Thermo Controller for Deicer

[MitchM]

I just did Mitch ....

If you look through the calculations and even try to plug in some numbers, (they don't have to be exact), you'll see all the various routes there are for heat to leave your pond.
You can reduce the speed that heat leaves your pond by putting a cover over the pond, or allow for sunshine to more directly hit the pond (which will add heat). Until you reduce the avenues through where heat that can leave your pond, it just doesn't add up where 3500 btu's of heat will overcome the greater amount of heat loss.
All a floating heater does in an outside pond is melt the floating ice in the immediate vicinity.

I tried a 1500w heater on my pond, and with the cold weather, dry wind and deep frost line we have here, the 1500w heater had a dome of ice form over it, even while it was running. That dome of ice of course, prevented any gas exchange from occurring and I lost most of my fish during that winter.

 

[barryian]

If you look through the calculations and even try to plug in some numbers, (they don't have to be exact), you'll see all the various routes there are for heat to leave your pond.
You can reduce the speed that heat leaves your pond by putting a cover over the pond, or allow for sunshine to more directly hit the pond (which will add heat). Until you reduce the avenues through where heat that can leave your pond, it just doesn't add up where 3500 btu's of heat will overcome the greater amount of heat loss.
All a floating heater does in an outside pond is melt the floating ice in the immediate vicinity.

I tried a 1500w heater on my pond, and with the cold weather, dry wind and deep frost line we have here, the 1500w heater had a dome of ice form over it, even while it was running. That dome of ice of course, prevented any gas exchange from occurring and I lost most of my fish during that winter.

I totally believe what these rough calculation are showing. They're factual, not hypothetical. I can't really explain why today my pond is 50F. Last year, we had a horrendous winter. I had 2 of these running and one was 1500 watts. 2500 watts combined. The temperature wasn't controlled and they were running most of the time. The water temp never dropped below 45F and these temps were record breakers. One was on the far end and the other blocking the weir as this one. I would think, the deicer right in the entrance of the weir with the water warming and emptying into the Savio, has to put a glitch into the formula's heat loss. if it weren't circulating via the savio, I'd say maybe the formula is perfectly correct, but I think this trumps that formula. There's no other explanation for the maintained temperature. If it's shut down, the water temp does drop. I just haven't interfered enough to make some definitive statement that the deicer isn't doing much. I think it's position of blocking the weir is the clincher combined with the precision temperature controller. There are large ponds, 2 of them right near my home. They're were frozen solid except now as we've moderated quite a bit. But my pond never froze and maintained the high temps. ???? Call me crazy but I'm not trying to be difficult, just telling it like it is.