Heater Angle?

[Aqua Tom]

Why do we put the heater at an angle?

It would be much less intrusive verticaly mounted.

 

[KittyKat]

I put mine into a horizontal position in an area with good circulation. If one has it vertically positioned and poor circulation, then the heater will not heat the water because hot water from the element will rise straight up to the thermostat and switch the heater off when the rest of the tank could be cold.

 

[RustedKnight]

I put mine into a horizontal position in an area with good circulation. If one has it vertically positioned and poor circulation, then the heater will not heat the water because hot water from the element will rise straight up to the thermostat and switch the heater off when the rest of the tank could be cold.

Same, mine is placed horizontally at the top of my tank, it's out of sight and in open water, heats up perfectly normally (though it's turned to 27degrees c, and heats to 25c) so just needed to be adjusted.

Had mine placed diagonally for ages as the box said, then decided it looked horrid and it can't make all that difference..
It doesn't.

Agreed with above though, would try to avoid having it vertical if possible.

 

[fluttermoth]

Because hot water rises like hot air. If your heater is vertical the thermostat part gets stream of hot water going over it and switches on and off more frequently which can shorten the life of the heater.
If you have it at an angle, the water has more of a chance to mix up before reaching the thermostat and you get a more even temperature through the tank. You should try and postion it near a filter inlet (or outlet) so that the hot water gets more spread around too.
Hope that makes sense!

 

[RustedKnight]

Because hot water rises like hot air. If your heater is vertical the thermostat part gets stream of hot water going over it and switches on and off more frequently which can shorten the life of the heater.
If you have it at an angle, the water has more of a chance to mix up before reaching the thermostat and you get a more even temperature through the tank. You should try and postion it near a filter inlet (or outlet) so that the hot water gets more spread around too.
Hope that makes sense!

Now thats something I hadn't considered! *goes off to move heater to above filter*

 

[Katch]

2 main reasons for having them at an angle;

1 as previously mentioned - it stops the themostat getting heated up too much by the rising warm water.

2 it spread the heat more evenly through the tank - if it is vertical in one corner then you would have warm and cold spots through the tank.

 

[Aqua Tom]

ahhhh sod it, Ill just plant some vallis in front of it

 

[tropicaldave]

Hi all
Just thought I would add my point, while I can understand the reasoning behind fitting the heater at an angle and the previously mentioned points why do Juwel who are among the bigger tank manufacturers build that ugly box in the corner that is a filter but also has the housing for the heater to stand verticaly, shouldn't they know better!!!

 

[fluttermoth]

Maybe because it's actually in the filter, the flow of water prevents the hot/cold spots and the extra switching?

 

[KittyKat]

Correct fluttermoth.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

so why at a 45 degree angle? why doesnt everyone have it horizontally? (mine is built in to the juwel box)

on 2nd thoughts, im guessing you would want it at the bottom (again, thanks to heat rising) and you would need a lot of flex to do that if you had a big tank....

Im sold on the 45 degrees

 

[the biffster]

so why at a 45 degree angle? why doesnt everyone have it horizontally? (mine is built in to the juwel box)

on 2nd thoughts, im guessing you would want it at the bottom (again, thanks to heat rising) and you would need a lot of flex to do that if you had a big tank....

Im sold on the 45 degrees

45 degrees

 

[jotto]

slinks off to repostion ours.....

 

[Timmy_Bee]

so here is a nice (off topic) scientific question for you...

As i am sure you are aware, water is one of the few (if not only) molecules that is less dence as a solid (ice floats) which is one of the sole reasons there is live on earth (i'll leave that topic for another day!) - So at what temp does cold water start to rise???
make sense?

 

[jotto]

so here is a nice (off topic) scientific question for you...

As i am sure you are aware, water is one of the few (if not only) molecules that is less dence as a solid (ice floats) which is one of the sole reasons there is live on earth (i'll leave that topic for another day!) - So at what temp does cold water start to rise???
make sense?

Water, is most dense at 4°C and becomes less dense at both higher and lower temperatures therefore can we assume anything cooler than 4°C???