Has anyone either heard of or used a technique of using the heat in
your house like either of these:

-Keep your filter in the corner of your basement (or somewhere else in
your house) and run the piping through the exterior wall of your
house. This would serve to heat the water, depending on the flow rate
of your filter.

-Use a tank of some sort to flow water from the pond into the inside
of the house. The flow rate would be such that the water would stay in
the tank a sufficient period of time to warm before being returned to
the pond.

Both of these would obviously require 2 pipes going into/out of the
house. It would not be to keep the water at 70 degrees. It would
merely be to keep it above freezing for those of us in colder areas (I
am zone 5). The bigger the tank, the warmer the water would be. It
seems that other methods of heating are very expensive. I bought one
of those low energy de-icers and my pond froze over before it even got
to be really cold.

I haven't seen one of those systems, but I have seen propane heaters mounted
in the house with the water flowing to filter system in the basement and
back to the pond. The problem with the system you describe is that heating
the water would take energy from somewhere. That somewhere would be your
home heat, increasing the amount of home heat needed to keep the castle
warm. If you heat by gas or oil hot water systems, it is easy enough to
take off the hot water and run a circuit to the pond. If you heat by heat
pump, baseboard electric, or forced air, then it requires a separate system
since these won't work.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"MC" wrote in message
om...
Has anyone either heard of or used a technique of using the heat in
your house like either of these:

-Keep your filter in the corner of your basement (or somewhere else in
your house) and run the piping through the exterior wall of your
house. This would serve to heat the water, depending on the flow rate
of your filter.

-Use a tank of some sort to flow water from the pond into the inside
of the house. The flow rate would be such that the water would stay in
the tank a sufficient period of time to warm before being returned to
the pond.

Both of these would obviously require 2 pipes going into/out of the
house. It would not be to keep the water at 70 degrees. It would
merely be to keep it above freezing for those of us in colder areas (I
am zone 5). The bigger the tank, the warmer the water would be. It
seems that other methods of heating are very expensive. I bought one
of those low energy de-icers and my pond froze over before it even got
to be really cold.

I haven't seen one of those systems, but I have seen propane heaters mounted
in the house with the water flowing to filter system in the basement and
back to the pond. The problem with the system you describe is that heating
the water would take energy from somewhere. That somewhere would be your
home heat, increasing the amount of home heat needed to keep the castle
warm. If you heat by gas or oil hot water systems, it is easy enough to
take off the hot water and run a circuit to the pond. If you heat by heat
pump, baseboard electric, or forced air, then it requires a separate system
since these won't work.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"MC" wrote in message
om...
Has anyone either heard of or used a technique of using the heat in
your house like either of these:

-Keep your filter in the corner of your basement (or somewhere else in
your house) and run the piping through the exterior wall of your
house. This would serve to heat the water, depending on the flow rate
of your filter.

-Use a tank of some sort to flow water from the pond into the inside
of the house. The flow rate would be such that the water would stay in
the tank a sufficient period of time to warm before being returned to
the pond.

Both of these would obviously require 2 pipes going into/out of the
house. It would not be to keep the water at 70 degrees. It would
merely be to keep it above freezing for those of us in colder areas (I
am zone 5). The bigger the tank, the warmer the water would be. It
seems that other methods of heating are very expensive. I bought one
of those low energy de-icers and my pond froze over before it even got
to be really cold.

I sorta of heat pond in this matter. I pump 2500gals a ay from an old wll in
my basement. eveen with the cold winter here last yr my pond never froze
over.
"MC" wrote in message
om...
Has anyone either heard of or used a technique of using the heat in
your house like either of these:

-Keep your filter in the corner of your basement (or somewhere else in
your house) and run the piping through the exterior wall of your
house. This would serve to heat the water, depending on the flow rate
of your filter.

-Use a tank of some sort to flow water from the pond into the inside
of the house. The flow rate would be such that the water would stay in
the tank a sufficient period of time to warm before being returned to
the pond.

Both of these would obviously require 2 pipes going into/out of the
house. It would not be to keep the water at 70 degrees. It would
merely be to keep it above freezing for those of us in colder areas (I
am zone 5). The bigger the tank, the warmer the water would be. It
seems that other methods of heating are very expensive. I bought one
of those low energy de-icers and my pond froze over before it even got
to be really cold.

