Hot apartment... Chiller?

[FlyTekk]

So last year my apartment reached 100 degrees. This only happened once but it happened. My tank went up to the high 90's. The fish survived but this year i have inverts and softies and rbta.

I will be adding window fans to the apartment and 3 fans to the tank. 2 on the main tank and 1 on the sump. I'll have a reefkeeper control the fans.

The tank is a 56 gallon tall. Its in my living room. There is a AC in the living room but we're only allowed to use it at night since we dont pay electric.

Do you guys think i'll need a chiller or could fan cooling bring temps down 10 degrees or so.

Also if chiller is a must do they use alot of electricity? Are they like a return pump? Or more like another Air conditioner?

Thanks!

 

[MatthewScars]

Buy an AC. You can kill two birds with one stone.

You'd need a 1/5hp or 1/4hp chiller. http://www.aquatictech.com/chillers.html

You keep the room at 70-75 and it will be fine. I mean, if you got a chiller, it would be on all the time, and you'd still be sweating grossly all the time. Chicks dont dig that, dude.

 

[dherrera83]

IMO - Just run the AC and tell them you'll pay the difference... lol. Besides wouldnt running all those fans and a chiller be about the same. Some AC's have a timer and temp control and stuff like that. They turn off once the temp rearching what its set to. It may also help if you keep the place completly dark. Thats what i do, i keep every window shut and the sun light out. When i get home its actually cooler than outside.

 

[NYreefNoob]

a 56g tank you can easial;y use a 1\10th hp chiller, also program your controller to turn lights off if temp reach x amount, if the apartment gets a 100 degree's more then likely the fans wont keep it down enough, would just be blowing hot air across, but the fans will increase evaporation which in return helps with temp

 

[FlyTekk]

The problem is that since its in the living room. The living room dinning room and kitchen are all attached. So while we do have an AC in the LR using it 24/7 would be real bad. Especially since we get home at night. The rule was no AC when no one is home.

I may have to work something out with landlord where i can pay some electric.

Atleast my undertsanding is that fan cooling will not do? How bout ice packs or frozen bottled water in the sump replaced day and night times a day?

 

[ming]

A chiller should consume less electricity then an A/C
1HP = 745W, so 1/10 HP chiller would = 75W
Even a small 5000BTU which is designed only for a small room would use at least 400W assuming the EER is at least 12.5.

There are is a catch with the chiller, the chiller has a vent which would blow hot air out into your room, making your room hotter. Ideally, this vent would be vented to another room or outside.

 

[bartmalave]

It will melt them very quick and not much diff

 

[dherrera83]

THas right!! I forgot to mention that. I use a bottle of frozen RODI water every evening. I have my lights come one about an hour or two before i get home.

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

server fans are designed to run all day and night and are very good at lowering temp, i use 1 and it drops the tank 2 degrees every hour till i turn it off they are alloy body fans with serious cooling power very fast

 

[ming]

Fan help by evaporation. When its hot and humid, you might be lucky if the fans can keep the tank temp from rising when the lights are on, although doubtful.

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

yeah the downside is a higher level of evaporation! especialy with metal halides , i use led,s by a.i. so i dont get too much heat however i get plenty of evap from the fan , so ming has a solid point right there. keep plenty or rodi on hand cause your gonna go through it and i also do the 2 liter bottle of rodi in the sump but you would be amazed at how quickly it melts , you would need 4 bottles in there to keep a steady rotation of cool going!! plenty of work man plenty!!! summers suck for salt tank owners

 

[FlyTekk]

THanks for all the data guys. Just FYI i have LEDS like 2 feet above my tank and fans blowing on the heatsink. :0)

The only heat in my tank would be my Mag 9. The Vortechs are on the outside of the tank.

Besides frozen rodi in sump. Anyone try ice packs? Arent they suppposed to keep their cool longer than regular water?

 

[LatinP]

AC will be cheaper than the chiller, alot cheaper and more useful too. Keep the doors closed a/c on and you'll cool the tank, the room and additionally save on electric because if it's really that hot and you spend alot of time in this room you'll be buying a a/c before June anyway.

 

[FlyTekk]

The tank is in the Living room. There is a ginormas AC in the living room. The Living room is connected to dinnig room and kitchen. So the ac would have to cool all this area with hiiiiigh ceilings. Also since i dont pay for light i cant use AC when im not home. And cant use it when im asleep cause ill be using the AC in the bedroom.

Long story short... LOL.... forget about AC.

So for the same reason i have restriction on ACs i have them for a chiller. So has anyone had any experience with ice packs?

 

[LatinP]

The tank is in the Living room. There is a ginormas AC in the living room. The Living room is connected to dinnig room and kitchen. So the ac would have to cool all this area with hiiiiigh ceilings. Also since i dont pay for light i cant use AC when im not home. And cant use it when im asleep cause ill be using the AC in the bedroom.

Long story short... LOL.... forget about AC.

So for the same reason i have restriction on ACs i have them for a chiller. So has anyone had any experience with ice packs?

I remember seeing a post on another forum where a guy bought one of those modular ACs that you would put in a corner of a room somewhere hung it over a tank so it would blow directly over the tank. It worked but it was ugly as hell. I really don't know what you could do, maybe make a post here and see if someone would part with a used chiller for a good price? Ice pack idea would work but it's extra maintenance you have to do everytime the tank gets hot, I try to avoid extra tasks like this.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Dude,invest in a chiller.Corals will suffer at high temps and it keeps the temp stable.A/C can only do so much.Only downside is to chill the chiller if that makes sense.

 

[ming]

The tank is in the Living room. There is a ginormas AC in the living room. The Living room is connected to dinnig room and kitchen. So the ac would have to cool all this area with hiiiiigh ceilings. Also since i dont pay for light i cant use AC when im not home. And cant use it when im asleep cause ill be using the AC in the bedroom.

Long story short... LOL.... forget about AC.

So for the same reason i have restriction on ACs i have them for a chiller. So has anyone had any experience with ice packs?

I don't know the size of your tank, but if you had a 100g tank, 1 frozen gallon (about two 2 liters bottles) would decrease your tank water by slightly less then 1 degree. Now if the temp went up to, lets say 85F and you wanted it back down to 79 or 80F, think of how much ice packs you need. And who is going to swap the melted ice packs with the frozen ice packs while you're at work, because early afternoon is when it gets the hottest usually.

 

[FlyTekk]

So i guess ice pack is out of the question. I have a 56g with 10g sump. I thought 2 fans on main tank and 1 on sump plus ice packs switched in and out about 3-4 times daily would do.

 

[MatthewScars]

So i guess ice pack is out of the question. I have a 56g with 10g sump. I thought 2 fans on main tank and 1 on sump plus ice packs switched in and out about 3-4 times daily would do.

Ice packs as in 2L soda bottles with frozen water in them, right?

Honestly, if the room temp is above 86+, its going to be almost impossible to cool it to 79 with just fans.