What Can Be Used To Cool Nutrient Reservoirs

[Horto]

I have a 60Ltr Dark Green Garbage Can, but only fill with 24Ltr of Nutrient.
24Ltr is ample as I run a very efficient modification of NFT.
I am looking to keep the nutrient at around 22C or 71.6F.
The Nutrient Reservoir is mostly constant at this temperature, but rises in hotter months.

What do people use to cool solution in standard plastic reservoirs.
Not talking fans, but DIY or purchased products that could be used.

Thermostats are not part of the question, as they are commonly available.

Thanks,
Horto

 

[mancdank]

I have a 60Ltr Dark Green Garbage Can, but only fill with 24Ltr of Nutrient.
24Ltr is ample as I run a very efficient modification of NFT.
I am looking to keep the nutrient at around 22C or 71.6F.
The Nutrient Reservoir is mostly constant at this temperature, but rises in hotter months.

What do people use to cool solution in standard plastic reservoirs.
Not talking fans, but DIY or purchased products that could be used.

Thermostats are not part of the question, as they are commonly available.

Thanks,
Horto

Water chiller but are big bucks and out of the question for small gardens which I'm presuming yours is by the size of res for them types of rooms I've found ice cube bags the type u fill your self always get at least twice as many as u need and they can be added taken out and re froze and used again or u could use small empty bottle fill with water and freeze them and use the same way hope this helps :)

 

[guymandude]

if you can't afford am aquarium chiller, and i don't know a lot of people that can, you might check out the Icebox heat exchanger. They're made as water heat exchangers to cool a room, but if you blow cool air through the exchanger it will cool the liquid running through the "radiator", if you have a cool air source. Obviously the solution would only get as cool as the your source of air. Just a thought. they run about $150 for the 8 inch and you'd need an inline fan to blow through it

 

[Horto]

Water chiller but are big bucks and out of the question for small gardens which I'm presuming yours is by the size of res for them types of rooms I've found ice cube bags the type u fill your self always get at least twice as many as u need and they can be added taken out and re froze and used again or u could use small empty bottle fill with water and freeze them and use the same way hope this helps :)

I was hoping the Market had cheaper options far less than 1K.
Looks like I will be converting a small fridge for Reservoir.

Please chime in with products of realistic pricing.

Horto

 

[Horto]

if you can't afford am aquarium chiller, and i don't know a lot of people that can, you might check out the Icebox heat exchanger. They're made as water heat exchangers to cool a room, but if you blow cool air through the exchanger it will cool the liquid running through the "radiator", if you have a cool air source. Obviously the solution would only get as cool as the your source of air. Just a thought. they run about $150 for the 8 inch and you'd need an inline fan to blow through it

I have plenty of air circulation and exchange.
But, there is no, source for cool ambient air, which is why the Res is an important aspect.
For my conditions, the Res temp is more important then the room when you can only choose one!

The Ice box will not cut it, aquarium chillers are far to expensive.

So far a small fridge could be bought far cheaper, and used to hold Nutrient.
The use of an A/C with Stainless tube is an option, but it is a lot of stuffing around for less efficiency.

++

 

[guymandude]

I was going to use a few of them to keep my flower room cool and save some electric bill instead of installing my 18K BTU mini split. found it did very little to control the humidity in the room and the heat output form my 1/4 hp chiller heated up the basement a bit too much- makes an AC unit very nice.

If you reverse engineer it to cool the fluid running through the icebox, you'd need to make sure the air being blown across the coils is cool enough to get the job done. And it may take a couple or a few of them to get the job done depending on how big your reservoir is.

 

[Horto]

I was going to use a few of them to keep my flower room cool and save some electric bill instead of installing my 18K BTU mini split. found it did very little to control the humidity in the room and the heat output form my 1/4 hp chiller heated up the basement a bit too much- makes an AC unit very nice.

If you reverse engineer it to cool the fluid running through the icebox, you'd need to make sure the air being blown across the coils is cool enough to get the job done. And it may take a couple or a few of them to get the job done depending on how big your reservoir is.

