How Do I Heat My Pond?

Pond Heating. There is much debate as to whether Koi hibernate in the winter. There are those that would have you believe that this is a natural state and quite healthy for your fish, while others would say this causes undo stress. Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, there are some important facts to consider. The rule of thumb with heating a pond is to calculate the correct heater size that you will need size.

Pond Heat Exchanger

Pond heat exchangers are one of the more cost-effective methods of controlling the temperature of a pond. There’s a higher upfront cost to purchase these but the average  cost is more economical than most other methods.

The way a gas pond heat exchanger works is, pond water enters through an inlet on the exchanger and flows past a coil containing hot water from a boiler. The heat is generated from the hot water in the coil and is then transferred to the pond water that flows around it heating your pond.

Submersible Pond Heater

A submersible pond heater is a great way to heat your pond A submersible pond heater won’t typically heat your entire pond (unless it’s really small or you use multiple heaters), they will provide a nice warm area for your fish to hang out in during winter.

We would recommend submerging the heater in the filter were there is an area of flow This will help to heat the water as it passes by. We would also recommended our  Pro line heating units. These have titanium heating elements with pure Titanium flow tube and elements to  ensure its suitability for use on All Aquatic Systems, including salt water and tropical marine.

The decision to produce a Titanium heater was made for a number of reasons. With outstanding resistance to fatigue and erosion, Titanium has a low density, excellent strength and has super corrosion resistance. It is considered to be physiologically inert.

Accurate to + or – 0.5 degree C the special thermostats have an internal relay that allows them to be used on a wide range of applications including gas and oil boilers as well as electric heaters. PRO Line Pond Heating Kit represents very good value for money.

All the units in this range can be connected to a normal domestic 13 amp mains supply.

Inline Electric Pond Heater

Inline electric pond heaters are the most common way to heat a pond since their upfront cost is one of the lowest. However the running costs of this type of electric heater especially for a large pond can be extremely high. These work by the Pond water is pumped in and through a heating chamber (with a heating element), where it is heated and then returned to the pond. They are typically installed right after your pond pump in the pond’s plumbing system or filter house. Continually cycling water through this heater will eventually increase the temperature of your pond.

We would recommended you will need 1kw per 1000 gallons of pond water 

We would recommended The Elecro pond heaters 

Pond Heat Pump

The rule of thumb with heating using a heat pump is to calculate the correct heater size for your pond size We would recommended you will need 1kw per 500 gallons of pond water Heat Pumps only 

Heat pumps are another cost-effective way to heat a pond.  This type of pond heater is less harmful to the environment since 80% of the energy required to heat your pond is collected from outside air!

When buying a heat pump make sure it’s designed for pond use and  can be used in the cold winter month some are not able to be used in the winter and are designed to stabilise your water through the Autumn, Spring and summer months only

Using heat pumps as a pond heater will significantly reduce your pond heating costs compare with all other forms of pond heating.

Maintaining a reasonable pond temperature throughout the winter and spring (eg +12c) can have significant health benefits for your fish, helping to prevent disease and parasite attacks.

For use with koi ponds, it is important to select a heat pump that can operate down to low temperatures in order to maintain the required temperature of the pond throughout the winter and spring.

Typically a koi pond will be kept at between 10c and 15c throughout the winter and around 20- 22c in the summer.

Winter Pond Cover

A pond cover won’t  actually heat your pond but it will help keep the cold out and prevent some heat being lost. so the water temperature will stay a few degrees warmer and may even prevent the pond from icing over (depending on your location and how cold your Winter’s get). you will also have the added benefit of stopping leaves and other debris from blowing into your pond in the winter months. This will make the Spring clean up much easier.

If you can’t find an actual pond cover designed for Winter use you could use polycarbonate as this will also allow some daylight to get to your pond water you could also try using a rigid dome pond cover like a Polly tunnel

You must leave a gap to allow your pond to gas off.