1/3 HP Chiller heat in apartment is $$killing me$$

[Jyetman]

My electric for last month was over $300.00 for a single bedroom apartment that's a killer. This is the solution I found to exhaust the chiller's excessive heat through duct hose connected to the stove pipe. Seems to be working so far. Any suggestions to make this even better?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sjro7gaql3..._5992.JPG?dl=0

This 6" inline fan is at the chiller end
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fv5sqwdpev..._5986.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/eq9rlhrjwh..._5993.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mpla6ld37w..._5996.JPG?dl=0

This is a 4" inline fan at stove connector
https://www.dropbox.com/s/v6sld1rhe9..._5981.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rj3pq4qzxn..._5994.JPG?dl=0

[jda]

Lots of people put the chiller out of the home. I put one on a covered patio once. I had a friend who put one in a doghouse to keep it dry. Boxes for generators work pretty well.

[Jyetman]

Originally Posted by jda

Lots of people put the chiller out of the home. I put one on a covered patio once. I had a friend who put one in a doghouse to keep it dry. Boxes for generators work pretty well.

If it were an option I would but apartment living with no windows isn't going to happen. Besides I be afraid of the neighborhood punk kids would see that as opportunity and bye bye tank water.

[mcgyvr]

Why not just turn down the ambient/room temperature?
What do you keep your house at and what is the tank typically?

Not sure why you even need a chiller with that tank setup? hot lighting...buy LEDs?

[Jyetman]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Why not just turn down the ambient/room temperature?
What do you keep your house at and what is the tank typically?

Not sure why you even need a chiller with that tank setup? hot lighting...buy LEDs?

I live in Phoenix, AZ and for the past 4 months its averaged 105 F - 122 F apartment is maintaining 86 F and when chiller runs every 2 hours apartment temp raises to nearly 89 F that's too hot. I have both T5 and a Razor LED fixture. Acrylic tanks tend run hotter then glass nothing I can do about that. Chiller is set to run at 82 F cools down to 80 F so have to run chiller or the tank will nuke.

[Jyetman]

If I turn the thermostat down to 80 F my electric bill will easily hit the $500 mark! After the air duct mod the apartment is maintaining 86 F with chiller running hasn't risen past 87 as like before.

[scuzy]

If you run the ambient room temp down your chiller won't be on as much.

[mcgyvr]

yuck..Glad I don't live in AZ...
Or your apt in AZ anyways.. 86.. blah..
I thought I kept my place "warm" at 78..

I'd be constantly crabby

[ssgss gogeta]

If you can't run chiller outside than best bet is some sort of exhaust


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[bull shark]

Evaporative cooling?

See: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...rative+cooling

[ericarenee]

Do you have a room ac or Central Air.

We have 3 ton ac unit on our 1600 sq ft home and keep our ac temp around 74-76 With running the verious reef tanks tvs Exterior lighting at night our power bill reaches about 225.00 when temps hover in upper 90s for most of a month.

I Think you should should have the ac serviced and add some surface fans to the tank .

That duct work.. WOW......


Good Luck.. Our chiller is outside under the deck thou its not even turned on since we went to one Remote sump for all the systems ..

[Jyetman]

Originally Posted by ericarenee

Do you have a room ac or Central Air.

We have 3 ton ac unit on our 1600 sq ft home and keep our ac temp around 74-76 With running the verious reef tanks tvs Exterior lighting at night our power bill reaches about 225.00 when temps hover in upper 90s for most of a month.

I Think you should should have the ac serviced and add some surface fans to the tank .

That duct work.. WOW......


Good Luck.. Our chiller is outside under the deck thou its not even turned on since we went to one Remote sump for all the systems ..

I been at this apartment complex for nearly 8 years now and every time I complain they send the so called repair guy who changes filter aims his temp gun at vent says its running fine leaves. Nothing else I know to do about it. The temp gun I have pointed at ac vent says 68 F frustrating.

[ccasa004]

Is your stove gas or electric? If it is gas you should not connect to the hood line, if the inline fan is off you may get fumes going back to your room. Running the fan at all times is counterproductive all the air that goes out the hood will be replaced with outside air.
Lowering the AC and turning off the chiller is going to be more effective if the AC is running properly.
If you are paying that much for electricity it is probably worth it for you to bring in your own AC person to check out the system.

