Chiller outside?

[karimwassef]

I want to run 1" PVC outside into the backyard and have the chiller outside on concrete blocks. I asked my HVAC contractor and he opened it up and said it's no issue since it's the same as an AC inside. He recommended to use foam insulation on the pipes to avoid losing cooling. It has a plastic cover.

My concerns (I'm in Dallas, TX):

1. Ice - salt water in the fixture that's not moving (in the winter) could freeze and crack the PVC fixture? One option is to keep water circulating even in the winter...

2. Rain and sleet - all the internal electricals are covered and most of it is aluminum. The fan and parts of the heat exchanger could rust?

My tank is 380gal and it's a 1/2hp chiller.

 

[ca1ore]

When I used a chiller I kept it outside - but only in the hot months. Once mid-Fall arrived I would remove it from the circuit, give it a good cleaning, and mothball it inside until mid-Spring. If you connect the chiller with PVC unions oriented differently on input and output, you can remove the unit and just screw the two hose ends together.

 

[karimwassef]

So leave it where it is, but drain it so the ice doesn't impact it & close the loop to avoid bugs and dirt from getting in.

Ok. That takes care of the ice, but how about rain?

 

[ca1ore]

I built a small enclosure for it. Still have the thing hanging off the side of my house, just no chiller in it anymore.

 

[Yodeling]

You easily winterize it similar to how you would an irrigation system. There are a few ways to do it, but I would just use a valve with compressed air to drain the water. You do not want water sitting in the chiller in the winter anyway, it will get nasty. Here's an example.

 

[karimwassef]

Ahh ... But I don't winterize anything now, so this is a new step for me. I have a small front lawn and two trees so my outdoor skills are limited.

No access to compressed air but I do have a big shop vac.

I think I'll run the unions inside the garage. That way, I can use two valves to separate the tank from the chiller, then open the unions and vaccum the lines. Them reconnected the unions (valves still closed). Then I wait till spring and just need to reopen the valves to clear the air bubble and restart the system.

Just needs two valves and two unions.

For rain: I can't build much of an enclosure since it's actually in a niche in the front yard behind a prickly bush and I want to keep it 'subdued'... Lest it arouse the ire of the lady of the house

Does it need to be covered? It already has a pretty solid plastic cover. I could put plastic sheet over it but I don't know what that would achieve.

 

[mfinn]

I used a chiller for 8 years when I used mh and vho lighting in my 240.
I put it outside on my patio. There was almost 30' of 1" pvc pipe to go from my sump to the chiller and back to the tank.
It was close to my house, but I made a shelter for it for additional protection, with the ends open for ventilation.
I let it run year round. There were a few times in the winter where the temps outside dropped down into the lower teens and single digits, so I just drapped blankets over the top of the shelter, creating a tent.
The warm water circulating through the pvc pipe kept it from freezing.

 

[karimwassef]

Didn't having it running during the winter cause you to run the heaters more often?

 

[mfinn]

Didn't having it running during the winter cause you to run the heaters more often?

Not sure why it would.
My house stays the about the same temp year round, with central air and a good heater.
The mh and vho lighting emits the same amount of heat year round.
With a controller that runs the chiller and the heater, the tank stayed the same temp year round also.

 

[woodnaquanut]

You might contact the manufacturer (or read the manual) and see what they think about it being outside. I'd worry the electricals are not waterproof enough for outdoors. Adding a roof, perhaps a dog house, would help.

 

[nickg]

It will just have to work harder due to the ambient temperature. If you have it in a climate controlled atmosphere it will get the unit cooler/easier.

 

[MrSandman]

Chiller outside?

When I ran my chiller outside I kept it in a deck storage box/shed. I cut a large opening in the shed wall to match the chiller exhaust and cut another opening to allow cool air to come in. Both openings were screened to prevent bugs and stuff from coming in. The intake also had a couple large PC fans sucking air into the shed whenever the chiller ran. It worked great and hid it well.

