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Hello,
With all this buzzing about around heaters both from brs and neptune I thought I would throw my opinion into it.
This post will focus around what I believe is one of the optimal ways to heat your tank. How I sized my heater. How to program the Apex to utilize two stage heating and cycle both heaters at a comparable rate.
So, here we go.
Ok.
To start off you need to create 2 virtual outlets in your apex. I will not tell you how to do this, there are plenty of better explanations than I can provide.
I called mine, "HEAT_STG_1" and "HEAT_STG_2"
Programming for HEAT_STG_1 is as follows:
Fallback OFF
If Temp < 78.0 Then ON
If Temp > 78.5 Then OFF
Defer 030:00 Then OFF
If Temp > 78.8 Then OFF
The heater will turn on at 78 or less.
The heater will turn off at 78.5 or higher AND AFTER 30 MINUTES
The heater will turn off at 78.8 or higher INSTANTLY
Programming for HEAT_STG_2 is as follows:
Fallback OFF
If Temp < 78.0 Then ON
Defer 030:00 Then ON
If Temp > 78.5 Then OFF
The heater will turn on at 78 or less AND AFTER 30 MINUTES
The heater will turn off at 78.5 or higher INSTANTLY
After those two virtual outlets are created it is time to program the PHYSICAL Outlets.
Mine are called "HEATER_1" and "HEATER_2"
Programming for HEATER_1 is as follows:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Output HEAT_STG_1 = ON Then ON
If DoW -M-W-F- Then OFF
If Output HEAT_STG_2 = ON Then ON
If Temp > 79.0 Then OFF
If Temp_B > 79.0 Then OFF
Set OFF //The heater will always try to be OFF unless told to be on.
If Output HEAT_STG_1 = ON then ON //If stage 1 heat is to be on the heater will be on
If DoW -M-W-F- Then OFF //If the day is monday, wednesday, friday then turn it off or
If Temp > 79.0 Then OFF
If Temp_B > 79.0 Then OFF // Backup temperature shutoffs
Programming for HEATER_2 is as follows:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Output HEAT_STG_1 = ON Then ON
If DoW S-T-T-S Then OFF
If Output HEAT_STG_2 = ON Then ON
If Temp > 79.0 Then OFF
If Temp_B > 79.0 Then OFF
Set OFF //The heater will always try to be OFF unless told to be on.
If Output HEAT_STG_1 = ON then ON //If stage 1 heat is to be on the heater will be on
If DoW S-T-T-S Then OFF//If the day is sunday, tuesday, thursday, saturday then turn it off or
If Temp > 79.0 Then OFF
If Temp_B > 79.0 Then OFF // Backup temperature shutoffs
Temperature vs Stage 1 call for heat:
Temperature vs Stage 2 call for heat:
Temperature vs Heater 1:
Temperature vs Heater 2:
Heater 1 and Stage 1:
Heater 1 and Stage 2:
Heater 2 and Stage 1:
Heater 2 and Stage 2:
Heater 1 vs Heater 2:
There you have it,
Ram
With all this buzzing about around heaters both from brs and neptune I thought I would throw my opinion into it.
This post will focus around what I believe is one of the optimal ways to heat your tank. How I sized my heater. How to program the Apex to utilize two stage heating and cycle both heaters at a comparable rate.
So, here we go.
- How did I size my heaters?
- I live in Canada so it is usually cold outside. My room temperature is kept around 68f and my tank is 78f. I aimed to have my heater just barely able to heat my tank (130 at the time now 170). So I went with just over 2x watt per gallon with 300watts, I grabbed 2.
2 x 300 watts.
- I live in Canada so it is usually cold outside. My room temperature is kept around 68f and my tank is 78f. I aimed to have my heater just barely able to heat my tank (130 at the time now 170). So I went with just over 2x watt per gallon with 300watts, I grabbed 2.
- Run both at the same time or just one?
- This is a frequently asked question, well at the start I was running a two stage heating with apex. Main one comes on at 78 and off at 78.5, backup comes on if the temperature has been at or below 78 for 30 minutes (Defer statement). This worked great but meant my main heater was doing all the cycling, I want to spread the love. So below I will show how I did this.
