Chiller horsepower

[Chappy]

My LFS said I would need 1/4 or maybe 1/3 horsepower chiller for my 180 gallon. I was just at another store last weekend and one of the guys said that if I got a 1 horsepower chiller, it would run much less and end up saving me money. Anybody have a 180 with 3 250 watt halides and 4 96 watt actinics in a hood have any suggestions. He said his 1/4 horse would run almost constantly while the 1 horse would run maybe 10 minutes an hour. By the way, I'm in Florida and its hot! Thanks.

 

[DirtySouth056]

I am going to be using an 1/2hp chiller, notice I'm in Florida as well. The price difference between the 1/4hp and the 1/3hp is minimal. Some will say that the 1/3hp is enough but I choose the 1/2hp just to play it safe. Good luck. What chiller are you going with?

 

[Chappy]

I'm not sure which one yet. I just started looking. I'm still setting up my 180. Tank is here, lights are here, but am waiting on pumps and then plumbing and my RO unit. I don't know what the temp will be. I'm leaning towards mag 18 for return and probably tunze's for circulation. I just made my sump/refugium last week. I'm getting antsy about getting water in there.

 

[Chappy]

Anybody with a 1/3 wish they went to 1/2? How often do they run per hour?

 

[paulhines]

I'm in Lakeland Florida also and plumbing my new 150g high tank today. I plan on having 2 400wt HQIs and some T5 also.

After a lot of reading, I had come to the conclusion that a 1/4 hp would work for me. We keep the house at 78 F in the summer. I am a little concerned about noise.

 

[golfish]

It REALLY depends on the chiller you buy. The cheaper Asian imports are way over rated. It also depends on where you have the chiller located. I now run a 1/3 hp Aqualogics on my 120. I ran the same chiller on my old 150. At one time that tank had 3x400 watt MH's, 4x55 watt PC's, the chiller was located outside on the front porch and did a fine job keeping the tank cool.

 

[joecos]

I have a 180 with 3x250 MH and 2x96 Actinics.

I have the tradewinds 1/3hp.(use to be Custom Sea Life). During summer months, peak times, it will kick in for about an hour. I keep my temps constant at 79deg. I use a Medusa dual stage temp controller. When the controller detects 1.5 degree in change, it starts the chiller. It does the same if it gets cold, it starts the heater.

My chiller is the drop in version. I didnt want to do anymore plumbing, hence the drop in. I wanted to keep it simple. If I had the space for it and time to plumb, i would have picked up an inline. But Im happy with the 1/3 hp drop in that i have. It will put the temp back in check approx 45mins to 1 hour.

Keep into consideration the noise of these compressors. they are not quiet.

Best of Luck to you.

Joe

 

[BeanAnimal]

Re: Chiller horsepower

I was just at another store last weekend and one of the guys said that if I got a 1 horsepower chiller, it would run much less and end up saving me money.

A few things to think about....

You are removing a fixed amount of heat. A chiller is a motor and compressor with oil, it does not "store" cold. When it starts up, it has to "get cold". This is a huge waste of energy in terms of the efficiency of the system.

You do not want a chiller that kicks on for 2 minutes every 10 minutes. Nor do you want a chiller that has to run a duty cycle of 3 hours to maintain the temp during the hot part of the day.

The most efficient is someplace in between. A chiller that is to large will also tend to cause large temp swings as it cycles on and off.

What size is best for you? Your best bet is to contact the tech support of a reputable chiller company or two.

Be armed with your ambient room temps, tank temps, total heat input, and if possible the "max temp" you get without any kind of cooling (fans etc). They will help you size the correct product.

Bean

 

[Chappy]

Thanks for the advice.