I sorta of heat pond in this matter. I pump 2500gals a ay from an old wll in
my basement. eveen with the cold winter here last yr my pond never froze
over.
"MC" wrote in message
om...
Has anyone either heard of or used a technique of using the heat in
your house like either of these:

-Keep your filter in the corner of your basement (or somewhere else in
your house) and run the piping through the exterior wall of your
house. This would serve to heat the water, depending on the flow rate
of your filter.

-Use a tank of some sort to flow water from the pond into the inside
of the house. The flow rate would be such that the water would stay in
the tank a sufficient period of time to warm before being returned to
the pond.

Both of these would obviously require 2 pipes going into/out of the
house. It would not be to keep the water at 70 degrees. It would
merely be to keep it above freezing for those of us in colder areas (I
am zone 5). The bigger the tank, the warmer the water would be. It
seems that other methods of heating are very expensive. I bought one
of those low energy de-icers and my pond froze over before it even got
to be really cold.

piping water out of a pond is always risky business .... the pipe springs a leak and
drains the pond. in winter this is even more likely not to mention the water
freezing in the pipe. second, unless the piping is buried it will chill down on the
return trip and isnt efficient. I dropped a 500 watt heater into my pond, set it to
55oF and my pond stayed above 50 all winter except for one month jan 15-feb 15. my
pond is covered with plastic. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

piping water out of a pond is always risky business .... the pipe springs a leak and
drains the pond. in winter this is even more likely not to mention the water
freezing in the pipe. second, unless the piping is buried it will chill down on the
return trip and isnt efficient. I dropped a 500 watt heater into my pond, set it to
55oF and my pond stayed above 50 all winter except for one month jan 15-feb 15. my
pond is covered with plastic. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

To keep a pond @ 55 degrees here in Chicago would probably cost around
$150-$200 a month in electricity.

wrote in message ...
piping water out of a pond is always risky business .... the pipe springs a leak and
drains the pond. in winter this is even more likely not to mention the water
freezing in the pipe. second, unless the piping is buried it will chill down on the
return trip and isnt efficient. I dropped a 500 watt heater into my pond, set it to
55oF and my pond stayed above 50 all winter except for one month jan 15-feb 15. my
pond is covered with plastic. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

To keep a pond @ 55 degrees here in Chicago would probably cost around
$150-$200 a month in electricity.

wrote in message ...
piping water out of a pond is always risky business .... the pipe springs a leak and
drains the pond. in winter this is even more likely not to mention the water
freezing in the pipe. second, unless the piping is buried it will chill down on the
return trip and isnt efficient. I dropped a 500 watt heater into my pond, set it to
55oF and my pond stayed above 50 all winter except for one month jan 15-feb 15. my
pond is covered with plastic. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

I live in Milwaukee. that 500 watt heater is like 5 light bulbs running ALL the time
and the current calculation is @$10/100 watt light bulb per month if they are on all
the time. Given that we heat our garage (gas) and heat our spa (electric) the 500
watt heater doesnt rate. The temperature was set to 55oF. The temp actually went
below 55o on 1-06 (meaning the heater would be on ALL the time) and was above 55oF
2-26. Running a 1500 watt tank heater at the surface of an unprotected/uncovered
pond could easily cost 15- 100 watt light bulbs or $150 per month if it ran all the
time. Ingrid

(MC) wrote:
To keep a pond @ 55 degrees here in Chicago would probably cost around
$150-$200 a month in electricity.

wrote in message ...
piping water out of a pond is always risky business .... the pipe springs a leak and
drains the pond. in winter this is even more likely not to mention the water
freezing in the pipe. second, unless the piping is buried it will chill down on the
return trip and isnt efficient. I dropped a 500 watt heater into my pond, set it to
55oF and my pond stayed above 50 all winter except for one month jan 15-feb 15. my
pond is covered with plastic. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

I live in Milwaukee. that 500 watt heater is like 5 light bulbs running ALL the time
and the current calculation is @$10/100 watt light bulb per month if they are on all
the time. Given that we heat our garage (gas) and heat our spa (electric) the 500
watt heater doesnt rate. The temperature was set to 55oF. The temp actually went
below 55o on 1-06 (meaning the heater would be on ALL the time) and was above 55oF
2-26. Running a 1500 watt tank heater at the surface of an unprotected/uncovered
pond could easily cost 15- 100 watt light bulbs or $150 per month if it ran all the
time. Ingrid