One concern though is keeping it online throughout the year. Chillers are heat exchangers. They do well at removing heat, during the summer but during the winter they will also add cold if kept online and the enclosure is not well insulated. Even though I live in Southern California where the temps are pretty stable, my heater ran quite often during the winter. They were constantly battling each other until I finally pulled the chiller offline. If your temperatures are seeing extreme shifts outside you will have the same issues but worse, unless you can pull it offline or insulate the enclosure from the elements.

 

[karimwassef]

I'm planning on using my Apex to regulate between the heaters, the fans, and the chiller.
I forgot to explain the tank location: my tank is in my garage with a wall view inside the house. So, it's temperature is closely linked to my garage which is insulated, but not like the house.

In a freeze, the outside air may be 25F and the garage may be 45F.
In the spring, it may be 70F outside, but 85F inside.
The summer is harshest with 90F outside and 105F inside.

I run MH and LEDs.

So- the tank needs active cooling and heating. I also have a little humidity problem.

I have put a window unit in the garage for the summer and that makes it tolerable but horribly expensive. I also added garage door insulation and looking at opening the soffit and adding vents (solid shut now) and adding a vent in the garage's roof section.

The concern is that running water outside to the chiller in the winter will cool the tank further requiring even more heating.

 

[karimwassef]

This is a chiller I bought back in 2000. Don't remember the manufacturer. Just that it was too expensive. I'll take a pic

 

[karimwassef]

It's 23" long x 12.5" high x 15" wide and weighs about 90lbs.

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/Mobile%20Uploads/79D0C302-5FF9-4F9F-B4B5-66D85B87F08B_zps7hgppkwg.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/Mobile%20Uploads/79D0C302-5FF9-4F9F-B4B5-66D85B87F08B_zps7hgppkwg.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 79D0C302-5FF9-4F9F-B4B5-66D85B87F08B_zps7hgppkwg.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/Mobile%20Uploads/1AB72194-4F42-4FC7-9DD4-E4A6B0FE7D2F_zpsv1uzskic.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/Mobile%20Uploads/1AB72194-4F42-4FC7-9DD4-E4A6B0FE7D2F_zpsv1uzskic.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 1AB72194-4F42-4FC7-9DD4-E4A6B0FE7D2F_zpsv1uzskic.jpg"/></a>

 

[karimwassef]

Here is the nook I'm thinking of putting it in

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/Mobile%20Uploads/935ACFFD-8622-46B8-B49E-E58E1D60B206_zpsagiyccye.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/Mobile%20Uploads/935ACFFD-8622-46B8-B49E-E58E1D60B206_zpsagiyccye.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 935ACFFD-8622-46B8-B49E-E58E1D60B206_zpsagiyccye.jpg"/></a>

And here is the view above it since it would be against the wall - the roof and soffit trim hang over a little to cover the proposed location of the chiller:

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/Mobile%20Uploads/92A6351B-C08F-4AFD-A4BA-357E3956B382_zpsp5xpeuw6.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/Mobile%20Uploads/92A6351B-C08F-4AFD-A4BA-357E3956B382_zpsp5xpeuw6.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 92A6351B-C08F-4AFD-A4BA-357E3956B382_zpsp5xpeuw6.jpg"/></a>

 

[Dr. Reef]

i have 1.5hp ecoplus commercial chiller for 450 gal system. i have it outside the house but i have a shelter made on top of it to protect it from direct sunlight and rain. also the unit is off the ground hanging on the wall with brackets.
(found this pic of the unit i have) (not my setup)

 

[karimwassef]

The cinder blocks are the same as what I'm planning to do. Is that a split unit?

 

[karimwassef]

Here's my first attempt. It's about a foot higher than it should be:

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/Mobile%20Uploads/734FA8B9-93CD-4E11-B649-BF20E4B5CA69_zpsiosngiqp.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/Mobile%20Uploads/734FA8B9-93CD-4E11-B649-BF20E4B5CA69_zpsiosngiqp.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 734FA8B9-93CD-4E11-B649-BF20E4B5CA69_zpsiosngiqp.jpg"/></a>

 

[Dr. Reef]

No not a split ac. It's a commercial water chiller. 1" inlet 1" outlet. 1.5 hp minimum 1100 gph flow required.