Water Chillers~!
- Thread starter Vumar
- Start date
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
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.
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...
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...
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Yes. Any RDWC will need active chilling.
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.
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
Get a small unit for chilling the water.
blackforest
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.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
...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?
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
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
Those chillers run more expensive. Why is that? I need the 1/4 hp to handle up to 80 gal honestly.
Cali420hydro
Active 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.
redi jedi
Well-Known Member
Yes, I wouldn't recommend it.
firsttimeARE
Well-Known Member
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.
Hot Diggity Sog
Well-Known Member
I see others have given thumbs down to Active Aqua's but I have been running this for almost 6 months now and it has been flawless.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0048IVBT4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0048IVBT4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
Vumar
Well-Known Member
I did that with an old ass fridge n 100' of garden hose. Doesnt work.
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