Water Chilling Q & A

[Seamaiden]

Ok, I must have missed a post or two in there somewhere. Thanks for that reassurance! :)

 

[seebobsled]

And he also said gph not per day. He's at 2400gpd till repaired.

 

[seebobsled]

A cooling tower with misters on heat exchangers on a outside circuit would be a better use of dtw.

 

[ttystikk]

I'll have to get back to this later, but I didn't realize you're running through so much water. 100gpd is too much for me on a daily basis. For *all* my irrigation needs I use about 35gpd, all irrigation. I thought the chiller was for recirculating applications. What am I missing?

the chiller broke due to the incompetence of an ac tech and I had to buy a new one. Three large retail, I got a deal...

 

[ttystikk]

A cooling tower with misters on heat exchangers on a outside circuit would be a better use of dtw.

this was an emergency in every sense of the term, including not having a lot of money to do anything fancy with no notice or know-how. Would like to hear more about this option?

 

[ttystikk]

And he also said gph not per day. He's at 2400gpd till repaired.

that was a conservative estimate, too. I really don't know what I used, other than too damned much!

 

[seebobsled]

The cooling tower works on the fact that air mixed with a mist will cool air temperature and take more heat away. That's used in large buildings and hospitals . Think like your icebox dehumification tower but basically upside down .

 

[seebobsled]

Or think of it like a swamp cooler blowing thru a heat exchanger in a tower.

 

[seebobsled]

The air conditioner makers sometimes uses the condensation it gets and sling it with the fan on the evaporation coil. This makes humid air that moves more heat.

 

[aSilvrHaze]

evap coil or condenser coil?

 

[ttystikk]

evap coil or condenser coil?

The hot one. My chiller is a window mount, with louvers in the top where rain can do just what bobsled was suggesting.

What if it 'rained' with a fine mister for the hot part of the afternoon?

The units do lose efficiency as ambient temps climb over 90. This kind of evaporative cooling enhancement might help my chiller through those July afternoons.

 

[ftwendy]

What if it 'rained' with a fine mister for the hot part of the afternoon? The units do lose efficiency as ambient temps climb over 90. This kind of evaporative cooling enhancement might help my chiller through those July afternoons.

Winning idea... I bet 90 outside means nothing to you after installing the misters.

 

[ttystikk]

A cooling tower with misters on heat exchangers on a outside circuit would be a better use of dtw.

this is a fascinating idea, if it can simultaneously meet two parameters; keep the working fluid and reservoir temp at 60f or below at all times, and can still do it when the thermometer hits three digits.

 

[ttystikk]

Winning idea... I bet 90 outside means nothing to you after installing the misters.

The hardware store selling $12 misters is a block from here, and I already have a digital programmable water timer, so I can set it to run only between like 2pm and 5.

 

[seebobsled]

The light has been lit for all to see!
ASilverhaze
evap coil is the hot outside part.
Tystick you got it, I've simply ran water on the coils with a hose and saw a difference.

 

[ftwendy]

I'm picturing a kiddie pool, pump, mister head, and some sort of collection system to return the heated water.... thos in combination with a float valve to top up the pool and I bet you'd be running a tight ship.

You could just run it right off the tap, too. Just throwing around ideas. Fun discussion here thanks guys.

 

[connoisseurde420]

I'm battleing heat right now too can really tell the difference when it get up over 85 just don't cut the heat... my chiller is inside but I may be able to rig something up...

 

[ftwendy]

You could also connect the pump power to a thermostat to save some dough and h2o.

 

[ttystikk]

Still trying to visualize the kiddie pool thing. Does it cool a coil that water passes through to cool it? I'm not sure I'm getting this one.

 

[ftwendy]

Kiddie pool (or 100gal tank) is the reservoir for the mister head. Pumped mist is activated by thermo and gets sprayed at the hot side of your chiller; some of this mist evaporates (drawing the heat up into the atmosphere), while the rest of the warm water drips into a collection system that diverts it back into the kiddie pool. Pool gets topped up auto with float valve to replace water carried away into atmosphere...

It's early. Let me know if that needs more clarification.