Curiosity question about chillers.

[SeaJay]

I’m fairly new to the hobby and one thing I haven’t quite been able to understand is the need for a chiller. Under what circumstances would it be necessary?

In my mind I just see some of you guys living like pioneers in Log cabins with no air conditioning. If my house got above about 72-73 degrees I’m pretty sure I’d shrivel up and die in my sleep.

Obviously there has to be a more logical explanation.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

I’m fairly new to the hobby and one thing I haven’t quite been able to understand is the need for a chiller. Under what circumstances would it be necessary?

In my mind I just see some of you guys living like pioneers in Log cabins with no air conditioning. If my house got above about 72-73 degrees I’m pretty sure I’d shrivel up and die in my sleep.

Obviously there has to be a more logical explanation.

not really. some people keep very high (72+) ambient temps in their house.

 

[SeaJay]

not really. some people keep very high (72+) ambient temps in their house.

Right, but too warm for a tank that houses tropical fish?

Is it a reefers only thing? I don’t keep corals yet, so I wouldn’t know about that.

 

[CoralCache]

There are to many reasons to even try to list. But here are a few
Anytime your tank is warmer than you would like it to be.
Closed canopy without a lot of venting.
Keeping your home at 77 + and you run halides still. Many do.
Having one hooked up as insurance in case the air in your home goes out and you live in a warmish climate.

And so many more but that is a good start.
I have built many chillers and have for almost the last 18 or so years. I do not have one on my tank.
I also build heat pumps so it does both heat and cool. These are on large systems though.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Right, but too warm for a tank that houses tropical fish?

Is it a reefers only thing? I don’t keep corals yet, so I wouldn’t know about that.

yes! it also depends on other factors such as sun exposure to the tank, heat from lights and other equipment, etc. but all of that is irrelevant if people would just turn on their ac!!!

 

[CoralCache]

I live in Florida. My AC is on. Lol

The expense of running your ac at 72 and mine at 77 would buy you a chiller in a year.
I wear a jacket at 70. Anything less than 76 is. Chilly in our house. Brrrrr

 

[SeaJay]

I live in Florida. My AC is on. Lol

The expense of running your ac at 72 and mine at 77 would buy you a chiller in a year.
I wear a jacket at 70. Anything less than 76 is. Chilly in our house. Brrrrr

I’m originally from Florida, grew up mostly in South GA but live in the Atlanta metro area now. 72 is max. Is generally keep it set around 68.

 

[theMeat]

Lights and every pump you run adds heat to tank. Some pumps and lights more than others.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

Central FL here, AC is normally 72 when we are home and 76-77 when we leave during the summer due to 100+ days with what feels like 100F+ and 100% humidity (so sticky...) it is cheaper to just run the chiller during those times than to cool the whole house.

 

[CMO]

Depends on how many pumps, type of lighting, UV etc. you have in/on your tank. Even with my house thermostat set as low as 72-74 my chiller still runs several times per day to maintain 78 degrees.

 

[SeaJay]

Depends on how many pumps, type of lighting, UV etc. you have in/on your tank. Even with my house thermostat set as low as 72-74 my chiller still runs several times per day to maintain 78 degrees.

Hmm. I guess I should start keeeping a closer eye on my temp. I never really thought about pumps and lights heating the water that much. But this is my first big tank and I’m running LED lights fish only, so I have no experience with other types of lighting. Especially older tech.


Good info here. Thank you, this is what I was looking for.

 

[CMO]

Hmm. I guess I should atsrt keeeping a closer eye on my temp. I never really thought about pumps and lights heating the water that much. But this is my first big tank and I’m running LED lights fish only, so I have no experience with other types of lighting. Especially older tech.

Good info here. Thank you, this is what I was looking for.

Yeah. I was fully planning on not using one but was forced too. Figured the large volume of water would be pretty stable around the ambient temperature but no luck. Even at 200g total system, pumps etc. really add a lot of heat. And I'm running mostly LEDs with a few T5s so relatively little heat from lighting in my case.

