Question about chillers

[guilford]

My garage is on the opposite side of the wall from where I am planning to set up my tank. I was wondering if it would be possible to run plumbing through the wall and keep my chiller in the garage. Is that realistic in Knoxville, or does it get too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter for that to work? Does anyone in the Knoxville area keep a chiller outside? It would be nice if it would work because it wouldn't add any heat to the house, and plus it would be super quiet.

Thanks,
Brad

 

[imsqueak]

Brad,

I know of three of us off hand that have plummed the chiller thru wall. Two to the outside (Art and Myself) and one into the garage (Mike). IMO, if you dont mind cutting a hole in the wall you should do it. I dont know what size tank you have but if you are planning on putting a big pump pushing a closed loop you could also add that thru the wall and cut more noise.

 

[guilford]

And you've had it run for at least a year so that it survived through the cold and the heat? The idea of having it in the garage is just so attractive, that I think I'll at least give it a try if it is likely to work.
Thanks,
Brad

 

[imsqueak]

That's a loaded question. It survived but due to a temp controller that's indoor rated being used in an outdoor setting I had a 60ish degree tank one Sunday morning a couple months ago. That wouldn't apply to your application though.

I would consider plumbing a sump in the garage along with your return pump, cl pump if you are doing a CL. That way, if you ever get a CaRx you can have that out there too. Do your water changes out there, etc and have a refuge under the stand if you want one. Just a small mag3 or something for a return from the fuge to add what little heat it might and all the other pumps and equipment are in the garage.

Since we are basically 6 mos "cold" 6 mos hot here in TN you may find opening a window and putting a fan in the window will suffice to cool the garage and the cold of the winter can reduce the time the chiller runs in the winter.

 

[bkv1997]

I just ran(2 weeks ago) a line about 15' to move my chiller into the garage.

Works great......... so far........... the extra heat isn't missed in the living room thats for sure.

 

[malden]

DO IT!