Forget the chiller!

C

commandertekki

[If I didnt do it wouldnt have believed it myself. I was going to save beaucoup dollars for a chiller because this summer heat is keeping the water temp around 82-84 degrees... and what do you know....

I decided to try a fan for the heck of it since I didnt believe it would bring it down by much. but man my tank temperature is at 78 degrees and been holding steady all day long.

15.00 Honeywell desktop fan from Wal Mart. That's a 4-6 degree difference. I bet it'd go down lower since the house temp is at 78 degrees. However, I do have a heater set to 77 so it wont go lower then that.]
 
[Same here Phillip.When T and myself went to buy some frags I asked the person how he kept his water at 78 without a chiller. He told me to get a 4-6" clip-on fan and try it. My water temp was 82 so I went out and bought a 6" fan from Target, clipped it on and withen the hour my temp was 79.The only problem I have now is im evaporating over a gallon a day, and with no auto topper I have to watch my sump very closely! Aint it great!]



Edited By Maldivan on 1085445491
 
[Fan works fo rme too. I just upgraded my tank from a 72 bow to a 150 custom and I thought I was going to have to get a chiller for sure. The fan works just as good on the 150gal as it did on the 72gal. I too have the H2O evaporation problem. No top off here either. As much evaporation as I have I would have to run a hose line from my 44gal H2O trash can in the garage to the tank inside. Then have a float valve in the trash can to kick on my RODI when the level drops in it. HHmmm Might just give that a try.]
 
[That is why it is cooling effectively. It cools via evaporation. I use fans on my tanks, and without them they would easily reach 84F or higher.]
 
[I have a fan on my hood pulling air in and just replaced my sump fan with a new one and clipped the old one on my hood to pull air out. my tank usually hangs around 85 until I get home and turn the mh off. I noticed a slight drop in tempature but nothing like i want to see, Are you all using the low setting on the fan or crankin it up on high? Coral and fish are doing fine, they dont seem to mind the tempature being so high. i have a heater in my sump set to 77. tomorrow will be the first real test, if i can maintain 84 i would be happy. Also have a thought to put the sump clip fan and hood clip fan on a timer to control water evaporation. Either this works or i finance a chiller or redesign the hood.]
 
[I tried mine clipped under my stand blowing on my sump return water and my temp went back from 79 to 81. I reclipped the fan back to ontop of my display blowing between the top of the water and my PC's and withen 30mins my temp was back down to 78.My Lights are only about 6 " off the water and they do tend to heat the top layer of water.The 6" clip on Fan at Target was $9, cheaper than a chiller :)]
 
[If you are not home during the day then keeping 78 degree in your house is just a waste of money, I have 1/5 hp aqualogic (soon to be fs cheap) it can easily keep my 75g tank+30g sump (total net volume~70g) with 7 pumps/power heads and 520w+75W of light on top of glass lids around 79 degree in 84 degree room. I also have 1/3 hp CSL (for future 150g) but it drops temperarure too fast which is not good while aqualogic takes ~ 2 hrs to lower 1.5 degree. Imo invest in a chiller is better choice than keeping AC running while you are not home.]
 
[I see your point about cooling a home to 78 when no one is around as wasting money. And I do have a chiller, that keeps my tank at 79 with 1900 watts of light which is alot. But I used to keep a 120rr with 500watts mh and 440 watts of actinic at 80 with just the use of a bunch of fans. The house was cooled to 78 which is the only way it would keep it that cool.
But you know I worry more about my chiller going out than my airconditioning. And if your house is hot, 84 or higher and your chiller goes out, no one is around, your tank is mostly gone. Unless you have a controller that will shut down all of your lights if the tank goes over a certain temperature.]
 
[Did you know you waste more money if you set your thermostat to high temps during the day when no one is home and then have it cool the house to much lower temps an hour before you get home? You put undue stress on your AC system by doing this, causing it to shorten its life. The reason is because the AC has to work MUCH harder and stay on longer to cool the entire house when it is at such high temperatures than it does if you would just keep the house at a constant temperature. It's true! Now, it doesn't hurt if you keep the house a little hotter when noone is home (ie. a couple degrees), but doing extremes like turning the house up to 84 and then having it cool down to 76-78 before you get home is what kills your system. Just something to think about....]
 
