Heat Wave AHHHHH!!

[jerehmy]

a heat issue yes but only because of mother natures temps not my return pump or heater. I just wanted to clear that up so everyone knows all the regular stuff I should do to cool the tank is being done already

most of the time its really nice but the past few days are hell. Even Shamu is feelin it :lol:

I just had family from AZ out on the 4th july and they said its great out here but right when they left the heat came.

I think for now ill just keep freexing the ice packs, can't swing the $ for A/C

 

[sir_dudeguy]

I didn't think it ever got above 80 in San Diego and thats why all us 'Zonies come visit you in the summer months!

yay verily lol. So true..i'd take 100 over 120 or 125 any day...

and ya, ac is expensive...to run mostly. Its not so much to buy one, but if you run it so that it stays below, say 78, then you'll be payin quite a bit more than if you were to run just a couple degrees warmer..at least thats how our ac is....

 

[ACBlinky]

I'm in Toronto, it's horribly hot here as well (90F, ~110F today with the humidex). Our a/c works, but not terribly well. I removed all the heaters, and I find fans over the tanks makes a huge difference -- the tanks are still hot, but it's bearable (corals have stopped bleaching). I managed to get the 65g down to 83-85F this week using an 8" fan, and it's about as hot as it's going to get outside. I'm hoping once the heatwave breaks and temps go down to seasonable levels the tanks will go down to about 82F.
Keep up the icepacks and fans, hopefully it'll cool down soon. Sounds like you're doing about all you can short of buying a chiller.

 

[spoiledcats]

I live in PA, and it's going to be about 100 today. Close anyway. I've been running fans over the surface, and across the sump for days now, and my temp is staying at about 80. But the evaporation is crazy. I'm putting in a couple gallons every day.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

a couple gallons isnt too bad..considering that some people have like 5 or so

 

[jerehmy]

I wish I had a chiller, I have 5 tanks in my room a 55g,60g,40g,29g,40g reef. Its hard to keep them all cool and the room has too much power draw so if I were to run a chiller or an a/c unit then the breaker will pop and no power

I want more tanks but I need to fix the electrical issues first
Then I will have an a/c

 

[doox00]

one thing I never understood about the whole blowing fans on the surface thing is how are you lowering your water temperature below ambient with just a fan blowing at it? I can see that it would help lower the temperature.. but never below ambient, I guess I am not understanding something.

 

[jerehmy]

don't make sense to me either but it stays cooler in the tank than the room

!twilight zone!

 

[xlayedoutx]

Since its been so hot my tank runs constently at 86 with no ill effects. Thats with the A/C set to 80* all day, a fan blowing on the sump, and 1 blowing across the top of the tank. Its 86* during the day and evening and drops to 82* at night. Everything looks great so far and my RBTA's seem to love it. I've never seen them so big and opened.

 

[spoiledcats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7759802#post7759802 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sir_dudeguy
a couple gallons isnt too bad..considering that some people have like 5 or so

Actually, it is close to about 5 gallons a day. I fill a 5 gallon bucket every day with RO water, and use all but a gallon of it.

 

[WaterKeeper]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7759970#post7759970 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by doox00
one thing I never understood about the whole blowing fans on the surface thing is how are you lowering your water temperature below ambient with just a fan blowing at it?

It is all in the dew point and relative humidity my friend. To evaporate water, that is from liquid to gas requires energy in the form of heat. If air that is not saturated with water passes over liquid water part to the water evaporates in an attempt to saturate the air. In the process the liquid transfers heat into the air from the tank. This reduces the overall tank temperature. A human sweats on a hot day to take advantage of this phenomena, evaporative cooling. If there is a breeze then the cooling effect of sweating is far greater as more air circulates to uptake water vapor. That is why one blows fans on their tank

Now this does have limits. The higher the humidity the less cooling. In an air conditioned room with low humidity a fan blowing on the tanks surface will allow high evaporation rates and more cooling. In theory the tank will cool to what is known as the "wet bulb" temperature. On the other hand, in a room with much over about 80% relative humidity there will be little or no cooling effect even if the air is cooler than the tank.

So all you Newbies drop and give me 50 so you can take advantage of this wonder of nature.

 

[jerehmy]

your the man!!

I knew their was a reason my tanks are cooler than my room, well a scientific reason:lol:

with 5 tanks in 1 room my humidity level is pretty high but I keep the window open with a fan blowing outside all day so its not soo bad

It averages out so that all my tanks are like having 1 huge 224g lots of water for a bedroom!

 

[spoiledcats]

If you think about it, water is always cooler than the air. That's why we go swimming on those nasty hot days.

 

[WaterKeeper]

I usually go swimming to ogle the chicks. I'm a dirty old man who would rather be hot than cool.:bum:

 

[sir_dudeguy]

ya, thats why my room is so humid..actually my tanks have stopped lowering (temp wise) so i'm guessing i'm over that 80% humidity lol...it sure feels like it tho..but at nights i open the window sometimes, so sometimes my tanks go another couple degrees down, but 79 is where i like it at which is what it stays at when its really humid (i like the humidity too tho..)

 

[WaterKeeper]

Well Dude, one of the hidden benefits of having a reef in any room is that it ups the relative humidity by quite a bit. That is fine in the winter as it makes the room feel warmer. On the other hand in summer it is why I always suggest air conditioning. It cools the room while lowering humidity and reduces that all important wet bulb temp that allows for evaporative cooling.

A small, window AC unit runs about $100 bucks, far less than a chiller.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

lol ya i know. I am in az after all lol. My room is not connected to the rest of the house, so there's no ac from that, but i've got a really nice window unit..it keeps it relatively cool (compaired to outside)...it could go way cooler, but my dad doesnt let me turn it down cuz of the electric bill lol...and its stayed the same humidity in there for about a year (thats how long i;ve had the room and a tank in there)...i actually like the humidity tho, unless it gets to the point of like, where you're sitting and just dripping lol...wonder if i could get it to rain in there...hhmmmm..hahah

 

[WaterKeeper]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7766286#post7766286 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sir_dudeguy
...wonder if i could get it to rain in there...hhmmmm..hahah

I doubt you Dad would like that either.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

lol ya prolly not..but then again i only have tile in there..no expensive hardwood or carpet lol.

and plus..i might need a bigger fan than the 10 inch i got on there. lol

 

[sing4lts]

I just skimmed through the post and I didn't see it mentioned, but you may want to try and reverse your photo period, if you haven't already. That is; lights off during the day, and lights on at night. It might now help much but it could cut your temp down a couple of degrees during the day time when your room is at its hottest. That's the method that I've been using lately and my temps are topping out at 81*, they were at 83.5* with the lights on during the day.