summer tank temps...

[fishorama]

We have had 25 solar panels since 2013. It was a great investment then & on our "grandfathered" plan we pay only ~$20/month for "distribution" fees, $0/year for actual power plus high gas prices for heat. On newer solar systems they don't have the same options nor get the same "buy back" for extra energy we produce. Look into it, but get several estimates. There are far less tax deductions than we went solar. We have very high tiered electricity rates here; yours might be different. Lots of sun when we use energy most (pool & AC). Research! Going solar isn't cheap but ours paid for itself in 6-7 years.

We'll need a new HVAC soon & state & energy co are pushing heat pumps. Our 1st house 27 years ago had that & we hated it! It neither heated or cooled well. We won't be going there, even with improved tech. Again, research for where you live.

 

[Magnum Man]

I for one, wouldn't not survive in temps over 80 degrees F., with the humidities we have in "the land of 10,000 lakes" so it's important, at almost any cost, that we have a functioning and big enough air conditioner unit

 

[kiko]

dollar for dollar savings...forget heat pumps
think of a heat pump basically pulling air into the house at under the ground degrees
so if under the ground you have temps at 10-15C for summer is great..it'll cool down easy winter? not so much you'll always end up needing an extra heating unit recuperator into heater etc..
now...for a normal house where you have no land you have to drill a hole for the loop...easy 15-20k plus systems and everything else..80-100
let's go even with the lower 80k price...so you paid 80k for a system that only helps cool/warm your house not actually do it and you're still paying them bills...although lower but still
then you have solar...15-30k for panels and installation
then energy storage...
around 60k in batteries to last 3-4 days if your power goes out so you end up with 90k spent in solar and pay 0 in electricity bills
then come the battery themselves regardless of whatever them companies say ALL batteries are trash and will lose charge after 5-6 years and you'll get less and less and less out of them
now comes the question...how often does the power really go out for days and days at a time?
once every 5 years? 15? do you really need to spend 60k for that?
you could have 2 batteries just for the power outs...enough to last you a couple hours and have a system that kicks on a generator if the power goes out for longer than 1h.
it's cheaper to run a generator for 3 days than paying 60k each 15 years
so yeah...solar is def cheaper batteries not so much...worth spending tens of thousands for a 3 day power outage that happens only maybe once every 10-15 years?
solar -> batteries to last 2h -> generator = is the cheapest way to go

 

[GaryE]

How you cope depends on the intensity of your climate, but also on how much up front money you have. In our fishless house (not the fish filled garage) we recently got two 'mini-split' heat pumps. We opted to rent them from the local energy company, as while the longterm cost was marginally higher, we are marginally poorer than we'd like to be. PLus, the renter has an excellent reputation for service in the case of malfunctions. In the first winter, we seem to have reduced heating costs by about $300, taking the rental cost into account.
Solar would be interesting except for the initial cost, and the simple fact we live in a foggy sort of place.
My plan was to run a generator for blackouts, but our grid here has proven to be quite robust. A full house generator would be a waste, but a portable, temporary system to keep warmth going and run the pellet stove already installed when we bought would be good.
We're all going to have different answers depending on the climates we live in.

 

[Back in the fold]

Heat doesn’t bother me . We never had air conditioning when I was a kid and later on I never had it and when I finally did get air conditioning I almost croaked when I got the electric bill so I stopped using it . I’m in a part of Montana that has very little to no humidity so maybe that’s why I don’t mind the heat . When it’s 80 or above in the house I open all the windows and I’m fine , I’m in the shade after all . Winter and the cold , now that’s a different story . The older I get the less I like the cold . I don’t mind it outside because I dress for it and I stay warm shoveling snow or whatever but sitting in the house and walking on the cold floors I don’t like . I’ll take heat any old day of the week . It doesn’t last that long anyway but winter drags on forever .

 

[Alice B]

Couple summers back we had a cruddy air conditioner--a floor model which definitely couldn't keep up with a 2 week long heat wave we had.

My tanks temperatures with the heaters unplugged completely were reading into the 90s for days. I lost some oxygen-dependent fish during those days.

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I did confirm the temp with a digital thermometer too. It was sitting at 94-96F at the hottest of days during those 2 weeks. It was dang awful.

We have since replaced that air conditioner, got a much better one now. At most, our warmest tank reaches 80F on the hottest of heat waves, so we can't complain. I have also ensured that each tank has either a wave maker or some sort of airstone running very high to maximize my oxygen levels so that I don't lose fish. Short term heat isn't too bad on them, but its the oxygen levels that can get risky. More sensitive, oxygen-needy fish are more likely to succumb to prolonged heat. I lost my farlowella catfish and a bristlenose pleco that summer.


Non-heat wave, tank temps sit at 75F in the warmer rooms. The colder room that has the AC has 2 tanks, they sit at 72F.

I lost a bristlenose I'd had for 12 years to a crappy floor model portable AC in 2023. Glad I got my central back on, sold all portables. If the central fails again I have 2 window units. For winter I heat with a woodstove. (although I got a heat strip for the central, the cost per month to run it is about $300)

 

[raylove]

This year I've hit 86F but in the past there have been periods where 90F has been sustained for several days. I never noticed anything detrimental with the fish though I would routinely leave the hood open, leave lights off and do smallish water changes using cold water to lower the temperature by a couple of degrees. Nothing really seemed to make much difference and because the fish always seemed fine I stopped worrying about it and I now just leave things alone.