This week we spied a new aquarium heater, the likes of which we have not seen before. The Chihiros External Smart Heater is brought to us by Chihiros Aquatic Studio, a company best known for its Chinese-made aquascaping equipment, although it has some saltwater products too. At first glance, the External Smart Heater is similar to the original Hydor ETH inline heater in that it connects to the outlet hose from an external canister filter and enables heating without a heater being placed inside the aquarium. It could be used inline on sump returns too, but apart from the digital display and Bluetooth app connection, this interesting device has one major difference. It has adjustable power consumption.
For decades, combined heater/thermostats have been available in several fixed sizes based on their power consumption, like 50-watt, 100-watt, 150, 200, and 300 watts, and in the average home that power equated to being able to heat roughly one liter of water, so a 200-watt heater was necessary for a 200 liter (53 gallons,) tank. Few heaterstats broke the 300-watt barrier and the average large reef tank would opt for two heaters or a separate, 600-watt titanium heater and thermostat instead.
So we were surprised when we read that the Chihiros External Smart Heater is not only adjustable from 10-1000 watts (1 kilowatt,) utilizing frequency conversion technology, it can switch between high power and low heating to save energy, and that’s a big deal. It’s just one model for nearly all tank volume situations and when heating is needed, it doesn’t have to use all its power (and your money in electricity usage,) to achieve it. That also extends its lifespan, according to Chihiros.
The Smart Heater enjoys dual temperature control for more reliable monitoring, dry run protection as well as overheat protection, shutting the device off if the water temperature exceeds 35.8C/96.4F. Unless this is a typo that temperature is still lethal to most fresh and saltwater aquatic organisms, so we would like to see that threshold substantially lowered, or user adjustment made available to set one’s own upper-temperature limits.
The digital display looks nice, showing actual temperature, set temperature, and electricity usage, again highlighting that unique feature, but smart app control also allows adjustment in 0.1C increments and even a natural temperature shift throughout the day for those who desire it. Rivers can change temperature dramatically from rainfall and some fish species may be adapted to or even stimulated by that. Temperature can be adjusted from 10-35C/ 50-95F.
This is a saltwater website, and the one thing that is missing from the manufacturer’s blurb is that it is safe for use in both fresh AND saltwater. A brand new product, we have no feedback on the reliability of this new technology, and the price will be a factor if wanting to purchase a unit capable of 1000 watts (and 1000 liters,) if you have a ten-gallon (38 liter,) tank. But the concept and resultant technology will certainly be one to watch, consider, and see if it takes hold across both the fresh and saltwater hobbies.
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