It is true that, technically, this would be a temperate reef. I would classify anything below 50 as truly cold....but, heck....there's not many temperate, let alone cold, tanks out there.....so, I tend to use the term interchangeably.
The 1" thick acrylic, coupled with minimal heat imputs, has the chiller run, on average, about 20 minutes "ON".....and about 60 -90 minutes "OFF". It's the intense lighting that we all use that creates the need for mass chilling....take that away....and it's not that bad. I have gone through a summer....and everything seems to work OK.
This is still a work in progress....it will get better over time....as it is with most reefs. I'm just trying to experience the labor/reward ratio for running a temperate tank.