Strategy for if AC breaks in summer?

[ps2cho]

so my AC units are both 15 years old now...still work OK, but I thought maybe I should have a plan in case they fail in the summer to protect my tanks.

Here in AZ if AC fails in the summer inside temps can reach 95F within a few hours.

What do you guys think the best action would be to prevent as many losses as possible if it went out? I already have apex alarms that would email me if the tank exceeds 83F, so I should know right away if something wrong.

I'd like a game plan ahead of time so that I am prepared and time would be of the essence! What would you guys do based on the sheer heat?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Price a new Fujitsu ductless ac unit comes to mind.

Or a chiller that only kicks on at 84

 

[ps2cho]

Agreed.
Would freezing a few soda bottles full of water be a way to help, or would they be pretty negligible on cooling 40gals of water?

 

[ps2cho]

So I have two tanks and one is in a small bedroom...

I wonder if another idea would be to transfer all livestock into the bedroom tank and buy one of these?

https://m.lowes.com/pd/Frigidaire-5000-BTU-150-sq-ft-115-Volt-Window-Air-Conditioner/50342322

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

In an emergency antyting helps. I have the flat pack blue plastic ones.
If you have room for a few 2 liter in the freezer that's great.

Thers also this.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-cooling-fan-temp-controller-easy.254168/

 

[Heliarc19]

I put a chiller on and mine has already kicked on more than I expected, and that's with the ac working.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

It's really hard to plan for everything.

 

[ndrwater]

Fans. Use a breakout box with your APEX to turn them on/off at set points.
You would be amazed at how well fans work.
Frozen water bottles do work, but don't put them in the display. Sump only
When I ran Halides, I also had my APEX shut the lights down beyond 82°
Although expensive to purchase and run, a chiller really is the best alternative. Just know that a chiller also adds a TON of heat to the room making it work harder and run more often. If going the chiller route, a remote location or even outside is the best option.

 

[ps2cho]

I agree about fans, but can't they only cool down to ambient? So if the inside house is 95F, in theory it could only cool the tank to 95F at the very best, am I right?

Yes hard to plan for everything, but I'd rather try something I have thought ahead of time for than freak and do nothing, or spend time getting a plan while stuff is dieing

 

[ndrwater]

Fans will cool below ambient. Key is aim the fan at the surface of turbulent water. Either the surface of the tank, or if there is enough flow, the sump.
Evaporative cooling works great. Just make sure you have ample top off water and hopefully an ATO to handle the additional evaporation.
Another helpful tip is to have significant air flow through the stand, especially if the stand is enclosed.
My stand is enclosed, and I can drop the temp of my 240 gallon 5° just by blowing a fan through the stand.

 

[tutmatt3]

My house hit 90 this week with my tank still being at 77 with my fan on a simple inkbird temperature controller

 

[spiraling]

i dont have ac and my house will reach 85 in hte summer for a couple of weeks. I dont want to get a chiller for the limited time.

My plan is:
1 - frozen water bottles in the sump
2 - I like the fan idea and will probably get those.

a week or two is a lot easier than dealing with the AZ heat for months.

 

[MockandRoll]

I have a 30g. My A/C went out two Fridays ago. The whole A/C got replaced the following Monday. The tank had to make it through 3 days of 90+ outside temps. An old chiller I had in my garage from my previous 90g saved me. It was nice to hookup and forget for a weekend since who wants to hang out in a house with no A/C.

 

[salomon_gil]

I use an aquarium fan on a timer for 30 minutos every two hours and a half every day and ac unit of the room on 24/7. My ac recently broke, I'm keeping the fan on 24/7 and it's been working fine. Keeping my temperature at 78 all day.

 

[Shameless_Dood]

My AC went out in August in TX last year...there wasn't much I could do. It was about 36 hours it was out on a 100+ day. I had some cold packs I put in a bag, pointed a big floor fan right at the surface of the water, left the fan for the HVAC on just wasn't cooling, but at least it was circulating air (was working nights at the time and had to sleep...don't want to repeat that ever again). Lost all the coral, most inverts, but all the fish were ok. Temp got to right around 90.

