Water cooled air

Anyone here use Ice Boxes or Ice Flows?

Interesting concept being that you could keep your room completely sealed and reduce or possibly eliminate the need for A/C. Just looking for some first hand experience with connecting it all and the water chillers, etc...

There are some pretty bad reviews online of how they are not built that well, but you know how the internet is. It would be easy to make a system out of a old full size fridge or a mini fridge ripped apart.

I have thought about using a system like this but all home made. You can get small oil coolers new for 20 bucks and build a shroud around it with 6 inch ducting adapters on either end to cool you lights, or just run it into you room to cool the air. I have a science store near me that has stainless steel coils that you could also use to cool reservoirs.

But in all reality I think you would have to be running about 4000 watts to even think about a system like this, just my 2

Thanks! I'll be running 6 lights in a sealed 10 x 10 tent with C02 and just trying to think of different ideas on how to build it.

well then it is a good idea for you.
Like I said there are a lot of different ways to set a system like this up. I am seriously considering putting a plastic 50 gallon barrel in a standard size fridge and using that for a water chiller and plumb it all into my grow from the attached garage. It would be a closed system (the water chiller) so I would probably put some anti freeze in there and run it through the freezer to chill the incoming hot water and not make the fridge work so hard...

Let us know JR

Interesting concept. I picture something simpler than ice or a fridge though. Why not run cold water through a baseboard heater normally used for heating. This would probably be better suited for someone with their own water supply, like a well or spring. The water from an underground source will always be at the same temprature. If I remember correctly it is in the mid to high 50's. A public water supply might make this type of setup too costly to maintain.

H2grOw said:

Interesting concept. I picture something simpler than ice or a fridge though. Why not run cold water through a baseboard heater normally used for heating. This would probably be better suited for someone with their own water supply, like a well or spring. The water from an underground source will always be at the same temprature. If I remember correctly it is in the mid to high 50's. A public water supply might make this type of setup too costly to maintain.

Click to expand...

You should look this up on youtube, the point is to reuse the water and not just throw it down the drain when you are done with it. Most have a backup system hooked to city water that can be used in an emergency to keep things cool if you chiller stops working, as city water usually is in the lower 60's, enough to limp a system along...JR

So how I have it pictured in my head is one thing but I just want to make sure I'm right cause I'm pretty baked. So I would have 2 reservoirs outside my grow tent. 1 is the output "hot" water from the air chillers, let says a 55 gallon drum which is hooked up to the water chiller which pumps into another 55 gallon drum being the input to the air chillers or "cold" water from the water chiller. Sound right?

Nope, all you need is one water tank of chilled water.

You run one line into you room, let's say a one inch rigid PVC pipe. That is your cold water "manifold". You can run as many lines off this as you need to run your various equipment, like air chiller, light chiller ect.. For ease of use I would have all these lines blue flexible tubing.

So after the water goes through the equipment it is hot water, run a red flex tubing up to another rigid pipe out of your grow back to the reservoir. Have the hot water return pipe slightly bigger than the cold water in, say inch and a half. This will ensure water is always going in the right direction...

I am no expert here, I have only done a bunch of reading on the matter, so ask away.....JR

Exactly how I was planning but you only need 1 reservoir and the water chiller just recirculates the water basically?

Yes but a water chillier of that size will be 1000's of dollars. Good if you have the money, but I am poor and need a DIY Sytem. Did you look on YouTube, there are a few good videos by chill king I think...JR

Yeah I've seen a few of their videos. Every 1000W needs 1/4 HP of water chilling if I recall correctly. If I run 6 x 600W I should be able to get by with a 1 HP chiller @ around $1,200 or if I run 6 x 1000W then I'd need 1 1/2 HP. Only I don't think they make anything between the 1 HP and 2 HP. Could a person run 2 chillers of one reservoir? Like one 1 HP and one 1/2 HP. Or would a person need to run two seperate reservoirs each with its own 1 HP chiller hooked to 3 lights?

They could cool the same reservoir, not as energy efficient, but It would work. I personally like 600 watters.

I'm running 3 600's over 10 plants (2 didn't make it) right now and they are so freakin' huge its got me thinking about 1000's just for the extra penetration and juice (lumens). I know the 600 has the best L/W ratio.