[TangingOut]

Myself and most reefers I know in AZ don't run chillers. Some of them even use MH lighting. I keep our 2,400sf home at 78-79 and the most our electric bill gets to is around $400. Tank is set 79-79.5 and is maintained by fans over the sump and display.

[Wazzel]

Have you tried fans? My tank was hitting 81F during the day. I added a $8 clip fan and got the temp down to 76F. You also might want to consider running your tank so the lights are on at night.

[Jyetman]

Originally Posted by ccasa004

Is your stove gas or electric? If it is gas you should not connect to the hood line, if the inline fan is off you may get fumes going back to your room. Running the fan at all times is counterproductive all the air that goes out the hood will be replaced with outside air.
Lowering the AC and turning off the chiller is going to be more effective if the AC is running properly.
If you are paying that much for electricity it is probably worth it for you to bring in your own AC person to check out the system.

Its electric and originally the old 9" crimpled aluminum hose connector wasn't even seated 100% on the upper or lower connectors. I'm assuming the vent hasn't been properly used in years.

[JTL]

We lived in Phoenix well actually in Care Free so it was a little cooler but not much. I remember the heat. It gets 90+ hear in SW Florida with high humidity but I can easily keep my house at 80 during the day and 78 at night. My tank stays at 78. In a one bedroom apartment with 68 out of the vents you should easily be able to keep the place at 70. Sounds like a major lack of insulation. Do your neighbors have cooling issues.

[FullBoreReefer]

85f in your apartment, I'd melt.

[Jyetman]

I have a small tower fan turned sideways on my bucket scrubber, large 9" computer fan and 3 - 3" fans on display tank blowing across water. The central AC setting (84 - 86) and chiller (80 - 82) is the balance for cost any lower and my electric bill skyrockets. My 80 gallon tank is acrylic 3/8" thick and the heat doesn't dissipate as quickly as glass tanks.

[Wazzel]

The chiller is going to dump the excess heat into the room, as I am sure you know. Have you tried to turn it off and just use the fans?

It also sounds like there is an issue with your apartment. Could be lack of insulation, crappy windows, AC issue, etc..

[bull shark]

In the past, I have floated blocks of ice in ziploc bags in the tank/sump.

[ggenung]

I like the idea of using the stove vent. Very clever.


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[Jyetman]

Originally Posted by ggenung

I like the idea of using the stove vent. Very clever.


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Thank you, better then hanging lengthy duct hoses from room to room.

[asonitez]

This might sound counter productive. But I have dealt with heat and apartment living before. WHERE your apartment is is as important as managing heat.

If your on the top floors then that means more sun less shade. I'd try the following:

Curtains: if you don't have curtains that block light and therefore the sun from shining on the tank then get some.

Fans: computer fans are designed to remove air from enclosed places. They rely on negative and positive air pressure inside of the case to accurately move air. Invest in some real air mover fans.

If your AC unit is not performing consider purchasing a portable AC unit for the room the tank is in.

Get your chiller checked. Chiller compressors go bad and freak leaks and all that crap your chiller might need topping up or servicing. If your chiller is undersized then get a bigger oversized one that will run for a shorter period of time and lower the temperature further.

Increase surface agitation: if your using ecotech pumps i noticed they don't have great surface agitation for air exchange get a small cheap powerhead and aim it at the surface of the water for increased gas exchange.

Use frozen water bottles. Grab a few water bottles fill with RODI and freeze them. Dump them in your sump and your tank should cool down pretty rapidly. Just refreeze as necessary.


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[Ron Reefman]

When I had a 1/4hp chiller on a 75g tank, I cut a hole in the drywall that the chiller back would fit in snugly. Then I cut a 3" hole in the 2"x4" sill at the top of the wall in the attic and installed a bathroom fan to extract the hot chiller exhaust out of the wall. After a week of that working well, I added a temperature controller to the fan. When the air in the wall hit 110F the fan would kick on. When the air cooled down to 85F it would turn off.

It worked great until I upgraded to a 180g tank and put a 1hp chiller outside behind my house on a north wall. Where it was in the shade and I put it inside a small storage unit.