Fish Room/Basement Heater ???

[Moscik81]

Hello my fish Friends. Im in process of setting up my 6 tank in the basement. So far everything is running on Coop sponge filter and each tank have heater but i want to switch to “central heater”. During winter times its gets really cold down there and i will like to heat up whole room. Its medium to small size room and im looking for recommendations for best way to heat it up. I have easy access to gas pipes/220v and central heat ducks. Thanks in advance !

[MickS77]

I would look at an electric oil heater with a small fan to circulate air around the room. An oil heater acts as a radiator heating objects in the room as opposed to heating the air with a furnace. 

[Moscik81]

Something like this ? http://Heat Storm HS-1500-PHX-WIFI Infrared Heater, Wifi Wall Mounted https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JXRWJ8D/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_t8VHFbS1F9WHM 

[MickS77]

Something like this is what I had in mind

[Kriskm]

We like our electric oil radiant heater, similar to the one pictured above. It does a great job without getting so hot that it's a fire hazard.

[Eric W-Farmhouse Fish Room]

If you have easy access to gas lines and can afford it, I'd go with a ventless gas heater of some sort.  Get it with a built in fan to help heat the room more evenly, but by using gas you'll also have a constant heat source even if the power goes out.  I can't imagine you would ever regret it.

[TheDukeAnumber1]

If the central heat ducts are right there just adding a vent on the existing ducts in the basement is the way to go IMO.

[Andy's Fish Den]

21 hours ago, MickS77 said:

Something like this is what I had in mind

I've used one of these for the last several years in my basement fish room, and it has worked great. I have a small box fan I set to one side of it on low speed to blow air across to help circulate the air.

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

I have a similar dilemma but with different circumstances. My fish and reptile room in the apartment is staying right around 70/68. My reptiles and my fish would like it a bit warmer. My girlfriends chinchilla in the living room (which shares a wall) would like it a bit colder. The air conditioning is a indoor/outdoor unit and there’s no vents throughout the apartment. We have it blasting 24/7 to keep it cold in the living room (where it is). I need something that can make my room warmer without heating up the whole apartment. It’s a 3rd floor apartment in Michigan. I’m not sure about hearing, there’s floor radiators but being from Texas Idk how to work them. We’ve had some pretty cold days already, with some mornings being mid 30s. I was thinking of getting a small space heater, but I’m not sure how safe it would be to run long term.

[Andy's Fish Den]

3 hours ago, Steph’s Fish and Plants said:

I have a similar dilemma but with different circumstances. My fish and reptile room in the apartment is staying right around 70/68. My reptiles and my fish would like it a bit warmer. My girlfriends chinchilla in the living room (which shares a wall) would like it a bit colder. The air conditioning is a indoor/outdoor unit and there’s no vents throughout the apartment. We have it blasting 24/7 to keep it cold in the living room (where it is). I need something that can make my room warmer without heating up the whole apartment. It’s a 3rd floor apartment in Michigan. I’m not sure about hearing, there’s floor radiators but being from Texas Idk how to work them. We’ve had some pretty cold days already, with some mornings being mid 30s. I was thinking of getting a small space heater, but I’m not sure how safe it would be to run long term.

Depending on how your heating system is set up, you could set your main thermostat to whatever temp is comfortable for you to live at, then if you want to keep the room with fish and reptiles, keep the door closed and get a small electric heater for the room, one of the Radiator style ones shown above would work fine. That way, that room will stay warm but the rest of the apartment will be at whatever temp you prefer. 

[TheDukeAnumber1]

Just throwing this out there but avoid electric heat if possible, it's an expensive way to heat a room.

A 1500 watt electric heater is about 5% to 10% the heat a typical house furnace can put out. If you buy one and it only runs 50% of the time that's 540-kwh's per month. And if you have a low electric cost at $0.12 per kwh that's still about $65 a month.

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

@TheDukeAnumber1that is a very good point. We already have a decent electric bill, do you have a cheaper route in mind that could work? Or is electric really my only option?

[TheDukeAnumber1]

6 minutes ago, Steph’s Fish and Plants said:

@TheDukeAnumber1that is a very good point. We already have a decent electric bill, do you have a cheaper route in mind that could work? Or is electric really my only option?

In your specific situation it sounds like the only effective way to add heat would be electric. But... good heat management can go a long way, I don't know how those radiators are in the room but if you can leverage the heat from those as best as you can and insulate what you can you can add as little heat as possible by keeping the heat you have.

Two budget friendly options that come to mind that I have used are...

https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/insulation/radiant-barrier/reflectix-r-3-7-reflective-insulation-16-x-25/st16025/p-1444452049026-c-5778.htm?tid=-1&ipos=1

Which can be used to insulate tank sides or wall areas where you want to radiate the heat back from.

https://www.menards.com/main/hardware/weather-stripping/3m-62w-x-252-long-6-window-indoor-window-film-insulator-kit/2141bw-6/p-1444421742511-c-3624.htm?tid=-1&ipos=1

I use these every year, super worth it, makes a big difference in a room especially if the windows are old and/or drafty.