 

[Jason777]

Many people keep very tight parameters on their tank temps usually due to delicate corals, often not letting their temps fluctuate by more than 0.2-0.3°F. Your tank temp can be affected by much more than the room temp, such as items mentioned by @CoralCache .

For most beginners a chiller is not needed and higher temps can be controlled with fans and increased cooling through evaporation, if needed. A used system I purchased came with a chiller and I used it for a year and decided it was not worth the added cost, maintenance, and leak risk for my purposes. That tank was an AIO with poor ventilation so I changed out the fan and installed 2 others and have had no high temperature problems.

 

[SeaJay]

Now that you mention it, my lights do get rather warm for LEDs. When I purchased my system I relied heavily on my LFS, who I did a lot of research on beforehand and determined he was worthy of my confidence. Looking at the info on lights I have, I noticed this:

• 
  The new generation of H.T.E (High Thermal Efficiency) LEDs function at a higher operating temperature, providing improved long-term light output and spectral performance

I thought they were awfully warm for LED. So I guess it is something to consider.

When the LFS guys showed up with my equipment, I didn’t even know what a sump was, how it worked or where to even place the skimmer, much less the multitude of lighting tech available. I had them drop in the overflow plumbing, place the sump and dry fit the plumbing so that I would have a reference for where things should be when I set it up permanently. I have learned and continue to learn a TON here. What I’ve learned in the last few months from R2R would have taken me years of trial and error and cost a heck of a lot more.

 

[ca1ore]

The main reason metal halides warm a tank more than LED is not a function of how hot the actual fixture is, it’s a function of the infrared radiation that most of the LED fixtures lack. Just put your hand 6 inches under the fixtures and you’ll quickly understand.

 

[Baldguy]

The one major catastrophe I've had in almost 10 years of reefing is when we went out of town for a couple days in the middle of summer. The home ac went out and we came home to a tank at 92 degrees. Lost a lot of livestock. For me my chiller is more of an insurance policy against that happening again.

 

[CoralCache]

Somebody mentioned something here that triggered a very good reason for a chiller in some instances. EVAPORATIVE COOLING.
So you put a fan on your tank and all of a sudden your tank stays cool as you want it. Problem is you are evaporating more water now and your top off needs filled more often. Sucks for longer vacations but this is not the real issue.
Your home is now more humid which promotes growth of many undesirables in places you don't want it. Say your leather jacket stuffed in a closet. The back of pictures on the wall. The wall itself.
And it does not end there. Most of our homes are full of electronics. The extra moisture is horrible for expensive tv's and stereo systems. I am almost convinced like living by the ocean the air has a little salt in it as well. Very bad for metals. Circuit board solders are metals. Sooo not good.

I do not a chiller ot fans on my current tank but my heater does run most of the year.

 

[SeaJay]

Somebody mentioned something here that triggered a very good reason for a chiller in some instances. EVAPORATIVE COOLING.
So you put a fan on your tank and all of a sudden your tank stays cool as you want it. Problem is you are evaporating more water now and your top off needs filled more often. Sucks for longer vacations but this is not the real issue.
Your home is now more humid which promotes growth of many undesirables in places you don't want it. Say your leather jacket stuffed in a closet. The back of pictures on the wall. The wall itself.
And it does not end there. Most of our homes are full of electronics. The extra moisture is horrible for expensive tv's and stereo systems. I am almost convinced like living by the ocean the air has a little salt in it as well. Very bad for metals. Circuit board solders are metals. Sooo not good.

I do not a chiller ot fans on my current tank but my heater does run most of the year.

I live in Georgia. The humidity here is like 150% all the time anyway. Having been in the car paint business my whole life and operating shops all across the southeast and along the gulf coast I can absolutely say that the salt takes a toll on the cars there. I know they say it doesn’t evaporate, but the same wat salt rots a car from the bottom up north where the roads are salted, they rot from the top down on the gulf coast. Behind the moldings, windshield trims, etc.