of cracking the window"

Which just isnt true.

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

would this work with heating elements and plastice barrels with water attached and a car battery for power source

[karygate]

used one last year in my 250 litre tank and it wass great. needed to be turned on at teatim e and left on nice warm water in the morning that lasted about 3 hours. m ine was 30n quid from the local aquarium shop . its made of plastic casing so it wss permanently in my tank.

[matt]

used one last year in my 250 litre tank and it wass great. needed to be turned on at teatim e and left on nice warm water in the morning that lasted about 3 hours. m ine was 30n quid from the local aquarium shop . its made of plastic casing so it wss permanently in my tank.

how big is yours 

heater i mean

nice to hear that it works

[karygate]

it is the 500w i think and i put the temperature up to the max . am going to try it this weekend on my 400 litre tank to see if it does the trick . will let you all know.

[Jeff Brimble]

My IBC is heated by a 600w oil filled rad and was accidentally left off over night, but its insulated. I was expecting it to be frozen. It was not, the temp outside is -5 inside the insulation it was +5 

Its getting the temprature up the first 4 degrees that takes most of the power, the rest is easier, and if you insulate any tank over 10L (all my containers are 10L as I only use 100L/day)  it will stay warm all day.

So you only need large current/Btu consumption for the first few degrees 

[John Walker]

Cheapskate Version

I put my drums against the hall radiator overnight.  Not hot but means i can still work on frosty mornings - quite a few degrees above freezing and that's all i'm concerned about. 

[gewindows]

My IBC is heated by a 600w oil filled rad and was accidentally left off over night, but its insulated. I was expecting it to be frozen. It was not, the temp outside is -5 inside the insulation it was +5 

Jeff can you explain the setup of how you heat the IBC water with this rad please? Im trying to envisage it but cant 

[Jeff Brimble]

Yours is probably full, but when its empty  mount  it on vertical concrete blocks so that its 18" plus off the ground.
Then the rad and 25L containers etc just slides underneath, maybe some of you could also put your RO/DI under there but its not that accessible. Then you only need 1 heat scource. I use 3 One in the van, 1 for RO and the small one for the IBC.
I boxed it in with 4 side sheets of 3/4" polystyrene and held to gether with duck tape which comes unstuck so now have 3 bands of string and knicker elastic going horizonatlly around the tank. The top is 3 sections of Kingspan alu coated 2"board from builders merchants.
Mine is all under a galvanised lean to.

Too much bother ?here is the next 10 days forecast http://www.meteox.com/world-weather-fc.aspx?c=United%20Kingdom&latlng=-3.5|53.3
Hope this helps.

[matt]

my next project is a shed down the side of my house, its to store my work stuff , bikes and garden / allotment expensive power tools

i plan to insulate that to the hilt, then a small heat source will keep it warm enough

[marcus hopkins]

I have been reading this thread with great interest when suddenly i had an idea. The use of a pool heater would be a great alternative. Water is not a conductor of heat so needs to be moving enabling the heated water to mix with the unheated water. The use of an intex pool pump and heater (or similar) would be an ideal solution. A pipe from the bottom of the tank through the heater and pump and then returned to the top of the tank would be an ideal scenario to heat and mix the water. Although these pumps are 3kw they would be quite cheap to run as the water would be heated much quicker. The intex heater has no thermostat control but other brands are thermostatically operated.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SWIMMING-POOL-INTEX-3KW-HEATER-SUIT-POOLS-UP-TO-15-FOOT_W0QQitemZ110458358194QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Swimming_Pools_Hot_Tubs?hash=item19b7d4c9b2#ht_3650wt_941



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3KW-SWIMMING-POOL-HEATER-TO-FIT-INTEX-ABOVE-GROUND-POOL_W0QQitemZ300383097812QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Swimming_Pools_Hot_Tubs?hash=item45f03a53d4#ht_500wt_1182

I believe these heater will heat to around 36 degrees
Any thoughts would be appreciated as i am seriously considering this idea.

[matt]

good idea

i guess as its a more powerfull heater it wouldnt need to be on all night, though could be if it had a thermostat

my only thought is the cost of running the thing, as the people opposite me have a pool and allways moan at the heating costs

the Aquarium heaters cost very little to run

ref the moving of the water , i think if you had 1 heater either end of the tank, that would be enough

[marcus hopkins]

I think due to it being such a small volume of water the poolheater would be on for a very short time bearing in mind a 3kw heater is capable of heating a 15ft by 48" high pool with a water capacity of 17,587 liters. I have borrowed a heater from a friend but need to source a pump with the same size tails for the pipework. As soon as i have done some trials i will post the results here.

[gewindows]

3KW thats certainly the dogs dangley bits.

[marcus hopkins]

Good looking piece of equipment but much dearer than the price of a 3kw pool heater and pump, and still lacking the advantage of water movement.

[gewindows]

You wouldnt need water movement or a pump, sit it in the bottom of your van-mount and the thermal currents it would create would move the water about.

[marcus hopkins]

Very true.

Just found this on ebay though, £69

Pump and 3kw heater combined


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OBlue-3Kw-Swimming-Pool-Heater-and-3000-Litre-Filter_W0QQitemZ380165550409QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Swimming_Pools_Hot_Tubs?hash=item5883a1f149#ht_5202wt_1054

[matt]

Very true.

Just found this on ebay though, £69

Pump and 3kw heater combined


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OBlue-3Kw-Swimming-Pool-Heater-and-3000-Litre-Filter_W0QQitemZ380165550409QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Swimming_Pools_Hot_Tubs?hash=item5883a1f149#ht_5202wt_1054

75 quid delivered

worth a shot i guess, i have order 2 Aquarium heaters to try

marcus, when you try it out, let us know, could be a nice little heater that only needs to be on for a couple of hours to get warm water

when the doubters get on this ( and they will ), ignore them