In hindsight, I really think the only way I was going to survive that is if I had a pretty big chiller, which I didn't.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Agreed.
Would freezing a few soda bottles full of water be a way to help, or would they be pretty negligible on cooling 40gals of water?

My AC was out for a few days and my indoor temp got up to around 85. I filled standard sandwich bags with ice cubes and put them in my sump and they kept my tank around 80 for about an hour before they had all melted and needed to be changed out. They did surprisingly well, IMO. My ice box was full and my ice maker kept up, but if I had a larger tank or it was warmer in my home, I would have needed more ice. Personally, I would go with bottles, but you're limited to how much freezer space you have. If you can fit a bunch of smaller 16oz water bottles in there, that would be my choice. With smaller bottles, you can adjust how many you use. If you used larger bottles, they may force the temperature down so low that the heater needs to kick on. Small bottles would allow you to adjust how much "cooling power" you put in the tank.

A chiller is a more elegant solution, but they're expensive. It's even more expensive if you don't need the chiller unless your AC breaks. Personally, I would load up the freezer with smaller water bottles and tough it out until I fix the AC. But, that's just me. I wouldn't be waiting long to get my AC fixed in 95*+ weather, so for me I'd be relying on the bottles for a day or two, max. If I knew it was going to be a longer outage, I'd buy a chiller and get it overnighted.

 

[ps2cho]

My AC went out in August in TX last year...there wasn't much I could do. It was about 36 hours it was out on a 100+ day. I had some cold packs I put in a bag, pointed a big floor fan right at the surface of the water, left the fan for the HVAC on just wasn't cooling, but at least it was circulating air (was working nights at the time and had to sleep...don't want to repeat that ever again). Lost all the coral, most inverts, but all the fish were ok. Temp got to right around 90.

In hindsight, I really think the only way I was going to survive that is if I had a pretty big chiller, which I didn't.

Thats what I expect...those who live in climates of 85F can probably tough it out, but when summers here are 110F, there is zero chance of survival unless I act extremely fast, and thats why I made this thread to get ideas so I know what to do.

So far the best plan is to run to HD/Lowes, buy a window A/C unit and use that to keep the bedroom the tank is in reasonable.

 

[Shameless_Dood]

Thats what I expect...those who live in climates of 85F can probably tough it out, but when summers here are 110F, there is zero chance of survival unless I act extremely fast, and thats why I made this thread to get ideas so I know what to do.

So far the best plan is to run to HD/Lowes, buy a window A/C unit and use that to keep the bedroom the tank is in reasonable.

I also learned this The Hard Way (TM)...regular maintenance on your AC unit will save you a lot of money. I practically had to sell my first born to replace my unit last summer.

 

[Full Sinthetik]

I too live in AZ... I keep my thermostat at 81 all summer long and run a 1/4 JBJ Arctica on my 100g. It keeps it cool but if my AC should go out I dont know if it could handle my house reaching 95 degrees so i actually have a backup 1/10 JBJ ready to fire up and run in tandem if need be. Picked up the 1/10 for $200.. Small price for a little insurance

 

[BluewaterLa]

some good suggestions above.
Evaporative cooling with fans places across the tank and sump surface is a good idea.
Freezing some RODI water in some plastic bottles is a good idea, I like to use one liter bottles and even keep some half and one gallon milk jugs frozen in the deep freezer just for this purpose if the power goes out in the summer time here in Louisiana
Frozen rodi water is safe in case of a leak into the tank and this method has saved my tanks over the years due to power loss and air condition issues once or twice.

I would recommend setting up the programming in the Apex to turn on the fans or extra fans if the temp rises above a certain temp and then alert you again if the temp is rising any more afterward. This will allow you to know when to add some frozen bottles to the sump or tank to cool it or keep it from rising any more.
Just make sure to have plenty if you can store them just in case, one instance of power outage I can remember I ran a large fan on a generator facing my tank during the summer to help cool it and during the hottest parts of the day I had enough frozen jugs to keep the tank at 82 degrees for four days and didnt loose a single thing.

Good luck and happy reefing
Hope your Ac holds till you replace it
BluewaterLa /Mike