Powerhead raised temperature

[maxalmon]

Just a little observation. I have a 55g tank setup for curing LR and decided to
add another powerhead to increase some flow in a dead area. The tank has always stayed at a 78.2 with maybe +- of .1. Several days ago I added a Seio powerhead and the tank temp is now at 79.8, there were no other changes.

 

[big]

Yes I notice this too. Heck the old PH I use in a bucket to do PC water, raises the temp. in the bucket to the point that I need to cool it before adding to the tank sometimes.

I wonder if anyone has done research on witch PH's run the coolest for flow produced?? :thinking:

 

[chipmaker]

It all comes down to watts. Makes no difference if apower head is made by company X or compnay Y if they are both 40 watts they will put off the same amount of heat......its a given. Electrical power that is consumed will give off heat and consumption is rated in watts, and each watt gives of "X" amount of heat.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by chipmaker
It all comes down to watts. Makes no difference if apower head is made by company X or compnay Y if they are both 40 watts they will put off the same amount of heat......its a given. Electrical power that is consumed will give off heat and consumption is rated in watts, and each watt gives of "X" amount of heat.
actually thats not entirely true though the differences may be so small that they are negligible, a powerhead of higher quality that has a lower friction rate will produce slightly less heat, but like chipmaker said a 40watt powerhead is going to produce about the same amount of heat no matter who makes it.

 

[chipmaker]

The reason for those dsifferences is just how close they care to testa nd label the product. A wind or two more may make it produce .1 watt less in heat, so in all rality a better PH may put off 39.9 watts and a poor quality one 40.2 watts, but they get rounded off to 40 just the same. It takes a given amount of power consumption to produce 40 watts (or what ever the watts are) and that amount of watts is going to give off a given amount of heat....less fricktion would produce less drag which would produce less amerage draw which would produce less watts.....what your talking about is so minut its not worth trying to figure into any equation especially in a aquarium setup. Same basic thing goes for voltage drop over a longer supply line run, even iun a properly wired house.....it all adds up and comes into play if your a engineer perhaps but for a aquarium its not an issue either.

 

[bang guy]

I conducted another "non-scientific" Bang Guy Experiment last year concerning Powerheads & Heat. The results back up chipmaker completely.
My conclusion is that 50 watts of powerhead produce about the same amount of heat as a 50 watt heater.
Here are the actual results:

[hr]
The trials were done in my basement in the same room as my lagoon. That makes the temp fairly stable but the humidity very high.
An Aquaclear 402 was in the 10 gallon tank for all trials. I use a 50 watt heater to compare against two very used Aquaclear 802's.
Between each trial I turned off the piece of equipment being tested and let the tank cool down. I don't know if that had to be done but I did it anyway.
All equipment was in the tank all the time, just unplugged if it wasn't being tested. This happened over about 4 days. The tanks took a long time to cool down.
Temps are in F.
...................
Air temp = 70.3
stagnant water temp was 69.8
Relative Humidity = 73%
Trial 1
Temp with just the 402 = 72.2
Air temp was still 70.3
Relative Humidity = 73%
No significant evaporation
Trial 2
Temp with 50 watt heater set on max = 82.2
Air temp at the time was 70.9
Relative Humidity = 79%
No significant evaporation
Reset
Water temp = 72.4
Air temp = 70.6
Relative Humidity = 78%
No significant evaporation
Trial 3
Temp with 2 Aquaclear 802 powerheads = 81.4
Air temp at the time was 70.2
Relative Humidity = 75%
Evaporation = 12oz ± 4oz
Reset
Replaced ~ 12oz of water
Water temp = 72.1
Air temp = 70.2
Relative Humidity = 76%
Trial 3
Temp with 2 Aquaclear 802 powerheads = 82.0
Air temp at the time was 72.1
Relative Humidity = 78%
Evaporation = 12oz ± 4oz
Reset
Replaced ~ 20oz of water
Water temp = 72.4
Air temp = 70.2
Relative Humidity = 79%
Trial 4
Temp with the powerhead flow restricted = 82.7
Air temp at the time was 72.9
Relative Humidity = 76%
Evaporation = just barely detectable. Probably about 4 oz.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
actually thats not entirely true though the differences may be so small that they are negligible, a powerhead of higher quality that has a lower friction rate will produce slightly less heat, but like chipmaker said a 40watt powerhead is going to produce about the same amount of heat no matter who makes it.
umm yeah. thats pretty much what I said just noting the fact that a higher friction powerhead may produce slightly more heat, due to heat from friction and slightly higher power draw, I wasnt contradicting him just ammending/adding information.

 

[chipmaker]

yep, watts is watts, makes no matter how its consumed.powering a pump or powerhead, cooking the food in the micro wave or chilling the tank down or lighting up the room or powering that radio. It still gives off a set temp for each watt produced. Thats one of the neat things about electricity or electronics, its mostly a given result for a given input....