Water Chillers~!

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Jus out of curiosity about what size grow should you start looking at a chiller ????
BIG TIME 'that depends' question. If you want to do water based environmental control, then the sooner the better.

If all you want to do is chill your RDWC, then get one when you're ready.
 

Lilwatt

Well-Known Member
I have done soil a few time then backed away from it I think I want to try a to run eight or ten three gallon bucket in a scrog with two 600s would I need a chiller for that
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
As many of you may know, I've had my trials with water chillers this summer!

The ChillKing units are still working fine. They are very simple, perhaps not quite as efficient, but very reliable and tolerate low flow rates very well... which laid a trap for me;

I bought the new 2 Ton unit from Surna, thinking it would be the same as the old unit. NOT! It's got a lot of extra gadgets in it, mostly safety switches to shut it off if various conditions aren't met... like adequate cooling circuit flow. These new units are very sensitive to low flow. The upside is that my 2 Ton unit tested at 37k BTu... which is slightly over THREE Tons!

But it's still a bitch to get enough water through it. For future reference when using Surna equipment, keep in mind their cold water heat exchanger cores are small and somewhat restrictive, meaning you need plenty of pump power to shove enough water through it to trigger the flow switch. Like a half horse directly upstream of the thing...
 

Lilwatt

Well-Known Member
But from what I been reading its like 50/50 with the water chiller not everyone is running or using it I jus want to try my hand at it so what would be a good starting point for me I got two s ixs an a eight by four tent but I want to max my yeild this this'd will be my fish attempt at dwc
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Now, about that 5 Ton heat pump! Fuck, but Surna likes to underrate their shit- the thing acts like it pulls over seven Tons of chilling. I don't have it fully online and pulling the whole cooling load yet, but where the other units were running all but constantly, this one is off over half the time.

Now for the bad news; another struggle to get enough water flow through the unit. A half horsepower pump was not sufficient to trip the flow switch, so updating to the full pony was in order.

The cold side water circuits have been in place all along, do hooking the heat pump up to that side is simple. The hot side had to be fabricated from scratch. It's yet to be installed, but things are moving along.

Instead of replacing the gas forced air heading system with baseboard heaters upstairs, I plan to repurpose one of my air to water heat exchange cores and slip it into the existing forced air ductwork.

Air will be pulled from cold air return registers upstairs and through this hot water fed exchanger, and the now warmed air will be blown through the existing ductwork to warm the upstairs. Elegant, simple and cheap!

Downstairs will get all its forced air ducts sealed and will be heated by hot water baseboard heaters. These will also be in the growroom and will provide heat for dehumidification, while the water cooled air handlers condense moisture.

Since all the heat has already been paid for and is already being removed from the bloom room, it's effectively free to use to heat my home.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
But from what I been reading its like 50/50 with the water chiller not everyone is running or using it I jus want to try my hand at it so what would be a good starting point for me I got two s ixs an a eight by four tent but I want to max my yeild this this'd will be my fish attempt at dwc
Get a small unit for chilling the water.
 

blackforest

Well-Known Member
Like?? The cheaper ones of ebay ???
How many gallons are you going to be running? I have a small 28gal system and a 1/10hp chiller I found on CL for $80. Works great. The more water you intend to use, the more hp chiller you are going to need. They make them in 1/10, 1/4, and 1/2hp (smaller, non commercial sizes). After that, you get into what ttystikk is taking about.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
How many gallons are you going to be running? I have a small 28gal system and a 1/10hp chiller I found on CL for $80. Works great. The more water you intend to use, the more hp chiller you are going to need. They make them in 1/10, 1/4, and 1/2hp (smaller, non commercial sizes). After that, you get into what ttystikk is taking about.
...aaaaaaaand let's not forget that what I'm talking above about STILL represents the 'small' end of commercial chilling systems. Because water can move so many more BTus than heat, the bottom line is that chillers get bigger than AC units do in both environmental control in large facilities as well as industrial applications.

Another advantage relative to AC in high and dry climates like Colorad; AC has always been a challenge because of the very nature of the air here; because of high altitude and low humidity, it's thin! It carries much less heat than air at sea level, so AC performance suffers. By contrast, water chillers suffer no such drawback here.
 
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ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Heat pump good. Every home grower should aspire to one, as it saves energy several different ways. It's much more efficient than AC. Plus free heat. Let me say that again; FREE HEAT!!!

So what? So heat is required for dehumidification. Free heat means... Free dehuey. Do I have your attention yet?! How about heating your house? Garage? Doghouse? Driveway? Hot tub?! Yours truly will be right here, testing each and every one of these potential uses for excess growroom heat. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta check the comfort level of all the nice, toasty warm stuff this winter.

...I wonder if I can get it to make hot drinks?
 

Cali420hydro

Active Member
So I have noticed there are several brands on the market that advertise either hydroponic or aquarium water chillers. The aquarium water chillers seem to be a bit more expensive but can handle cooling larger amounts of water. Is this because the heat ex-changer material in these aquarium chillers is different? I know copper isn't used because it will kill coral (anyone have a DIY dehuimidifier made into a chiller?! DO POST PICS!) but I thought they used titanium-something for all heat ex-changers not just aquarium ones? They must cheap out on the hydroponic ones since they are $100-$200 less. /shrug

Anyone got an answer for this?

Im also interested in which brands people have used or use for their grows. Any suggestions/guidance? Thanks in advance~!
Elemental H2o chiller is working out great for me.Im running RDWC 17 gal Res 4 pots.My chiller is rated minimum 14 gals.Max 40 gals.
 

Vumar

Well-Known Member
Elemental H2o chiller is working out great for me.Im running RDWC 17 gal Res 4 pots.My chiller is rated minimum 14 gals.Max 40 gals.
Those chillers run more expensive. Why is that? I need the 1/4 hp to handle up to 80 gal honestly.
 

Cali420hydro

Active Member
Those chillers run more expensive. Why is that? I need the 1/4 hp to handle up to 80 gal honestly.
They r more expensive I paid $300.00 for mine & it's worth every penny bcuz I have a piece of mind.Nutrient solution is 66 degress & I don't have to worry about root rot.The reason they r a bit more expensive is bcuz they r for Hydroponics & not Aquqruims.
 

Dumme

Well-Known Member
Wondering if anyone has ever DIY with a college frig, a bunch of hose and medium sized pump.
 

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
They r more expensive I paid $300.00 for mine & it's worth every penny bcuz I have a piece of mind.Nutrient solution is 66 degress & I don't have to worry about root rot.The reason they r a bit more expensive is bcuz they r for Hydroponics & not Aquqruims.
Hydroponic and aquarium chillers are interchangeable and mostly made by the same chinese company but rebranded. They both use titanium heat exchangers.

You want to oversize your unit...

If you oversize your unit it runs less and actually uses less electricity despite drawing more when its running.
 
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