Chiller inside stand ?
 

The Mrs. doesn't want to see (or hear) the chiller so I'm thinking of making a larger stand that will house the chiller as well. I would have to leave the back of the stand open for exhaust heat (which means it won't be as quiet).

Anyone done this ? Pitfalls ?

Thanks

why do you need a chiller in canada? i thought only people that live in warm climates needed them

Well.....it turns out that when it's not freezing cold, it's blisteringly hot.

Anyone try and hide it in their cabinet ?

I think you will generate more heat, causing the chiller to run longer and possibly blow the fuse a lot.

Any chance to plumb it through the floor to the basement?

Exactly what I'm doing with my new chiller.

Put an air conditioning system on the house, then you don't need the chiller. Then you and the tank reap the rewards.

That is what I did but the AC doesn't blow hard into the room the tank is in. There are no air vents in my living room because it has in floor heat. BUT what I also added was a couple fan bars (4 fans each) to blow across the top of my sump. I have both my heater and the fans plugged into my Profilux power bar & control my temp this way. It now only fluctuate's a few degrees max.

chiller
 

what about putting the chiller outside and pluming through the wall like an a/c unit-seal the extra hole space with mp 2 and put a small roof over the ciller to protect it from the elements.you could even put louvered walls around the chiller

I've seen some Japanese tank stands where they have the chiller in one separate compartment in the stand with a grill front and back. The key to cooling is air flow.

Ummm.......I don't think that would work well in -30 degree weather.

Actually, that's what I'm thinking of doing, but making a disconnect system so I take it inside during the winter.

Hehhe...good point -no reason for it to be there in the winter, is there.

Unfortunately, that's not possible with where I have the tank (neither is going into the basement).

I'm gettin a little concerned with the lack of people saying they've done this !

I would consider alternatives to the chiller. I've never needed one and Saskatoon is worse than Calgary for heat. Even in the stand if the back is open the noise level will be the same.

chiller
 

sorry i live in lalaland--8 is the coldest it got here.i agree with a disconect for the winter,and you could put an insulated box over your hole in the winter.as your tank will not be moving ,you could still drill holes through the wall and it wouldn't be seen

central air, tank was a factor, that's what I did.

As for chiller in the stand, now you have a heat source under the tank.

Alternatives ??

When the ambient temperature in the room is higher than the desired tank temp, you've GOT to cool it. The problem is that the tank is in the living room upstairs. If I put it downstairs, then I've never have a problem -but I'd never see it either, so that isn't going to happen.

I don't think our electrical entry could handle adding central air. Frankly, it's so damned cold here all the time, I'm THRILLED to have it warm in the place in the summer.

The ONLY thing that may be a factor and I won't know until everything is done is that with the cool nights here, if I go from ~35 gal system volume to ~200 gal system volume, it may just take long enough to heat that volume of water that it gets to be evening (and cooler) before things get too hot. However, as we all know, it only takes ONE day of abnormal temps to upset the tank. This is why I have the chiller.

Well if your house gets up to 28 degrees inside I can understand the issue and need to cool the tank but I'm not sure how someone could live in a house that gets that hot. I'd recommend at the very least a room air conditioner if central air is not an alternative purely for your own comfort.

As for other cooling alternatives, some kind of evaporative cooling system could be very efficient and can be as simple as a single fan blowing over the display or sump. My last tank was open top with a halide hanging fixture. The fixture used no fans but I used a single small fan to blow air over the water between the fixture. Worked on a controller and never let my tank go over 82F even when it was 35C outside (I did not have any AC in the house).

You can get more creative with an evaporative cooler but you'll want to vent the air outtake outside to keep humidity down in the house. Keep in mind an evaporative cooler will still work when ambient air temperature is above desired tank temperature. Actually the hotter and dryer the air the better.

Chiller in tank stand
 

I currently have my chiller in the stand. Like you mentioned, the back has to be open to let the heat out. I do not find the chiller to be any less noisey than when it was outside the stand.

I am planning on either moving the entire tank setup into our basement rumpus room or at the least moving the chiller into the basement.

you could put it in the attic run the pipes in the wall what size pipe 1" 1.5 would be very easy to run in the wall with very little damage. or box them in on the out side very easy

This is one thing that with the larger tank volume, I might get away with. I simply don't know until I try it. What I don't like about this approach is that it may work great 99% of the time but the one time I'm away for a week and it's really hot out (and all windows are closed because I'm away) and BLAMMO.....tank crash.

At least the chiller will kick in if needed.

Only problem with evap cooling is the increase in humidity in your home and all the negatives that go along with it unless you vent.

Overall I've got about 200g and even without the fans I'll still evaporate 2-3g per day.