Chiller vrs House Temp?

[Arsenal11]

Ok so i keep my house @ 70 because it keeps the tanks below 82, the wife & kids walk around in sweatshirts & sleep with covers, i like it cold so its fine with me. My ? is, how much does it cost to run a chiller vrs kepping my house @ 70, anyone have a good guess at the cost of running a chiller per month?

thanks
kurt

 

[latazyo]

im sure this is one of those "depends" questions

if you have a chiller in mind, plug its specs into the calculator for electrical usage on the home page

http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/tank_elec_calc.php

 

[geoxman]

There is no way a chiller would cost more than running a whole house AC. When I did the calculations a few years back my JBJ arctica cost me about $3 per month. You would have to have bigger than a 1/5 hp though-but max I would figure no more than $10 per month. It would take a while to recoup the initial cost but it would pay off eventually. I would start looking for a good used one. JMHO

 

[Arsenal11]

phil, i will still have to run my c/a unit, but if i had a chiller, could kick it to 73-74

 

[capncapo]

There will also be an additional cost to cool your house because of the heat generated by the chiller.

Chillers do the same thing as an A/C in that they don't make cold ... they move heat to somewhere else. A chiller happens to move the heat from your tank water to the air in your house.

You may be able to save a little money but the "comfort factor" should make your decision and not the savings.

 

[geoxman]

I understand that you will still have to run the AC but 4 degrees will make a good size drop in you electric bill especially on days like yesterday.
My chiller is vented through a window so there is no extra heat being put off in the room.
Do you have a utility room in that is shut off from your main area? If so you could put it in there and not have to worry about the heat the chiller will throw out. IMHO you will still be very comfortable at 73-74 degrees and could save you $ on the electric bill. Good luck!

 

[avgjoe]

ARSENAL11: Heres your chiller http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?catg=535&item=148928&prDeTab=4#A

If you’re keeping your house temp at 70 there should be no reason your tank should be getting to 82, unless the heat generated from your lighting is stagnate. Get some fans or a blower like I posted to get the heat away from the water and out of your fish room. This will also cool via evaporation, as well as make you T5 bulbs have a longer life. Submersible pumps can also dump a lot of heat into the water, but I would avoid them anyway because of their reliability factor. I would first fix your problem with airflow because with the current situation I doubt an undersize chiller would be able to keep a stable temperature should you AC crap out. However a tank with that much money swimming around in it definitely needs a chiller for a backup when your AC dies on the hottest day of the year when your not home.

 

[chadfarmer]

to be honest you shouldnt need a chiller, what in the tank is creating all the heat (get rid of that item and problem solved)

 

[akrimmel]

his sohal from kicking everyone elses a$$ in the tank!!