sdc19982002
New member
Enlcose a section of your garage with a semi-temporary structure and use a window a/c for that area. The back of the window unit can exhaust into your garage.
Garage Reef with NO AC!
- Thread starter sedor
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tkeracer619
New member
No, you cannot. It will overheat.
Neogenocide
New member
I think a big factor here is what lights he is planning to use. You can cut out a TON of heat if you go with a LED rig verses MH. Just another factor to think about here.
Scott
Scott
nickandkara
New member
Without atleast fresh air circulation it would be impossible. Not to mention chillers etc.. Tank and equipment would work against itself especially in a one car garage.
Source:
Mechanical Engineer
Specializing in Thermodynamics
Source:
Mechanical Engineer
Specializing in Thermodynamics
Greenmaster
New member
I believe that it's not possible to answer your question... everyone keeps giving their opinions but not really giving you a true answer... in order to answer the question we need to know the top ambient temperature in your garage not outside. The fact that you would have the lights come on at the end of the day (6:00pm) would help a lot. But again as I said without knowing the temperature where the tank is going to be nobody can answer that question. And those of you who are saying "oh my garage gets way too hot with those outside temps." Even garages on the same block depending on what way they are facing and what may be shading them. You can't really tell what the temp will be based on somebody else. I would say if your garage stays fairly cool, you run your lights at night instead of day, and you have a couple fans, then you could probably do it. But without knowing the true temps I couldn't say for sure... (and it's always better to have a nice fish tank as a showpiece in your living room anyways. It's good that she let you do that)
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sedor
New member
To be honest...based on the temps I had taken over the past 2 days it could have been done I think. The temps hit 90 outside yesterday and the garage never got over 75. It is well insulated besides the garage door. In fact, in the heat of the day I measured the temps in the room where my tank is now and they were about 5 degrees higher than the garage (and none of the halides or anything were on at this point).
leftcoastreefer
New member
You must not run LED, they put off a lot of ambient heat, its just not directed at the tank
Greenmaster
New member
Light output to heat output, MH are currently better... but in a few years LED's will take the crown by more then double if predictions of what the tech can do are correct.
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Neogenocide
New member
Actually I do. I've got 34 Cree's over my 46G bow. At 700ma, they don't get the heatsinks warm enough to warrant the use of fans. Coral growth is great,light output is better than my 175w Mh pendants, however my design on the layout of the LED's leaves something to be desired. I went outside the box and while still successful, it didn't accomplish what I hoped in terms of the pattern of light I got out of it.
What LED's are you running?
Scott
Greenmaster
New member
Watt per watt MH produce more light and less heat then Most other forms of light used on an aquarium... LED's and Florescent being the most common other forms. except for creating Antics Florescent and LED are better just because of the frequency of light.
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Neogenocide
New member
Greenmaster
New member
I've got 3 20W LED's each on it's own heat-sink and fan
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hey,
i have done this same thing you are asking about, let me share my results. I am in South Alabama and even though we rarely see 100 degrees, quit regularly it's high 90s.
I have a two door garage (approximately 400 sq ft). we converted it into a room 5 years ago. insulated on 3 walls and we kept the garage door up. I put up a 180g exactly two years ago (may 08). it's got 3x250 sh mh's, and 4x80w t5's. there is no way in this world i could have done it without some form of ac. I didn't want the expense of a chiller, and since we use the room anyway, i installed a window ac unit in one of the front windows. it's a big unit and would cool the room enough to keep somewhat comfortable. with this ac and a fan blowing over my sump, i can keep the temp of the tank in the low 80s. i turned off the ac a week ago and outside temp got up to high 80s and my tank skyrocketed to high 80s. corals hated it!! i can manage it w/ the ac and the fan as stated to a comfortable temp
edit: well i read that you aren't doing it anyway, so i guess my post is pointless. sorry
i have done this same thing you are asking about, let me share my results. I am in South Alabama and even though we rarely see 100 degrees, quit regularly it's high 90s.
I have a two door garage (approximately 400 sq ft). we converted it into a room 5 years ago. insulated on 3 walls and we kept the garage door up. I put up a 180g exactly two years ago (may 08). it's got 3x250 sh mh's, and 4x80w t5's. there is no way in this world i could have done it without some form of ac. I didn't want the expense of a chiller, and since we use the room anyway, i installed a window ac unit in one of the front windows. it's a big unit and would cool the room enough to keep somewhat comfortable. with this ac and a fan blowing over my sump, i can keep the temp of the tank in the low 80s. i turned off the ac a week ago and outside temp got up to high 80s and my tank skyrocketed to high 80s. corals hated it!! i can manage it w/ the ac and the fan as stated to a comfortable temp
edit: well i read that you aren't doing it anyway, so i guess my post is pointless. sorry
Metal Man 1221
FMMAS Executive Director
Awesome ploy. you knew the answer from the start didn't you.
I agree though. I live In North Dakota, so I wouldn't have the nice winter months you have. With the garage getting 40 below zero fahrenheit. I wouldn't have enough heaters on the planet to keep my garage warm. Although I have heard of some people that have heated garages and they stay around 40 - 50 degrees in the winter. Quite surprising actually.
When my house is 70 degrees, my tank is nearing 80 and I"m only running PC lighting.
If my house is around 65 (as in right now) the tank is down to 76 even with the heater set to 80. (I have it in a small area of water volume, so it doesn't heat the tank much, but it keeps the temp stable.)
Plus, wouldn't it be so much nicer to view in the house?
yea it gets chilly up here!
what part are you from any way?
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