Skimmer & Chiller In The Garage?

[theMeat]

An example of bypass

3 valves and 2 tee’s make it work

 

[roberthu526]

An example of bypass

3 valves and 2 tee’s make it work

Got it! This is an awesome idea! Thanks a lot for the suggestion!

 

[islandguy85]

I briefly skimmed over responses and only thing I would make a point of again is the air exhaust on the chiller. My entire set up is in my garage (tank, everything, no display in house) and when it gets hot the chiller obviously has to run to keep the water cool. It will run almost constantly in the garage in the summer and I have to leave the garage door cracked or I am certain the chiller would/will fail as it is blowing out hot air into a closed room and then just recirculating the same hot air over and over. If the door is not cracked the garage gets well over 100 degrees w chiller exhaust. Not an ideal setup, but we did not have room for a setup in the house.

 

[Shooter6]

My tank and all equipment sits in garage and tank opens up in hallway inside the house.
I live in Oklahoma and it get 130f in summer and freezing in winter's.
I have a 1.5 hp chiller and 900w titanium rod heaters. Skimmer is also in garage. I never had any issues keeping temps stable.
In your case you will have to account for more longer PVC and head loss when calculating flow through both equipments.
I don't see a problem in the setup.
Good luck

Be sure to insulate the pvc. Id put the foam wrap followed by the aluminum wrap. It will help maintain the cooled water temp.

 

[roberthu526]

I briefly skimmed over responses and only thing I would make a point of again is the air exhaust on the chiller. My entire set up is in my garage (tank, everything, no display in house) and when it gets hot the chiller obviously has to run to keep the water cool. It will run almost constantly in the garage in the summer and I have to leave the garage door cracked or I am certain the chiller would/will fail as it is blowing out hot air into a closed room and then just recirculating the same hot air over and over. If the door is not cracked the garage gets well over 100 degrees w chiller exhaust. Not an ideal setup, but we did not have room for a setup in the house.

Wow that is concerning. What was the outside temp when you had to leave the garage door open?

 

[roberthu526]

Be sure to insulate the pvc. Id put the foam wrap followed by the aluminum wrap. It will help maintain the cooled water temp.

Yeah I have been thinking about that too. Not necessarily trying to keep the water cool but to avoid condensation.

 

[islandguy85]

Wow that is concerning. What was the outside temp when you had to leave the garage door open?

I live in SC on the coast. Summer temps 90-100+. I would say the garage gets upwards of maybe 120 or more if there is no where for the hot air to go from the chiller. Granted, my actual tank is in garage as well. If your tank is inside, the ambient temp of your house will keep the tank pretty close to where it needs to be and your chiller will not run pretty much non stop like mine does in the summer. Then all fall/winter I am running heat rods in the tank to keep it right.

 

[roberthu526]

I live in SC on the coast. Summer temps 90-100+. I would say the garage gets upwards of maybe 120 or more if there is no where for the hot air to go from the chiller. Granted, my actual tank is in garage as well. If your tank is inside, the ambient temp of your house will keep the tank pretty close to where it needs to be and your chiller will not run pretty much non stop like mine does in the summer. Then all fall/winter I am running heat rods in the tank to keep it right.

Ah that makes sense. Yes my tank will be in the house so the temp is not going to get crazily high. The ambient temp is going to be around 80 when no one is home. Hopefully it works out. Thank you for sharing!