[nathankaye]

So as some may know i recently went down road of using fish tank type heating rods in my 500l upright insulated tank.
Worked well, temps of 34 and higher sometimes. Absolutely agree with someones post on another thread, basically saying everyone whos gone hot has never regretted it.
Thats me.....ok by brush end its not hot but wamer than the cold water i used to work with. My hose nice, soft n warm. Even my poles warmed up and i did see a slight change in cleaning ability. To the point where im going down immersion heater route which i was trying to avoid, but i want hotter water.
So due to renting and not knowing about wiring in the house, i ordered a 1kw 27inch element and parts etc from heat rod. But glad i had a phone call from them apologising they had non in stock and so switched it to the 2kw 27" one instead. Its being delivered tomorrow and looking forward to installing it over wknd.
Looking forward to it indeed.

[Smurf]

Stop messing about and just get yourself an on demand water heater. lol

[LWC]

No offence but you cant compare fish tank heaters to actual "hot" water.  I very much doubt the luke warm water has made that much difference to the clean. I use a LPG heater and thats hot as its on demand, and can have it extremely hot at brush head if wanted, un touchable heat. Immersion will be better yes, although, personally I think LPG or oil heaters are much more cost effective as your only heating the water you use. Heating up a tank full of water that you may not use that day is going to be expensive to keep up daily. I only put the immersion on if I know its going to freeze as every in van stays warm that way. However I dont think an immersion is a great idea for daily use...as Smurf says...get an on demand heater 

[nathankaye]

Haha, i know. Initially i didnt want to be cutting holes in my tank and several months later here i am. I dont want to be carrying gas bottles in back of the van, but lol who knows next year i might be.

As regards tank, its well insullated, the tempholds all day with only a loss of a couple of degrees. So even when i top my tank up before sticking heat rod on, its still not in low 10's for instance. So therefore i wont be required to have the heater on for as long as the initial heating one, unless i obviously really drain my tank, which is very rare.
But i wasnt comparing the fish heaters to hot water, purely saying im hooked on the experience and so want hot or hotter than 32 degrees that ive been getting rather than not. So people who go down this route of wondering about hot, not many people have regretted it. Me, i just love wasting money 😯😯

[Dry Clean]

No offence but you cant compare fish tank heaters to actual "hot" water.  I very much doubt the luke warm water has made that much difference to the clean. I use a LPG heater and thats hot as its on demand, and can have it extremely hot at brush head if wanted, un touchable heat. Immersion will be better yes, although, personally I think LPG or oil heaters are much more cost effective as your only heating the water you use. Heating up a tank full of water that you may not use that day is going to be expensive to keep up daily. I only put the immersion on if I know its going to freeze as every in van stays warm that way. However I dont think an immersion is a great idea for daily use...as Smurf says...get an on demand heater 

Does the fact that others will disagree with your statement not tell you something ?

[chris turner]

I'm considering the immersion route but don't trust myself cutting holes in my tank.
Wondering if there's somewhere I can go locally that will fit it for me..

To me immersion seems the safest and easiest way of having hot water, as well as having the benefit of heating the van over winter.

[chris turner]

I know this has been posted somewhere before but can anyone remind me how long it will take a 2kw heater to heat 500litres to 35c +?

[nathankaye]

I forgot the website, but if type in how long to heat watrr in google, i think its the first one on list.  However i used this the other night and according to that calculation i should never have reached 34 degrees c in the time i did with the wattahe of the heater, so im not confident in its calculation as it doesnt take variables into account, ie starting temp or insulated tanks etc.
But according to what i remember,with 2kw and 500l i think it was between 6 n 8 hrs.

In other threads people have argued as to how hot it needs to be for it to make a difference, again i dont buy it. As i certainly saw a difference, not a huge jump for joy difference but enough for me to go to next stage with the immersiin to get higher temps.
For instance people are sawing burn your hand type of heat or refer to example of cleaning pots or a bath. Well im sorry i dont clean my pots with hot water that im gonna burn my hands with nor same temp as a bath. Its warm/hot that i can comfortably put my hands in, so does that mean its not got the same cleaning ability if we use that same example.

[Dave Willis]

Are you sure you've worked this out properly? 27 inches is a long one so will have to go under the baffle on a wydale tank. Have you got room to access the hole from above?
2kw won't get your tank much above 30

I've had a gas heater (still in the garage if anyone wants to collect it).
Everything about them is dodgy, gas, carbon monoxide, flames, heat. My insurance details and everyone elses I imagine has a clause for using heat (but we all ignore that bit) running a gas boiler inside a van 100 metres away out of sight on commercial property is asking for trouble in my opinion particularly sited right next to a large gas bottle and often a leisure battery to supply a spark.