- Backups?
- I have I guess 1.5 backups.
- Backup 1: The heaters hard cut off point (Thermostat on heater) is set to 81 ish. I say Ish because we all know how accurate those are, but the point is it is set and tested with a digital thermometer.
- Backup 0.5: I have another temperature probe in my apex (2 total) and it is set to turn off any heater should the temperature reach 79.
- I have I guess 1.5 backups.
- WHY?
- I wanted to have the most stable temperature I could have, with the minimal amount of cycling, even wear and tear on my heaters, and because I Can.
- So how should this work / control narrative:
- Turn on a heater when the tank temperature is at 78, when temperature hits 78.5 the tank should cool off as slow as possible (Dependent on heater size)
- Turn on another heater should the first heater not be able to maintain temperature.
- Maintain even wear on both heaters.
- Turn on a heater when the tank temperature is at 78, when temperature hits 78.5 the tank should cool off as slow as possible (Dependent on heater size)
- Enough Jibber Jabber, show me what you got.
Ok.
To start off you need to create 2 virtual outlets in your apex. I will not tell you how to do this, there are plenty of better explanations than I can provide.
I called mine, "HEAT_STG_1" and "HEAT_STG_2"
Programming for HEAT_STG_1 is as follows:
Fallback OFF
If Temp < 78.0 Then ON
If Temp > 78.5 Then OFF
Defer 030:00 Then OFF
If Temp > 78.8 Then OFF
The heater will turn on at 78 or less.
The heater will turn off at 78.5 or higher AND AFTER 30 MINUTES
The heater will turn off at 78.8 or higher INSTANTLY
Programming for HEAT_STG_2 is as follows:
Fallback OFF
If Temp < 78.0 Then ON
Defer 030:00 Then ON
If Temp > 78.5 Then OFF
The heater will turn on at 78 or less AND AFTER 30 MINUTES
The heater will turn off at 78.5 or higher INSTANTLY
After those two virtual outlets are created it is time to program the PHYSICAL Outlets.
Mine are called "HEATER_1" and "HEATER_2"
Programming for HEATER_1 is as follows:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Output HEAT_STG_1 = ON Then ON
If DoW -M-W-F- Then OFF
If Output HEAT_STG_2 = ON Then ON
If Temp > 79.0 Then OFF
If Temp_B > 79.0 Then OFF
Set OFF //The heater will always try to be OFF unless told to be on.
If Output HEAT_STG_1 = ON then ON //If stage 1 heat is to be on the heater will be on
If DoW -M-W-F- Then OFF //If the day is monday, wednesday, friday then turn it off or
Only heat on stage one on sunday, tuesday, thursday, saturday (4 days a week)
If Output HEAT_STG_2 = ON Then ON //If stage 2 heat is to be on, be on.
If Temp > 79.0 Then OFF
If Temp_B > 79.0 Then OFF // Backup temperature shutoffs
Programming for HEATER_2 is as follows:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Output HEAT_STG_1 = ON Then ON
If DoW S-T-T-S Then OFF
If Output HEAT_STG_2 = ON Then ON
If Temp > 79.0 Then OFF
If Temp_B > 79.0 Then OFF
Set OFF //The heater will always try to be OFF unless told to be on.
If Output HEAT_STG_1 = ON then ON //If stage 1 heat is to be on the heater will be on
If DoW S-T-T-S Then OFF//If the day is sunday, tuesday, thursday, saturday then turn it off or
Only heat on stage one on monday, wednesday, friday (3 days a week)
If Output HEAT_STG_2 = ON Then ON //If stage 2 heat is to be on, be on.
If Temp > 79.0 Then OFF
If Temp_B > 79.0 Then OFF // Backup temperature shutoffs
Temperature vs Stage 2 call for heat:
Temperature vs Heater 1:
Temperature vs Heater 2:
Heater 1 and Stage 1:
Heater 1 and Stage 2:
Heater 2 and Stage 1:
Heater 2 and Stage 2:
Heater 1 vs Heater 2:
There you have it,
Ram
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