Think I might have been still editing the last post, changed it a few times

 

[mancdank]

I was hoping the Market had cheaper options far less than 1K.
Looks like I will be converting a small fridge for Reservoir.

Please chime in with products of realistic pricing.

Horto

Did u miss the ice cube part of my post ??? It doesn't get much cheaper than that :) also the last water cooler system we bought ended up at just over 3k so basically what I'm saying us if u can't justify a piece of kit like this then water out of a tap and put into cube bags or even cheaper still old plastic bottles

 

[mancdank]

Also depending where u live it won't be keeping it cool that will be the issue if your just starting the crop now winter is coming and the water is guna be too cold

 

[Horto]

Also depending where u live it won't be keeping it cool that will be the issue if your just starting the crop now winter is coming and the water is guna be too cold

Thanks Mancdank,

I did read your post and understand what you are saying.
Ice water is a fine idea, but you need to have a fridge and be there.
Might as well buy a cheap fridge, put the nutrient in and set the thermostat.

The Nutrient Reservoir is mostly constant at this temperature, but rises in hotter months.

Thanks

 

[stickyfing3rs]

You can buy chillers online for cheap and will work 100x better then a rigged refrigerator. Look at penguin chillers brand

 

[NightsWatch]

I was hoping the Market had cheaper options far less than 1K.
Looks like I will be converting a small fridge for Reservoir.

Please chime in with products of realistic pricing.

Horto

simple a used humidifier there every where an cheap

 

[stickyfing3rs]

Bending refrigerant lines then inserting those lines in my nutrient solution doesn't sound too good to me. Also, how would you sufficiently clean it between runs? Sounds like asking for problems down the road..

 

[Horto]

Bending refrigerant lines then inserting those lines in my nutrient solution doesn't sound too good to me. Also, how would you sufficiently clean it between runs? Sounds like asking for problems down the road..

The use of an A/C with Stainless tube is an option, but it is a lot of stuffing around for less efficiency.

 

[Horto]

You can buy chillers online for cheap and will work 100x better then a rigged refrigerator. Look at penguin chillers brand

The word rigged suggests I might be modifying a fridge, I am putting a water container in a fridge.
Lets not exaggerate! A small fridge is sealed, made to cool things efficiently and cheap for what it does.

Guess I left myself open to the A/C hackers, not saying it will not work if you use stainless tube or as cooling bath.

You can buy an old fridge for $100 or less, not saying anyone else should use a fridge but it looks like a good option for me. If you have a link to show one of these cheap chillers online, I am interested to check it out.

Thanks,
Horto

 

[NightsWatch]

You know instead of asking people what maybe do some research i know most people today are
lazy as fuck its the future of man kind
you do not have to go far and see it.

Were talking a measly 30 liters lmao

I found in less then 10 mili seconds what i would possibly buy.
Shit for the price i would buy 2 of them

problem solved but

 

[NightsWatch]

Here enough to keep 50 liters 10 - 15 degrees from room temps only thing you put in is submersible pump good for 50 liters

 

[Horto]

Thanks for your input

 

[guymandude]

The word rigged suggests I might be modifying a fridge, I am putting a water container in a fridge.
Lets not exaggerate! A small fridge is sealed, made to cool things efficiently and cheap for what it does.

Guess I left myself open to the A/C hackers, not saying it will not work if you use stainless tube or as cooling bath.

You can buy an old fridge for $100 or less, not saying anyone else should use a fridge but it looks like a good option for me. If you have a link to show one of these cheap chillers online, I am interested to check it out.

Thanks,
Horto

i hear ya, man. stuff is expensive. If you con convert a fridge and that is what you want to do, go for it. Ot may take a bit longer to get yoru solution to temp, but the only way you'll know is to do it.

 

[Horto]

whats wrong with a 50gallon drum in the ground.

Nothing at all.
In fact I already do this, my Res is bellow ground.
As you would appreciate, I was very surprised to see your suggestion.

It holds around 22C constant through cold months, gets a bit warm during summer.
Because of how things work, the Res cannot be buried deeper. There you go :)