A general question about Chillers (1 Viewer)

[cparka23]

I've been looking to upgrade my chiller for some time now and have visited quite a few manufacturers' websites to see product descriptions. In comparing different chillers, I notice that there's a huge discrepancy in some of the ranges of cooling for products of the same HP. For instance, a 1/4hp ViaAqua cc25 claims 10º pulldown in an 80 gallon tank while a PCI 1/4hp cl-650 claims a 10º pulldown for a 180 gallon tank. Of course other issues like ambient temperature are a factor, but are the descriptions worth reading or should I just go by the horsepower (which is proportional to BTU/unit time)? Any thoughts? btw, the tank on which i'm looking to install a new chiller is 120 gallons. The price difference is around $200 between these chillers. Justifiable?

 

[Naka]

I would go w/ 1/3 hp for your tank. I currently have CSL 1/3 hp, and I couldn't be happier. I takes about 30 min. to pull down 2 degrees in my tank.

 

[bigbird123]

chillers

I have a 1/2hp Aqua Medic that I can get delivered to your door for about $620 including shipping. I have this one on my 135g with 1300 watts of MH and it only comes on twice a day and keeps my temps at 76. The best investment I have made for my tamk. If you need info on these chillers, PM me.

Steve

 

[Guest]

This is a pretty useful calculator for sizing a chiller:

http://www.jbjlighting.com/prod_chiller_size.asp

There's a lot more than just saying "you need X HP for Y size tank". You have to account for how much heat is being added to the system from lighting, pumps, etc. The last thing you want is for your chiller to be running all the time because it can barely keep up with your kilowatts of metal halides.

Also, look into the actual BTU ratings for the brands you are researching. Even with the same HP rating, you will find different cooling capacities. When I looked into it, the 1/4 HP Pacific Coast chiller had about 10% more cooling capacity than the 1/4 HP Arctica. That and the fact the PCI was half the price of the Arctica made the decision pretty easy.

 

[cparka23]

Thanks for the replies. I hope that a new chiller will be the next investment before adding any more livestock. it'll probably be something to add in the next month or so.

thanks for the link mikester. I'm not sure if I fully trust JBJ as a brand, but at least I can look for something of comparable HP somewhere else.