Venting heat from halides outside?

[krazysvede]

My wife and I will be closing on a new house next month. I have a 72" Giesemann Infiniti (3x 250w Halide, 4x80w T5) that will go back into service when I put my 220 gallon back up. Last time I used the light the entire downstairs of our condo was always really warm even only running the halides 4 hours a day. In the new house the tank will be in a den with easy access to an exterior wall. I was thinking of maybe trying to vent some of the heat from the fixture outside. Has anyone here done that? I imagine it would be a great solution in the winter but am worried it will only make things worse in the summer when its 115 out.

 

[full sinthetik]

Cutting in some exhaust fans with ducting would be a pretty good idea. If you dont mind the extra holes in the wall and dont mind seeing the ducting above the tank. I have plumbed my skimmer to pull air from the outside to help keep PH up before with good success.

 

[xanthurum]

I vented a tank I used to have before I moved here. It was also a 3x250 watt fixture with T-5's also. I cut holes in the ceiling and used dryer hose to run the vents thru the attic to the soffit. The canopy went from the top of the tank to the ceiling so it worked. This was in NC which gets hot and humid and I bet the attic was at least 120 in the summer. I think the key is the canopy plus I hung a small fan just to keep air circulating.

 

[full sinthetik]

Yeah if the canopy goes to the ceiling that would be sweet. That must have been one heck of a tall tank. I love halides also, I run a chiller on the tank but the heat in the room gets annoying.

 

[krazysvede]

The airline in from outside for the skimmer is what prompted the idea. Im going to cabinet the entire wall around the tank with some bookshelves etc. so Im not concerned with the ducting as it will all be covered.

xanthurum did you have any issues with heat coming back in thru the vent increasing tank temp when the halides/vent fan were off?

With the entire wall covered I was hoping to figure out a way to pull cool air in thru some slatted doors or vents in the bottom cabinet doors for the sump up around the tank to the canopy past the light and out thru the ceiling.

 

[full sinthetik]

If you know an AC guy could have a return to the Air Handler installed just above the tank to help pull the heat away...

 

[xanthurum]

No heat issues and I had the tank for years and it's still in the house from what I know.

 

[krazysvede]

Cool thanks guys! If it doesn't work out its just drywall and can be easily repaired. I'll start a new build thread in a couple weeks I'm getting excited to have the big tank up again.:bounce2:

 

[jporter]

I did this very thing for several years here in Mesa. I even vented a chiller out into the garage. The contractor made a plenum system that attached to the lights and one for the chiller. In the garage side he used the vents that close up when air is not passing through it. It wasn't a seal proof design, but worked well even in the summer months. The light fans barely moved enough air to really evacuate more than half of the heat. You could feel it in the garage if you put your hand up against the vent. I'd recommend adding a fan like a bathroom exhaust fan to really make it work well. The chiller fan was more than powerful enough to work well. If I could have only gotten rid of the associated fan noise. JP

 

[krazysvede]

The vents that close (duh!). Yep, I know just the ones, never even thought about them. I think my best bet noise wise will be to duct from the canopy to an exhaust fan mounted in the attic. The attic appeared to be well vented but I only poked my head up there quickly during the home inspection.

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys! Time to start rendering and playing with some ideas until we get moved in.