Quote:
Originally Posted by Reef Pilot
How efficient are in-sump pumps for heating water? For example, if I have a 100 watt pump running in my sump vs a 100 watt heater in my tank. Will both heat my tank equally? I assume not, but for sure the pump does produce a fair bit of heat as well.
In my specific case, I have 2 sumps, each with 2 pumps. One tank needs to be supplemented with a heater, while the other has bigger pumps and needs to be cooled with a chiller. And yes, I know some of the heating comes from the lights.
But just curious, what is the difference in heating efficiency between pumps and heaters?
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Mike already explained that well enough. I will just add some footnotes :P
Typically, heaters are considered to be the MOST EFFICIENT device you can put in your tank; because they use the loss as the utility - heat! So typically, you are getting 300W heat (or a little bit more since the filaments changes resistance a bit with heat or maybe a little less depending on how much the thermistor is taking away; and the small LED
) from a 300W heater.
On the other hand, for a 300W pump, you will probably get around 150W of heat (loss) and the rest will go to the mechanical components.