[This may be some comfort to those reading this thread and worrying about your tank being too hot.


Eric Borneman in his book "Aquarium Corals" published in 2001 states "Recent trends favor maintaining somewhat more natural reef temperatures of 27 - 29 C ( 80 -84 F)."

Now the problem you may run into is in transferring in corals from your LFS if they have been keeping the corals at 77 F. The warmer tank may trigger bleaching but it has got to be a significant temp change to do so.

A side benefit, though, seems to be an increased calcification from increasing the metabolism of the entire tank. Plus it is a more natural temperature for many reef animals.]
 
[You betcha! A house is a LOT of mass to cool down over and over again, xpecially since you are asking your AC system to cool it during some of the hottest hours of the day, mid- to late-afternoon...

I just set the thermostat to 78 and forget it. Ceiling fans and personal fans take care of the rest...if you need more cooling at night to sleep, then Lowe's has a 5000 btu A/C window unit at $78 in the current flyer...such a deal!]
 
[I just had my A/C replaced and asked my friend/installer about that. He voiced about the same thing as Jodi. He said that 3 degrees rise while unoccupied is about the most you should go. The core temperature of the house going above that causes the system to put in overtime. The system I replaced would run for 4-5 hours to try and bring my house down from 80 while I was gone to 76 when I got there. That meant that I didn't get comfortable till 8pm. I personally believe the ambient temperature of the room makes the most difference on tank temp and chillers can be avoided in most cases. Also, consider the humidity you have to add to your house through evaporation using fans as coolers. It affects your comfort level too. I have a feeling I'll become a big fan of chillers when I add MH lights. I'd rather not use more than a low flow fan near the halides. Dust mites can't reproduce when the humidity is below 55% Mold becomes more of an issue too. If you have allergies, keep that in mind.

Sorry for the ramble]
 
[If I dont keep my living room below 75 my tank will get very hot very fast. I had to be a window unit because my central air could not keep up with the heat produces by 1000 watts of light.
I hope to install my chiller soon but I bet that will make my room even hotter.]
 
@buyitjody wrote:
[Did you know you waste more money if you set your thermostat to high temps during the day when no one is home and then have it cool the house to much lower temps an hour before you get home? You put undue stress on your AC system by doing this said:
[You should lower temperature gradually, this is what programmable thermostat for, they are made for reasons and this is how to save electric (as they claimed), not wasting more. Do it and check your bill you will see.]
Click to expand...
 
[For keeping house temps more stable, extra and higly efficient insulation is worth it. Helps to reduce cooling and heating loss from the house.

Though they chill the tank water, don't chiller units add heat into the room they're in? What would you do for a large tank in a 200 sqft room? Add chiller or window AC unit ? If AC unit, what BTU size?]
 
[I know darn well if it was not for my chiller, which is outside, my tank would overheat. even though I keep the house at 77 all day. And yes it is allright to keep the tank at 84 lots of tropic reefs are that hot and the corals do fine. But the problem is extreme changes in temerature from night to day. Tropical reefs are constant over a degree or so night or day changing slowly over months as the seasons change. If you are going to the tank get to 84 during the day you need to heat the tank to 80-81 imo. That way it will lessen the swings between low and high. The large swings are what stresses corals. My tank stays from a high 79.5 to a low 78.5 constantly. And also the higher the temperature you are comfortable at keeping your tank 84-85, the closer you are to the danger zone of kiling the whole system if it does heat up much higher.]



Edited By Rick on 1085605933
 
[Ken---That was theory when the programmable thermostats came out. But when you go to extremes, it takes hours (as testfeld mentioned) to get the house cool again. You are NOT saving that much money in the long run if your AC is having to work so hard to get the house cool. Believe me, I've talked to air conditioner techs and employees and this is true (Note: These are friends who are in the business--they are NOT trying to sell me an AC unit). Now, if you are going to be out of town for an extended period, then maybe it would help. But overall you are putting more wear and tear on your AC unit.

I agree, better insulation does wonders. We also put the reflective boards in the attack for the roof, and that helps a lot also. Also, a higher SEER rating for AC helps with efficiency.]
 
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