I'm thinking of buying the JBJ 1/15 hp chiller, but was wondering if that is too big for my little 6g. I know they have a 1/20 hp, but I always like to oversize and have the chiller run as little as possible. And the min. flowrate through the chiller is exactly the same for both models. Anyone with experience?
Is 1/15 hp chiller too big for a 6g nanocube?
- Thread starter Jimbo327
- Start date
SugarFox03
Animal Behaviorist
I'm getting the 1/15 chiller for my 26g + 10g sump set up. I think it would be overkill on the 6g, but thats just my opinion. I think they are rated for tanks up to 40 gals. Even the 1/20 is rated for tanks up to 25 gals, which is still a lot more than 6 gals!
I'm willing to spend that kind of money for a 6g nano because it is better to cool down the small tank itself than my whole house. The electricity bill is way way more than any single purchase for the tank I can pay right now.
And in the long run, I want a stable tank and I don't want the stuff in my tank to die from the temperature swings come this summer. My place can get over 100 degrees, so I need to oversize, but I think the 1/15 is probably too big as well...just want to see if anyone had any experience of pulling the temperatures down in a hot room with a 6gal.
And in the long run, I want a stable tank and I don't want the stuff in my tank to die from the temperature swings come this summer. My place can get over 100 degrees, so I need to oversize, but I think the 1/15 is probably too big as well...just want to see if anyone had any experience of pulling the temperatures down in a hot room with a 6gal.
anguswu,
Thanks for your reply. So you use a 1/15 hp chiller on a 2g total water volume? WOW! I'm not that crazy after all.
Yeah, the footprint is exactly the same for 1/20 and 1/15 hp chiller from JBJ, and the same flowrate as well. The 1/15 does draw 0.2 more amps though, but it should cool much faster (300 more btu) and run less.
Less evaporation is good news because humidity is a problem for me, it makes the condensors on the home A/C work much harder and run longer to cool the house, which equals to gigantic electricity bills in the summer...which I refuse to pay again.
Thanks for your reply. So you use a 1/15 hp chiller on a 2g total water volume? WOW! I'm not that crazy after all.
Yeah, the footprint is exactly the same for 1/20 and 1/15 hp chiller from JBJ, and the same flowrate as well. The 1/15 does draw 0.2 more amps though, but it should cool much faster (300 more btu) and run less.
Less evaporation is good news because humidity is a problem for me, it makes the condensors on the home A/C work much harder and run longer to cool the house, which equals to gigantic electricity bills in the summer...which I refuse to pay again.
Well, the minimum flowrate for the jbj mini chiller is 110 gph. So from the top of my tank, which is 30-40" from the ground, and I figure all the friction loss in the chiller and elbows, I'm looking at ~3 ft of head pressure. And since I like to oversize (but keeping in mind my tiny water volume), I'm looking at the Hydor L25 external pump. It is cheap and looks like very efficient. 10W will probably give me ~150 gph at 3 ft head. And I can always split the returns to lower than flowrate if needed.
I'm thinking of getting rid of my mini-jet as my return pump from the back chamber as well, and only use the external pump. I'll have to think about this though as I'm not sure my tank can handle the return.
The only problem with this is that I will need to drill the back of the tank to feed the external pump.
I'm thinking of getting rid of my mini-jet as my return pump from the back chamber as well, and only use the external pump. I'll have to think about this though as I'm not sure my tank can handle the return.
The only problem with this is that I will need to drill the back of the tank to feed the external pump.
On 2nd thought, the static head pressure is much lower than 36", so I should be able to use a much smaller pump. Not sure how many bends are in the chiller, so I'm having a hard time sizing a pump. I think the best bet is to just try different pumps and see what comes out the other end. I really don't want to drill the tank, it would be nice to have a submersible pump in the back chambers. Not many pumps can fit in those in the 6 gal compartments.
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