Heater cycle or controller cycle for heat contol

Do you use your controller or internal heater thermostats to cycle your heater on and off?

  • Controllers outlet is used to cycle power on and off to heater

  • Controllers outlet is always on and heaters internal thermostat cycles on and off


Results are only viewable after voting.

Owen386

Non-member
Hey fellow reefers,

Just watched a video by BRS about temp control and I've never really thought about it so maybe others have not either.

Also though it would be fun to post a poll and see what the majority people are doing.

Don't laugh if its something pretty obvious!! I overlooked it and thought it was some good info.

So what I'm talking about is if you use your controller to turn on your heater all day?
Or do you let the controller built into the heater turn the heater on and off and have your control shut off when @ to high of a temp...

So clearly you should have your heater turn on and off as this is probably happening 100's of times a day.
So which would you rather strain more a >$100 heater or a $500+
Controller. When you look at it like that its an easy decision.

Any thoughts?
 
I use both. The heater just below the set point on the controller. If the heater fails the controller will catch it. I also have 2 heaters in all my tanks. If one goes down it should move the temp a couple degrees.

You said $500 controller, but you can get an inkbird controller for like $40 to control temp.
 
I use both. The heater just below the set point on the controller. If the heater fails the controller will catch it. I also have 2 heaters in all my tanks. If one goes down it should move the temp a couple degrees.

You said $500 controller, but you can get an inkbird controller for like $40 to control temp.
My heaters are setup the same. Heaters or heater controllers control temp and the Apex energy bar is the backup.
 
What are these controllers you speak of? Sounds like a fantasy :cool:

That being said I obviously don't have a controller if you didn't figure that out so I just use their internal thermostats. I also haveva small digital thermometer as well as one of the cheap floating ones that I check often now to make sure the temp is constant...
 
I use my controller as a redundant backup, the only time I would have controller in charge would be if the variance was tighter than on the heaters! Example my Neotherm is accurate within .5 degrees and my reef keeper keeps my reefbowl with .2 degrees. So I keep that one on the reef keeper for stability.
 
I prefer to use a heater element without any built-in thermostat paired with a dedicated controller. In my case, I use two Finnex TH heater elements controlled by a dual stage Ranco controller. I trust Ranco over Inkbird/BRS. Ranco costs an extra $80 which is very reasonable when you think about the cost of a heater failure. The Ranco controller keeps my temperature within 0.5 degrees.

I also use my Profilux to add another layer of protection. The Profilux will shut off power to the Ranco controller and turns on my fans if the temperature exceeds 1.5 degrees above my set point.
 
Upcoming Events

April 21, 2024
Paul B
Club Meeting

Back
Top