Let's add cooling fans to my reef!

[d2mini]

I've put this off for years, partly because I'm just not sure what to do.
I'm looking for suggestions on how to most effectively use fans to help dissipate the heat. Need help with what kind of fans, how best to position/install them, how many, etc.
As you can see in the pics below, I have a full canopy. There are vents at the top, but they are really far/high from the lights. You would think heat rises and would make it's way out but somehow I don't think that's quite happening.
My light fixture is a Hamilton Cebu Sun with MH and T5. It has it's own fans that help cool the fixture, but I think I need something to draw the heat up and out of those vents.
My chiller runs a lot so my goal is to make it run less.

1) For now, money is no object (within reason). Quality over cost.
2) Noise levels should be low
3) Efficiency is important
4) Effectiveness is important. I don't want to do all the work for minimal results.
5) Controlled via my Profilux. I don't see this as being a problem.

Older pics of cabinetry/canopy...

Also, directly behind the right side of the tank is my fish room.
I already have a hole cut in the wall that fits my overflow box.
Not sure if it would be worth venting into the fish room. The fish room would then have to be vented into the garage, where it's located. This might be too much of a roundabout way of achieving what I want?

www.everydayreef.com

 

[AZDesertRat]

I would think adding a single 120mm computer fan on each end, in the lower portion about light level, with both blowing in would do the trick. You already have vents on top for the heat to escape so you are half way there. I thought about fans in the rear of the canopy but I don't think those would work as well since the air in the fish room is probably more humid and warm.

This is my 100G back when I used 500w MH and 280w VHO lighting. I started with a 1/4HP chiller but found with a Vantec Stealth 120mm fan in each end controlled by a variable voltage power supply ($5-$8 most anywhere) so I could vary fan speed according to cooling needs and equal sized exit holes on top the tank stayed at 79 degrees in the hottest summer months here in Phoenix. I even have a digital set back thermostat on the house that raises the temp during the day when we are away and it has never been an issue.

I tried blowing in, blowing out, high speed, low speed. one in and one out, AC fans, DC fans, temperature controlled fans, fans on top sucking, fans on top blowing in and every possible combination you can think of and this worked best.

The light shining through the sides was really not as harsh as it appears in the first photo, it was more for effect in the photos. I later found nice decorative fan grills at Rockler Woodworking Supply so you don't really even notice them.
Today I run 2xAI Sol Blue LED's so the fans never get used unless something goes wrong and the Reefkeeper Lite brings them on based on water temp but they worked like champs with the old lighting and were very quiet at 28 dBa while moving 53 CFM each so plenty of air changes in my roughly 10 cubic foot canopy. I usually left them at 7.5 or 9v DC but could raise it to 10.5v or 12v if needed.

Several years ago I did a big write up on fans for our local reef forum including data such as temperatures, times, fan speeds and placement, power consumption with a Kill A Watt meter and more but it all got lost when the forum closed up. I also did one on my conversion to LED which detailed how I suspended the fixtures in the canopy using T track so I can individually adjust the lights front to back and side to side and it had much more detail on power savings and utility bills.

 

[dbl]

Anyway to "T" off the A/C register that's right there? Not sure what's behind the tank? Possibly figure a way to get a small slot diffuser installed and keep the canopy (and fish room if needed) cool that way. No additional power or noise. Admittedly, may be an idiotic idea, but the A/C grille was staring right at me!!!

On a side note, your tank and cabinetry is absolutely beautiful.

 

[d2mini]

Thank for the replies.

1) AZDesertRat, Holes in the sides of the canopy make me cringe but if I can hide them relatively well like speaker grills or something I suppose I can live with that. Thanks for giving me all your experience with different scenarios!

2) The fish room has an AC vent and return vent in the ceiling, tied into the main house AC. So if the AC is running in the house, it's running in there. This has been keeping the fish room very comfortable.
But there isn't really a way to get the ac pumped directly into the canopy with the way it tilts reward and meets the top corner of the wall/ceiling.

 

[dbl]

Pretty much what I figured, just wasn't sure if you could come in from the back wall, behind the cabinet.

My situation is different (my canopy is open on the top) but I do have a clip on fan (nearly silent by the way) that blows up from the lights and out the top of the canopy. Maybe try having them blow upward , or at least towards, your vents in the canopy. Think of it as an exhaust fan/hood. May be an inexpensive experiment before putting holes in the beautiful woodwork.

I'll shut up now and get out of the way!

 

[jsker]

chiller or and ductless air unit in your aquarium room to run the temperature lower then the rest of the house/living space

 

[d2mini]

chiller or and ductless air unit in your aquarium room to run the temperature lower then the rest of the house/living space

I already have a chiller.
The whole point is that I'm trying to lessen the chiller use to save some electricity. Another large cooling unit to turn the fish room into a refrigerator would kinda defeat the purpose.
We already keep the house at 72-73 during the day and 69 at night.

 

[d2mini]

Maybe try having them blow upward , or at least towards, your vents in the canopy. Think of it as an exhaust fan/hood.

