Cooling a garage prop setup...

[kirk_m]

I was interested in doing some small time frag propagation in my garage, as frags are starting to take over in my display...NOT what I wanted to see in a DISPLAY system. Sooo...I was thinking of setting up a small propagation system that is modular and can be added to at a later date IN MY GARAGE. Now, my garage is being used for my cars, of course, so it's not in any way finished, so, it does indeed get hot in there. The wife & I's compromise of "no more tanks in the house if you get a bigger tank" will force this outside. In summer, outside temps can hit 100 degrees down here in southern Louisiana, so, I'd be forced to use a chiller. If I eventually plan on having maybe 180 gallons of propagation tanks running, that I want to keep at about 78 degrees year-round, what size in-line chiller should I be looking at, and, what brands are recommended as being real workhorses? Will a chiller even work in such high ambient temps? Would I need a window A/C unit to help keep ambient temps down and make the chiller work?

Thanks much....

-Kirk

 

[ChrisRD]

Personally I think I would just put a window AC unit in the garage and add a few fans to the setup as needed (on a temp controller).

I'll move this to the GRD where you might get more feedback on the chiller option. I don't use them myself so I can't offer much on that...

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

I'm in the same boast as ChrisRD, in that I don't use a chiller either.

But, I think it would most certainly be cheaper to use a chiller, than to try to cool the entire garage with an AC. Most garages aren't well sealed, and trying to cool it with AC would probably be an electric bill nightmare.

Another small concern would be the air quality in the garage. If cars are often running for a few seconds entering/exiting, then you'd get some mini-pollution in there which could affect the frags. Running the skimmer's airline outside would help with this.