Best Water Chiller?

[slimjimham]

So i finally hooked up the ecoplus 1/4hp chiller to my uc4xl (about 35 gallons)

And im impressed, doesnt put out as much heat as i thought...

Im thinking about buying 3 more 1/10hp chillers for the other systems... think the 1/4 is a bit oversized...

I saw this one on amazon and it only uses 150 watts... anyone have any experience with this one or recomendations... i would hope the heat output is lower like the ecoplus i have... either way i have the cooling power but want to keep it as efficient as possible....

I havent shopped around for price but heres the amazon link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0048..._rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2404317522&pf_rd_i=mobile

I want something reliable, eficient and going to last

 

[palm eezy]

What size other systems do you have? Insulation on the buckets? What air temp do you run your rooms at?

I've noticed chiller load decreases significantly with a solid canopy above it, even if the room temps stay the same. So...if your room runs 'empty' for longer periods of time you may want a larger unit. Bigger is probably better, to an extent, when it comes to water chillers.

 

[slimjimham]

All the systems are the same, uc 4xl. Around 35 gallons each

Room temps 74-78

Always a nice canopy... i might just pull the trigger on 1 unit to make sure it meets my needs. I like that it only uses 150 watts!

 

[aSilvrHaze]

are they all in different locations? if not, consider a larger sized unit chilling a cooling reservoir with cooling coils on a manifold setup.

 

[slimjimham]

I thought about that but it would be a nightmare with all the plumbing in this specific location. I ended up buying them, got one for each system. Seems to be helping root health quite a bit.

I just got 1/10 hp units and they are cooling the water to 65 no problem. I had a 1/4 unit I bought used which I'm using too. All doing the same thing, think the 1/10 hp units are more energy efficient though.

I'll update after I have a full grow with these and can say for sure how they effect the grow

 

[ken dog]

For me, 1/4 horsepower kept up with 8, and then 10......8XL buckets.

 

[slimjimham]

I did give the roots I the plants I just harvested a tug (they only had the cooker the last 5 weeks maybe?) And the roots looked thicker, whiter and didn't just tear when I pulled them. I'll get a better look tomorrow when I clean the system

 

[3N1GM4]

Has anyone ever tried running thier res water through a copper coil submerged in water like in a still to cool it?

 

[stickyfing3rs]

I run 5 different systems ( 260 gallons total) off of one 1/2 HP penguin chiller, works slick as shit. Same chiller with zero maintenance and zero repairs for going on two years now.

 

[stickyfing3rs]

Only downside I can see is if that one chiller shits the bed, so can your whole crop. But I'm in the garden several times throughout the day, so I'm always there before something can happen that can't be fixed

 

[3N1GM4]

Would this work?

 

[palm eezy]

Has anyone ever tried running thier res water through a copper coil submerged in water like in a still to cool it?

I don't think you should have copper in contact with the nutes. I run cupronickel but have also had success with aluminum in the past. 25' 1/2" coils from summit are like $30. They corroded badly when I tried running RV antifreeze (after >6mos), which ended up leaking into one of my systems and giving me fits. The best solution, if you go this route, is to use enough piping to put your fittings where you adapt clear out of the rez/epi... so that if they drip you'll see it.

I use a ~7000 btu window unit disassembled, evaporator dunked down into a ~40 gallon chest freezer which houses little pumps for all of my cooling circuits. Full of RO water with occasional homemade UC roots.. Ranco controller set to swing between 40 and 46f. Then I use a bank of Willhi's for each system (I have a veg and 2 flower, 7k watts total, temps well controlled & buckets well insulated.) This setup maintains ~65 f with near 80f room temps no problem. The AC cycles on every couple hours, the individual circuits cycle on a couple times an hour.

The freezer itself is roughly ~1200 btu but is only effective if run on a timer (2h on/2h off.) When my scale was smaller a setup like this worked for me, so I built a nicely plumbed, custom controlled 4 zone cooling system only to find out I didnt have anywhere near the BTU. The AC has been running for over 2 years with minimal corrosion. Commercial 1hp is in my near future.

Also, in one of DS/Q9's runs, he said he was using a garden hose with cool tap water (drain to waste) to cool a jumbo UC. I have a setup for this as a contingency should my a/c-dunked-in-water were to fail.

 

[PoseidonXtrx]

I run 5 different systems ( 260 gallons total) off of one 1/2 HP penguin chiller, works slick as shit. Same chiller with zero maintenance and zero repairs for going on two years now.

You recommend that chiller? I'm looking to pick one up to cool 110 gal. I don't have much confidence in the eco plus brand and the penguin chiller seems to be higher quality in addition to being cheaper!

 

[ken dog]

You recommend that chiller? I'm looking to pick one up to cool 110 gal. I don't have much confidence in the eco plus brand and the penguin chiller seems to be higher quality in addition to being cheaper!

That thing will chill down to -58 degrees Fahrenheit... I don't think it's made for Hydroponics application.

Plus, you need a separate temperature controller with it.

 

[PoseidonXtrx]

That thing will chill down to -58 degrees Fahrenheit... I don't think it's made for Hydroponics application.

Plus, you need a separate temperature controller with it.

Penguin States it's for hydro, aquarium, or aquaponics application.
Titanium heat exchanger, no copper contact with water... You can add their temp controller upon purchase for an extra $110 too.
Should work, right? Just curious about reliability. Oh and cools 30F up to 150 gal which is perfect for my needs

 

[ken dog]

Yeah, it should work... It's $69 less than what I paid for my 1/2 hp Hydrofarm chiller on Amazon.

 

[PoseidonXtrx]

Yeah, it should work... It's $69 less than what I paid for my 1/2 hp Hydrofarm chiller on Amazon.

Nice, any issues with that model? I was previously looking at the ecos which are 800+

 

[ken dog]

No issues, it works like it's supposed to.
These things are Rock Solid for what they are designed for... And very user-friendly.

 

[fishwhistle]

You recommend that chiller? I'm looking to pick one up to cool 110 gal. I don't have much confidence in the eco plus brand and the penguin chiller seems to be higher quality in addition to being cheaper!

Check out Chill King if you need a larger unit,their pretty badass.You can cool anything you want including replacing your a/c if you want too.They are commercial units( 12000 btus smallest) and their expensive but you get your money back FAST in energy savings and you dont need any help putting the systems together,last forever too.

 

[PoseidonXtrx]

Check out Chill King if you need a larger unit,their pretty badass.You can cool anything you want including replacing your a/c if you want too.They are commercial units( 12000 btus smallest) and their expensive but you get your money back FAST in energy savings and you dont need any help putting the systems together,last forever too.

Only need 1/2 HP, thanks though.