I've thought of this and it could definitely be used in addition to other solutions.

 

[AZDesertRat]

I hated my chiller. It was in the cabinet on the right of the reef. I built this cabinet with vents in the front and side to exhaust the chiller but it heated the room up tremendously when running. The fans eliminated the chiller but raised the humidity which required an ATO system. It never ends!

The fan grilles I am thinking about are like this:



http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...984&thid=JN.zTK0DAjEA0UWhYh0jdY3Ng&ajaxhist=0

But there are many styles.

 

[jsker]

I already have a chiller.
The whole point is that I'm trying to lessen the chiller use to save some electricity. Another large cooling unit to turn the fish room into a refrigerator would kinda defeat the purpose.
We already keep the house at 72-73 during the day and 69 at night.

how about venting it to the roof and using a solar powered fan. I went the LED's and my heat issue that I had with my two previous tanks went away

 

[d2mini]

I hated my chiller. It was in the cabinet on the right of the reef. I built this cabinet with vents in the front and side to exhaust the chiller but it heated the room up tremendously when running. The fans eliminated the chiller but raised the humidity which required an ATO system. It never ends!

lol, aint that the truth!

If I went with this style fan...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999614
What would I need to power it? Would you happen to have a link to what I would need?
And would a 4" hole be the best size for a 120mm fan?

Thanks!

 

[AZDesertRat]

I bought a cheap set of hole saws at Harbor Freight tools which included the 4" size needed. They actually have held up well and I have loaned them out several times. For the power I found the wall wart style variable voltage power supplies at Harbor freight for about $5 each but I don't see them there anymore. Something like this is what they are:
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Power-Supply®-Replacement-3-5x1-35mm/dp/B00TUDQQVA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434130504&sr=8-1&keywords=variable+voltage+battery+charger&pebp=1434130508715&perid=4CADBA57B7F44C819580

You cut the DC plug off and use the two wires, often red and black. Since it is DC power you can reverse the fan direction so I twist the power supply and fan wires together by hand the first time before soldering or using crimp lugs and shrink tube to make sure they are running the way I want. They either have a slide switch or rotary switch to vary the output voltage. Mine does so in 1.5v steps so 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0, 7.5, 9.0, 10.5 and 12.0v DC. The fans start and run well on anything above 4.5v and the speed increases with each step up. I never needed the ful 12v. The fans usually have a red, black and yellow wire so you cut the yellow off or tape it back since it will not be used. It is for a PC with a speed controller built in but I found for reef use the speed never varied hardly at all. I bought a speed controller but ended up removing it and using the variable voltage power supply.

 

[cope413]

If you want a premium fan that's incredibly quiet and moves a bunch of air efficiently - there's only 1 choice - Noctua

This is a 140mm - http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Quali...pebp=1434131498824&perid=1BFF543784A64670B7C1

It seems exorbitant for $20+ bucks, but I swear it's worth every penny.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Looks nice. Those weren't around when I built my system but at the time I tried probably 10-12 different fans in all sizes, speeds, CFM ratings and bearing designs. Some did not stand up to the damp saltwater atmosphere and gummed up and failed quickly while others were obnoxiously loud from the start and others didn't like having the speed reduced. At the time the Vantec Stealth was the best available technology but that was 13 years ago too. Still darn quiettoday at 28 dBa though, mostly due to their low blade speed compared to comparable fans.

 

[cope413]

I've got a bunch of Noctuas on various gadgets - PCs, 3D printers, LED fixtures, etc - the 140mm fans, with the ultra-quiet adapters, are <13db, at full RPM, I think it's ~19db.

I have 1 blowing across my sump connected to a little PID and thermocouple. It's always on low speed, but kicks on full when water temp reaches 82F. At full speed, it moves ~60CFM and is about as quiet as a mouse fart.

 

[d2mini]

Finally ordered the supplies!
Should get to start on this over the weekend.
What I couldn't figure out, is a way to know how much my chiller is currently running over a 24 hour period to know if the fans make an appreciable difference.

 

[Diesel]

You want Ben the Builder to come over and see what we can do about your AC?
I think you got a lot of possibilities to cool your canopy.
We just have to come up with the right solution either extend the room vent or even come from your fish-room vent.
Just have coffee ready Saturday.

 

[d2mini]

No, I really don't want to mess with the current ac vents, taking cooled air away from the house or fish room.
Getting the already cooled room air in there should be good, along with forcing the hot air out the top.

 

[Diesel]

Only thing you need is a 2.5" or 4" line in there, reduced vent as it won't take even 0.01% away from your whole house.
If you vent out the hot air from your canopy your AC needs to cool that air in your whole house.
My room temps are through out the house around the 74F but in the room where the tank is 77F and I have two vents in there.
Wish I could vent the hot air out the house.
In your case you can vent it through the celling into the addict with a small computer fan that runs through your GHL and stay on till the temps drop to 78/79.

 

[cope413]

http://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Elec...F8&qid=1435285078&sr=8-1&keywords=kill+a+watt

Track your usage for anything that plugs in