Laguna PowerHeat 500-Watt Pond Heater for Outdoor Ponds with Fish – Thermostat-Controlled De-Icer, Safe for Plastic & Liner Ponds, Stainless Steel, 22 ft Cord

Working great no ice since I put it in and has been very cold

For the price it was a dud (over $200.00)! The one sent to me malfunctioned from the start, it produced zero heat. The jury is out on a true assessment as I’m waiting for a replacement to be delivered soon! I’ve also noticed that Amazon’s new price for the same product is $70.00 cheaper than when I paid for it in late January! Go figure!! Unfortunately in the meantime I had to go with a cheaper K & H de-icer to get the job done, as I was extremely worried about the ice forming completely over the whole pond, my poor fish have so far survived! This Laguna 500 watt heater de-icer was rated as #1 in Canada of 10 heater de-icers shown! Not sure how a rating counts for customers anymore!I would rather receive a refund than a replacement!Not sure if I would recommend this product to others, cheaper may be better, easier on the pocketbook.

this worked great for me for 8 years. went to plug it in this year and nothing, so I'll be buying another.

It floats which is importantThe green light and red light is a great featureYou know when it’s working

This pond heater was reliable for 10 years. I liked that it had a light on top that showed it was working.This year it stopped working. The price has gone up a lot since I bought it 10 years ago.

Have had this product through two CANADA winters (e.g minus 30 F or C )Maintains opening in ice even at ultra low temp.Would prefer it have a better sensor to auto shut off when temp above freezing. I bought a separate switch that does that now

great product, Excellent price,

We changed our pond winterization scheme this year. We have a relatively small pond (probably 400 gallons) fed by a waterfall, and in prior winters we kept the waterfall running even when most of the pond was frozen over. We'd run a bubbler but no heater. Our 5 koi have done well and grown large enough that our landscaper and "pond people" have all been nervous regarding whether we can keep everyone healthy under any winterization plan. To minimize the risks (to both fish and equipment) associated with running the waterfall all winter, we decided this year to try removing the waterfall pump and just relying on a combination of bubbler and pond heater. I bought the Laguna 500 W heater expecting that we'd see the pond freeze over but retain small open areas around the heater and bubbler.We're now halfway through winter and I've been surprised that the pond has not iced at all. The heater is warm enough to keep the entire pond in the high 30's (37? it's been a couple of weeks since I checked on a very cold day). We were down in single digits again last night with no sign of ice. The fish seem fine resting on/near the bottom and they seem appropriately active on warmer days (40's). The light on the heater has been red 99% of the time or more -- I don't think I've even seen it flash green once during the past month. So I agree with others who have taken off a star based on confusion regarding the significance of the red vs green light. I can't comment on the actual power usage -- given the complete lack of ice maybe this is heating more than necessary. But overall, we are very happy with the heater -- it has brought us a much more worry and maintenance free winter and the fish seem fine. If things stay this way for another 8 weeks we'll be delighted!Update -- the winter season completed a few months ago and I thought I'd update this. I've upgraded to 5 stars because we did make it through an awful winter without any pond trouble. It seemed to be in good shape when we removed it from the pond so I expect to get at least another season out of it. At some point during the winter, we disconnected the power for a few minutes and reconnected it; after that the lights worked much more as expected. Laguna could still do a better job explaining the lights on their website and in the product packaging (my instruction booklet is basically worthless). But that's a small complaint given that the device gave us just what we needed to get through a brutal winter with minimal effort required for the pond.Quick update August 2017: Just checking some old reviews and I thought it was worth mentioning that this heater continued to perform as described above through two additional winters. This past winter the lights did change from red to green in a manner that seems right; but we still had the entire pond clear of ice all winter. In that regard if efficient energy utilization is the most important thing to you I'll grant a yellow flag on this. But if the most important thing is preventing freezing without frying the fish -- what matters most to me -- this is just fine after 3 winters.

As many people have mentioned in their reviews, my heater stopped working after only a few weeks in my pond. The GFI outlet I had it plugged into had been tripped so a short had occurred. (Use a GFI - ground fault interrupting outlet). I fished out the heater and hear water inside splashing. So I decided to open it up to see what I could do about it.-- If you want to open it, you need to un-crimp the edge of the top lid where it presses into the silicone gasket that seals the top and bottom halves. There is no adhesive connecting the joinsIn side, you will find that the coil rests near the bottom, and the housing is hollow save for the electronics. Underneath the electrical cord is screwed into the base, but you cannot unscrew it as it will turn the electronics and break several connections. There is a thermostat attached to the wall of the bottom half (inside of course).So, why is all of this a problem?First - Obviously it leaks and it sounds like you have a 20% chance or so of yours leaking also. The leak most likely is coming from the cord join at the bottom and there doesn't appear to be any sealant where the cord holder joins the base. (It will turn with just a little force) Not a good design for water proofing. (There is a rubber gasket, but it doesn't seem as tight a fit as it could be.)Second - The overall design is terrible since there is no insulation in the top section and half of the heater is floating above the water. This means that a good deal of the heat is radiating away into the air, rather than into the water. This explains why it doesn't produce a hole in the ice any larger than the 250 watt heater I also use. *** product recommendation belowPositives --The thermostat does seem to work, and the LED changing color does let you know when it is heating. I saw it change frequently although it is unclear if it is heating when it is green or when it is red? I was watching it to see if I could figure it out, but it didn't work long enough for me to answer that question.It is possible that the design opens a larger hole in deep snow and that might be a good advantage since my other heater ends up producing a small funnel in the snow which might not exchange gasses as easily. I can't say for sure since we haven't had deep snow yet in my region this year.Overall opinion -I would stay away from this heater. If you are lucky enough to get one that doesn't leak, it's inefficiency means you will be throwing away money when it is on, and throwing away carbon from the wasted electricity.Recommendation instead -I have had the 'K&H 8125 Perfect Climate Deluxe 250-Watt Pond De Icer' for two years now and the design is very simple, the coil sits in the water and it opens holes very quickly when plugged in. It doesn't have a thermostat however. But based on my observations, it opens a hole just as large as this Laguana, at half the wattage. (Assuming the Laguana actually is a 500 w heater.)You can find the K&H here:http://www.amazon.com/8125-Perfect-Climate-Deluxe-250-Watt/dp/B001KCFE8U/ref=pd_sbs_petsupplies_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1SPYAPS1SVB1K51RKY41I wish someone had posted this type of review so I hope you find it helpful. I would appreciate marking it helpful as I really want others to understand exactly what they are buying. :)After drying it, it appears to be working again - turns on with no short. I intend to fill the top half with insulation, seal it better and return it to the pond. Wish me luck.***** Quick Follow Up -I'm not sure how I couldn't have sealed it, but it's listing to the side in the ice and tripping the GFI again. Looks like it's headed for the trash now. :(