Best choice for summer. Chiller or In Window air condtioner? Cheaper way?

=) Thank you all. Maybe I'll save my money and when the time comes, I'll see. Is there a particular fan you would buy? I have a nice little stand on the back of my aquaurium for storing things. The cabinet is open back so I could place a large box fan on the back and direct it towards the sump. I really didn't know that a chiller would produce a lot of heat, so that kind of makes me leery. I was looking at that 1/10th HP chiller though. It does get pretty hot here. The hottest last year was 105*. I believe it even went hotten than that on some days. Just want to keep all my corals happy. I know the SPS can tolerate high temps a little better than the LPS right? The only SPS I have is a Monti Cap. My LPS are what I'm worried about. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of money. =( I do have credit cards though. (OH BOY! sick feeling in my stomach) I will only use those as a last resort. I'd need a box fan that I'd be able to aim. How many watts do you think those babies use? I guess I'll have to see. I can run it on a reverse cycle. Sk8ter you live in Spokane. =) What do you think? It's pretty hot here huh? Last summer was bad. Let me know.
 
My 2 cents. Use the window unit. Insulate your room as much as possible. Make sure if it's gonna be hot outside to have drapes covering all windows. I keep my living room about 73 degrees year around and the tank stays at 80. Keep the room stable. use the thermostat on the window unit .Once running in the summer months don't turn it off just because it will be cool one day.
 
I agree just go with an inexpensive chiller. It is sickening when the AC goes out (and they all do from time to time). Plus an added benefit is you can run the tank at a cool temp. You would be suprised how well fish and corals do when you keep the tank between 74-76. It gives you alot of room for error. I did not notice what size tank you are going to be using or whether you are going to have halides.

If you do decide to get a chiller be sure to get a more modern unit, the compressors are much more efficient. Some of the small newer units are actually better than much , much larger units from 5 years ago.
 
i'd save the money on the chiller and put it into a controller and some fans. when the temp starts rising, start turning on fans. if it keeps rising, start turning off lights. these are all valid ways to control your temperature, but you don't want to be running big fans all the time when you don't need them, and you don't want to be shutting off your lights all the time. let the controller do it for you, and when you find yourself sitting in a living room with three cooling fans running and your tank lights off, you'll know it's a scorcher out!

the controller will also give you better control over the heaters as well, i've found that in the summertime i am more susceptible to temperature swings because the AC's can draw temps down so well when they are on overnight. those sharp dips are probably worse than the gradual daytime warming.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9381892#post9381892 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JR719
There are a lot of factors here... If it were me, I'd wait to see what the max temp is in the tank thru the summer. Your fans may keep the temp down at the expense of top off water (cheaper than a chiller). If you can keep it at 82 your doing good.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Just add extra fans and keep the ambient room temperature below the temperature you want the tank to be.
 
tough choice. My total water volume is 62 gallons. A 40 gallon breeder main display. I do run 1 150 mh with 2 65 watt pc's. I do keep the drapes closed in the summer. Still gets hot. =( What chiller units would you recommend and what fans with a temperature control are you talking about? Please let me know. Thank you.
 
Thats alot of heat over a 62. My advice play it safe and spend the 300 bucks on a chiller, you wont regret it. With a chiller you can explore options like running your aquarium at 76 degrees which can be very good, and gives you alot of room for temprature problems should they occur. On a tank that size you wont need more than a 1/10 hp. The Pacific Coast CL-280 is what I have and it has been a very reliable chiller for me. It runs about 25-40% of the time here in Tennessee and I run my tank at 74. I have it set to a 2degree off/on cycle so the water varies from 74-76 degrees. It works well.
 
just to say it. i run a 90 galon reef with no chiller. i live in florida and it gets hot as h3ll here. i run 2 250 watt m/h's i have fans that blow across the bulbs from back to front and also have the hood pull forward about 1 inch. this lets the fan carry the heat from the bulbs staight out the front and down the front glass. i do keep the room at 73-74 degrees as i like it cold...the tank stays a constant 78-80 degrees....this process will be inplace for 2 yrs and of this upcomeing august
 
do you have just an in window air conditioner though? Ours isn't really that effective except in that room. Just trying to figure out what would be cheaper. I will keep that in mind. Thank you. I love Florida by the way. I'm jealous! =)
 
do you have just an in window air conditioner though? Ours isn't really that effective except in that room. Just trying to figure out what would be cheaper. I will keep that in mind. Thank you. I love Florida by the way. I'm jealous! =)
 
I just installed a temp-controlled ventilation fan for my chiller and all is good! The temp of the tank is pegged at 79 but the living room was really getting hot from the chiller. Kind of a catch 22 but I live in California and it gets 100+ for weeks at a time.

I run (2) 250W MH and a 400W MH and if it wasn't for my chiller the temp would out of control and fluctuating way too much.

Since I have actually done it and it works, I do recommend venting the chiller. It works just as it should.

BTW, I have my ballast(s) sitting right next the the vent so that heat gets drawn out also..............
 
How did you vent the chiller? Oh yes, Florida is very hot and humid! I love it there. Wish I could move there. Don't like the humidity though. It turns my hair into an afro. I actually had the chance to do some recording there. Longgggg story! How much hotter does your house get running the chiller?
 
I live in bangkok on the 13th floor and have a fan system with an auto topoff for this setup the tank temp is constant at 82-83 and because of the clams I use kalkwasser as the liquid topoff (about 2-3 litres daily) the apartment is constant at 86-88 due to the height and and ventilation ouside temp can be any where in the low 90s but constant that is the key!! The biggest prob i had was cooling during a recent freak cold spell that gave me a tank temp of 75 all the organisms seem to cope and no fatalities.

On my work tank I run a chiller it does definatly make the room hotter but I also run aircon when I am there so not a problem

like I said 80 to 84 is optimum for the animals I have as the are all from the local area and i know because I dive regularly that this is the ocean temp year round, consistansy is best
 
Hi Adtravels, what type of corals do you have? Any LPS? Or just SPS? This is what I was concerned with. I have mostly LPS and 1 SPS. I know that SPS are supposed to be able to handle the heat a little better than LPS from what I've heard. What do you think? Also the fish, do your fish mind that temp?
 
i have lps clams sps and zoas all fine true the lps here are usually found a little deeper
but that may be a light thing as bottom temps tend to be little different
 
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