Chiller Exhaust Question

[jeffreylesser]

I am setting up a 120 gallon aquarium with a 40 gallon sump in a bookcase that is mounted to the wall. We are struggling with the exhaust question on the chiller. The chiller will not be seen in the room. The space above the room is my attic and in the summer it gets ~130 degrees, so not a good location. Below the room is my dining room, also a bad idea. So I am left with in the bookcase.

What we would like to do is build an exhaust system to vent the exhaust outside. Here are the three ideas we have so far.

1). Attach a plenum to the back of the chiller and run an exhaust tube behind the tank in the 6" between the wall and the tank, and have this go through the roof and out the attic.

2). Have the entire 6" behind the 4ft tank be effectively a duct that runs to the ceiling and exhausts out the attic similar to number 1. The issue may be here the temperature of the exhaust. If it is running up the back of the tank, and across some of the closed loop pipes will it significantly heat the tank this way? The good thing about this option is it would be easy to tie the MH/lighting exhaust into this same venting system.

3). Have the chiller exhaust directly out the wall of the room. This would definitely require a damper of some sort so bugs and hot air don't come pouring in the room when the chiller is off. This seems the simplest, but I think I like it the least.

What are your thoughts, any additional ideas?

 

[solitude127]

I like #2. 2 birds one stone. You can vent your lights along with your chiller. I have my chiller next to my tank and yes it does produce heat, but I don't think it's significant enough to warm the water in the pipes for your close loop.

 

[chilwil84]

as for option 3 dryer vents have flaps on them to help keep bugs out. i do like option 2 for allowing to vent your lighting. the exhoust pressure from the chiller should draw some air flow from your lighting as well, and hd sells round booster fans that are designed for hvac round duct systems. the booster fans would draw extra air from your lighting. taking some of your lights heat out of your house would pay for itself in time with reduced air conditioning costs.

 

[jeffreylesser]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check out the HD fans, I think once I get into the attic I will probably switch to a round shaped ducting to vent out of the house. Hopefully the HD fans are quiet.