Keep canopy fans with chiller?

[bach2pilot]

I've been running my chiller for about a year. I keep it at 78 deg and it cycles on 4-5 times a day. I love it.

Do I need to run my canopy fans now that I have a chiller? I run 4 T5's (12hrs/day) and 2 175 watt MH's (4 hrs/day). I also have a couple of CFL spots in my open back sump for chaeto.

The fans are a little loud and my tank is in the family room. What do you think?

 

[BrettDS]

I would think the chiller would be able to handle the cooling without the fans, although it may run a bit more frequently. But I think the easy answer here is to just turn off the fans on a day when you are home and can keep an eye on the temp. As long as the chiller keeps up then you should be able to leave them off

 

[jacksonpt]

You may want to keep them just to circulate the humidity out of the canopy to prevent mold build-up.

 

[jayball]

I would keep running them, for the noise look into SilenX or Noctua (the quiet ones in this case, they also have slightly louder ones that are pressure rated).

Humidity control and the supplemental cooling (lower duty cycle on the chiller) are the reasons I would keep them.

 

[Breadman03]

I would keep running them, for the noise look into SilenX or Noctua (the quiet ones in this case, they also have slightly louder ones that are pressure rated).



Humidity control and the supplemental cooling (lower duty cycle on the chiller) are the reasons I would keep them.

Agreed. If they are loud, I would replace with the quietest you can find. Heck, the fans in my Radions drive me a little nuts. They aren't loud, but they're by far the loudest thing on it.

 

[bblumberg]

I've been running my chiller for about a year. I keep it at 78 deg and it cycles on 4-5 times a day. I love it.

Do I need to run my canopy fans now that I have a chiller? I run 4 T5's (12hrs/day) and 2 175 watt MH's (4 hrs/day). I also have a couple of CFL spots in my open back sump for chaeto.

The fans are a little loud and my tank is in the family room. What do you think?

+1 on keep them running. Your T5s will last longer if you keep their temperature down. If you don't mind spending a few $ for increased quiet, I'd look at Noctua IP67 fans to replace your noisy fans. I have the 120 mm fans in my canopy and they are very quiet.

 

[bach2pilot]

Great points! I didn't think of the humidity issue or the bulb life. I'll keep them going and look into the Noctuas. Thanks for the help.

 

[ericarenee]

I would keep the fans as long as they are pulling air out of the canopy.. I went from M/H To led lights.. I had 8 Fans in my canopy i kept two of them . they are on the same timer as the mh lights were. I no longer have the chiller connected. My power bill is a tad bit easier on me.

anything to help the chiller not run as much is a plus for sure.. they drink power like a hobo with a winning lottery ticket cashed in :celeb1:

 

[bblumberg]

I would keep the fans as long as they are pulling air out of the canopy.. I went from M/H To led lights.. I had 8 Fans in my canopy i kept two of them . they are on the same timer as the mh lights were. I no longer have the chiller connected. My power bill is a tad bit easier on me.

anything to help the chiller not run as much is a plus for sure.. they drink power like a hobo with a winning lottery ticket cashed in :celeb1:

I have mine half blowing in and half blowing out, but was criticized for this in a post elsewhere on the forum. I suppose the appropriate direction depends on your fans. If they are water resistant/waterproof, then having them exhaust air from the canopy is fine. If they are cheap computer fans without any level of water resistance, I suspect they will corrode and fail much faster blowing out than blowing in. The Noctua fans are IP67 and the ones in my old canopy (running for > 10 years now with only 1-2 cleanings) are IP52 which was all that was available then.

 

[gus6464]

If you have stuff right in front of the fans get Noctua NF-P series. If they are not obstructed get Noctua NF-S series. You can also buy redux to save some money plus I like the color better to standard series.

I use 3x Noctua NF-P14 Redux on my canopy. They are controlled by the VV port on my Apex.