(MC) wrote:
To keep a pond @ 55 degrees here in Chicago would probably cost around
$150-$200 a month in electricity.

wrote in message ...
piping water out of a pond is always risky business .... the pipe springs a leak and
drains the pond. in winter this is even more likely not to mention the water
freezing in the pipe. second, unless the piping is buried it will chill down on the
return trip and isnt efficient. I dropped a 500 watt heater into my pond, set it to
55oF and my pond stayed above 50 all winter except for one month jan 15-feb 15. my
pond is covered with plastic. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

There are several things that come into play:

-Outside temperature
-How protected the pond is (some people build plastic frames to
protect)
-The size of the pond

Out of curiosity, why did you pick 55 degrees? Isn't 40 degrees safe?
At 55 degrees I would imagine their immune system is more intact.



wrote in message ...
I live in Milwaukee. that 500 watt heater is like 5 light bulbs running ALL the time
and the current calculation is @$10/100 watt light bulb per month if they are on all
the time. Given that we heat our garage (gas) and heat our spa (electric) the 500
watt heater doesnt rate. The temperature was set to 55oF. The temp actually went
below 55o on 1-06 (meaning the heater would be on ALL the time) and was above 55oF
2-26. Running a 1500 watt tank heater at the surface of an unprotected/uncovered
pond could easily cost 15- 100 watt light bulbs or $150 per month if it ran all the
time. Ingrid

(MC) wrote:
To keep a pond @ 55 degrees here in Chicago would probably cost around
$150-$200 a month in electricity.

wrote in message ...
piping water out of a pond is always risky business .... the pipe springs a leak and
drains the pond. in winter this is even more likely not to mention the water
freezing in the pipe. second, unless the piping is buried it will chill down on the
return trip and isnt efficient. I dropped a 500 watt heater into my pond, set it to
55oF and my pond stayed above 50 all winter except for one month jan 15-feb 15. my
pond is covered with plastic. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

There are several things that come into play:

-Outside temperature
-How protected the pond is (some people build plastic frames to
protect)
-The size of the pond

Out of curiosity, why did you pick 55 degrees? Isn't 40 degrees safe?
At 55 degrees I would imagine their immune system is more intact.



wrote in message ...
I live in Milwaukee. that 500 watt heater is like 5 light bulbs running ALL the time
and the current calculation is @$10/100 watt light bulb per month if they are on all
the time. Given that we heat our garage (gas) and heat our spa (electric) the 500
watt heater doesnt rate. The temperature was set to 55oF. The temp actually went
below 55o on 1-06 (meaning the heater would be on ALL the time) and was above 55oF
2-26. Running a 1500 watt tank heater at the surface of an unprotected/uncovered
pond could easily cost 15- 100 watt light bulbs or $150 per month if it ran all the
time. Ingrid

(MC) wrote:
To keep a pond @ 55 degrees here in Chicago would probably cost around
$150-$200 a month in electricity.

wrote in message ...
piping water out of a pond is always risky business .... the pipe springs a leak and
drains the pond. in winter this is even more likely not to mention the water
freezing in the pipe. second, unless the piping is buried it will chill down on the
return trip and isnt efficient. I dropped a 500 watt heater into my pond, set it to
55oF and my pond stayed above 50 all winter except for one month jan 15-feb 15. my
pond is covered with plastic. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

most ponds are in the ground, and the temp is pretty constant. mine is 1600 gallons,
partially above ground (1.5 feet out of the 4 feet), and that portion is insulated
with foam board inside the frame.
the major way to save heat and energy is putting plastic over the top to trap warmer
water vapor and keep it inside. loss of heat by evaporation really cools the pond
down, the colder the more "steam" is seen leaving and taking heat energy with it.
55oF is temp of immune system AND temp I can continue to feed my fish, altho lightly.
apparently my in pond bucket filter works OK at that temp too, I did drop the heater
into the bucket filter. continuing to feed means they dont have to live off their
fat for sooooo long. It is a major stress and one of the major reasons so many fish
succumb to disease early in spring.

(MC) wrote:
There are several things that come into play:
-Outside temperature
-How protected the pond is (some people build plastic frames to
protect)
-The size of the pond
Out of curiosity, why did you pick 55 degrees? Isn't 40 degrees safe?
At 55 degrees I would imagine their immune system is more intact.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.