Heat for fish room

[sneaker]

I am setting up a 250 sq ft fish room in my basement,it is well insulated and I want to use electric heat.Does anyone have any suggestions for the type of electric heater that would be good for this type of set up?

[marnold]

Hi sneaker.I would think the heated tanks would warm that space and if needed a electric baseboard would do it.I have a 90 and a 65 in my family room in the basement and they do warm it up.If I am not mistaken your in the southern tier?Do you use a wood stove or could you duct the basement from the main furnace?

[subcooler]

I would be cautious in attempting to just duct furnace into your basement.
If your just trying to heat the enclosed fishroom you may get away with it,very doubtful you'd be able to heat the entire basement without changing airflow into remainder of house.
Also make sure that you can close duct damper to stop airflow into basement in summer if you have Air Conditioning!
I work on HVAC equipment & often encounter people creating major problems by modifying ductwork on forced air heating/cooling systems after home renovations!
Rob

[discussmith]

I would not recommend baseboard type heaters if there is a chance that water will be spilled on them. Besides the chance for short circuit they rust quite easily. They are by far the cheapest to purchase if that is a major consideration. Ideally an electric modine type is what you want. They mount high on the wall or ceiling and include a fan to move the air and come with a self contained thermostat. They are quite small for the amount of heat they can produce and they can be had in many different wattages and voltage. You can heat your entire space with just one.

[Don Trinko]

If your fish room is well insulated and you heat the tanks to the proper temp for discus you will not need additional heat unless you have very few tanks.
My upstairs, poorly insulated fish room is typicaly 8 to 10 degrees warmer than the other rooms.
I have visited a dealer who has a fish room for discus in his basement and it is flat out hot in their! Don T.

[subcooler]

If your fish room is well insulated and you heat the tanks to the proper temp for discus you will not need additional heat unless you have very few tanks.
My upstairs, poorly insulated fish room is typicaly 8 to 10 degrees warmer than the other rooms.
I have visited a dealer who has a fish room for discus in his basement and it is flat out hot in their! Don T.

In my opinion:
It's much cheaper to heat a room hydronically(boiler) or forced air furnace than to depend on electric tank heaters to raise room temp. around them.
I agree that any money spent on insulation is money well spent... however you decide to heat the fish room!

I didn't see any tank heaters @ Han's fishroom (space temp in building was mid 80's).

Rob