Water change - how long to heat water

[Trinny]

Hi, any ideas on how long it would take to heat a 15L/4G water drum to 25c/77f with a 25w heater? The reason for the question is that I use two of these drums for my water changes and want to know how long it would take to heat the second drum?

 

[frisbee]

It's kind of hard to put a definitive number on that. I'm assuming your using a pump to mix up the water in these containers? These will generate a little heat. What's the ambient temperature like down there in Sydney? You might not even need to heat the water at all. If 77 is your desired temperature and the water rings up at 73, 74, 75 you should be fine, being that your probably only changing out somewhere between 10-20% each water change. If you were doing a large water change, say 50% or more, then matching the temperature would be more of a concern. JMO, GL.

 

[Trinny]

Thanks Frisbee, I'm doing a 12% weekly water change and the ambient temperature is 20c/68f. I use NSW from the LFS and the water drums are small with small openings so a little tricky to get the temps. Your comment makes me more comfortable with what I'm doing

 

[pablomay28]

My suggestion is to set the heater to your tank temp and also throw in a thermometer if your pump helps heat the water your heater should shut off at the set temperature.

 

[mgreenough]

What I do if I need water really quickly is use my kettle (bought for the sole use) to bring some RO to near boiling and add to my 25L drum. This warms the water very quickly.

The elements are made up of 80% nickel, 20% chromium - both of which you find in your common household taps, so quite safe in my opinion.

Edit: sorry just noticed you said you were using nsw. Above method is good for mixing your own water, but not for already salted water

 

[Trinhy]

So I heated the first drum for about an hour while I cleaned the glass, filter floss and siphoned the water out and the second drum for about 5 mins before I emptied the drums into the tank and the temp of the tank dropped about half a degree and to 25/77f so all is good! I heated one of the drums over night the last time around and wasn't sure