[Dry Clean]

I forgot the website, but if type in how long to heat watrr in google, i think its the first one on list.  However i used this the other night and according to that calculation i should never have reached 34 degrees c in the time i did with the wattahe of the heater, so im not confident in its calculation as it doesnt take variables into account, ie starting temp or insulated tanks etc.
But according to what i remember,with 2kw and 500l i think it was between 6 n 8 hrs.

In other threads people have argued as to how hot it needs to be for it to make a difference, again i dont buy it. As i certainly saw a difference, not a huge jump for joy difference but enough for me to go to next stage with the immersiin to get higher temps.
For instance people are sawing burn your hand type of heat or refer to example of cleaning pots or a bath. Well im sorry i dont clean my pots with hot water that im gonna burn my hands with nor same temp as a bath. Its warm/hot that i can comfortably put my hands in, so does that mean its not got the same cleaning ability if we use that same example.

You cant argue with physics Nathan, obviously you will need to work it out from your starting temp. measuring your tank
water temp using a tds meter wont be anywhere near accurate so best measure at the brush which is where it really matters.

[Dave Willis]

Your water will get hotter as the week goes by because after Monday you'll be returning home with some warm water left in the tank so your starting temperature will be a bit higher.

[nathankaye]

I forgot the website, but if type in how long to heat watrr in google, i think its the first one on list.  However i used this the other night and according to that calculation i should never have reached 34 degrees c in the time i did with the wattahe of the heater, so im not confident in its calculation as it doesnt take variables into account, ie starting temp or insulated tanks etc.
But according to what i remember,with 2kw and 500l i think it was between 6 n 8 hrs.

In other threads people have argued as to how hot it needs to be for it to make a difference, again i dont buy it. As i certainly saw a difference, not a huge jump for joy difference but enough for me to go to next stage with the immersiin to get higher temps.
For instance people are sawing burn your hand type of heat or refer to example of cleaning pots or a bath. Well im sorry i dont clean my pots with hot water that im gonna burn my hands with nor same temp as a bath. Its warm/hot that i can comfortably put my hands in, so does that mean its not got the same cleaning ability if we use that same example.

You cant argue with physics Nathan, obviously you will need to work it out from your starting temp. measuring your tank
water temp using a tds meter wont be anywhere near accurate so best measure at the brush which is where it really matters.

All im saying is that the pre programmed calculation did not match the results i physically had, because of such variables as stated. So the calculation does not allow for starting temp or insullation to ne taking into account. According to its calculation whichni entered my figures into, it should have taken like 24hrs to get my water to 34 degrees, which was not the case.

Yes im fitting the element underneath the baffled section so the heat would rise into the two separated compartments and it will probably be a challenge to install, but i run with the thinking, "where theres a will, theres a way" oh a bit of luck as well  😆

[Dry Clean]

I know this has been posted somewhere before but can anyone remind me how long it will take a 2kw heater to heat 500litres to 35c +?

Roughly 6 hours so around 6 degrees per hour, it may take a little longer because of heat loss and you will need to deduct your starting temp.
The biggest problem with heating stagnant tank water is you wont get a consistent temp to the brush, therefore the water
at the bottom of the tank will be a lot colder than at the top, stirring it will help but over the day the heat stored in the water will
still rise to the top, hence Nathans readings.
 

[NWH]

It takes me 5 minutes to get my water from cold to 30 odd degrees surely it's costing quiet a bit in electricity.

[Smurf]

Would be interesting to find out who actually uses an emersion heater to warm up the van tank every day all year around... Anyone???

I think you might be the first Nathan if you intend to use it this way as an emersion element is mainly used as a frost protect in winter months surely?

Having the ability to be able to use an on demand water heater and have full control of the temp required depending what I'm doing is defo a no brainer for me.

[Dave Willis]

I've used mine every night since fitting.

[Smurf]

I've used mine every night since fitting.

When was that then Dave?

[nathankaye]

It depends how it all goes, but certainly these winter months i will. In summer months obviously i wouldnt need it on as long as i wont be loosing heat due to the cold elements etc. But i cant see why i wouldnt.
I also fill my gardiner bk pack up on trolley and thats from a bulge  pump sucking from bottom part of my tank, but its just as hot

[Smurf]

Hot water is not just for Christmas you know. lol

[chris turner]

Would be interesting to find out who actually uses an emersion heater to warm up the van tank every day all year around... Anyone???

I think you might be the first Nathan if you intend to use it this way as an emersion element is mainly used as a frost protect in winter months surely?

Having the ability to be able to use an on demand water heater and have full control of the temp required depending what I'm doing is defo a no brainer for me.

Doesn't Granville use his daily?