Longer lasting heater?

[Doberman13]

I seem to have the worst luck with heaters. I just set up a qt tank and the heater I use for heating water for water changes is constantly on and the heater I sparingly use for QTs will not turn on. Eheim, Cobalt, Hydor all seem to break within a year of use. I know heaters are considered consumables by most. I am curious to see what brand Y'all use the most.

 

[ichthyoid]

In the past ~20 years I have never had an Eheim-Jager (or formerly Ebo-Jager either) heater fail. Knock on wood

 

[dball711]

In the past ~20 years I have never had an Eheim-Jager (or formerly Ebo-Jager either) heater fail. Knock on wood

+1. The only heaters I use, also use controllers...this is a must!

 

[bg2311]

Had good luck with the Finnex Titanium (no built in controller). Use either an Apex EB832 or an Inkbird to turn them on and off. No internal relays to get stuck. We have 3 and no issues so far.

 

[SaltwaterGardening]

I was thinking of buying an extra heater just recently as I am at one year. Thanks for the insight into controllers as preferred option.

 

[ActiveAngel]

Came here to give my top two recommendations, both already given. My #1 Finnex Titanium (with and without controller), #2 Eheim Jager.

Ive had numerous other heaters fail, even JBJs that run $200+. But these 2 havent let me down. I use Eheim for smaller tanks and Finnex for larger ones simply because i trust them a little more.

Ive had both brands last 4-6 years, and i replaced them, but kept the old units as backups because they still work well.

 

[ichthyoid]

Fwiw, I have also had good luck with Ranco controllers for backup. A little more, but worth it imho.

 

[Steve Burton]

+1 for Eheim-Jager, I've had many heaters of many types and many failures, they just seem to last longer with fewer failures. Also all I buy anymore.

 

[york1]

Eheim and finnex titanium all hooked up to ranco controllers

 

[Doberman13]

I wish I could say the same. A little over a year ago I had an Ehiem Jager 300w overheating my FW tank for at least a week before I realized what was going on. Now I only run any heater with an inkbird. I haven't tried any other type of controller.

 

[Steve Burton]

I wish I could say the same. A little over a year ago I had an Ehiem Jager 300w overheating my FW tank for at least a week before I realized what was going on. Now I only run any heater with an inkbird. I haven't tried any other type of controller.

I've only been using heater controllers for a few years, Inkbirds and Azoos. The only failure was operator error when I got the 110v outlet wet on one.

 

[gill]

I have a controller with a BRS titanium heater. Has been great. Going on a year now.