Water pipe heat tape

Muggles · 2015-10-09T16:26:04+00:00

We're re-building our hoop green house and using wood this time. We have a aquaponics system where we raise fish, pump the fish water into grow beds so the plants and plant media can filter the water, pump that water into a sump and then that water goes to a large rock and sand filter before it's pumped back into the fish tanks. We're looking for a way to keep the water in the tanks warm in the winter without it costing us an arm and a leg to heat the green house itself. We're going to have about 800 to 1000 gallons of water in the green house tanks, plus have passive solar heat from the ground that'll have a thick layer of gravel in addition to having windows at the proper angle to capture the winter sunlight and heat. We'll also have vents and windows we can open at the peak of the green house to vent moisture and too much hot air when needed on warmer days. The problem is that if we heat the greenhouse along with using water tank heaters the temps can drop dramatically in the greenhouse and plants and fish don't do well if the temps are too drastic at night, so I was thinking of using heat cables/tapes around the pvc pipes that connect all the water flowing from tanks to plants to sump to filter vs. using in tank water heaters. We're also hoping for a solution that'll cost less to power and at the same time keep the temps more stable in the green house. All the walls and roofs are being insulated, too. Does anyone know if heating tapes would work for this or not?

Oct 09, 2015 46 Replies

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Stormin Mormon 11 years ago

But, dear, you NEVER tell me ANYTHING!

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

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Dean Hoffman 11 years ago

Do you have room for more tanks? I'm thinking of a thousand gallon livestock tank. Insulate it as much as practical. Heat it with all the solar tricks, then slowly release the water into your system as needed. Some examples here

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Stormin Mormon 11 years ago

As my old college prof said, they are 100% because there is no heat lost up the chimney. That said, electric is epensive in most areas.

The propane heater and circulating pumps will cost more to set up, but should save money later in terms of operating costs.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

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Muggles 10 years ago

Do you think the water would hold temps better if the pumps were turned off at night? The bubblers have to stay on to oxygenate the water, though.

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Muggles 10 years ago

Right now we have one 900 gallon tank for big adult fish, a 250 gallon tank for juveniles, and a 100 gallon tank for babies.

hmmm That sound interesting. When we get the green house finished we're going to leave the big 900 gallon tank outside (emptied) and put in 200 gallon tanks in 2 rows of 4 each, I think. The grow beds will bed above the tanks.

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Muggles 10 years ago

Those are similar to a couple of the tanks we have now. We're insulating the green house pretty heavily, so we haven't gotten to the part where we move everything in doors, yet. The clocks ticking tho.

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