chiller - outdoor placement

[jeno]

I live in Canada where the winter temp goes down to -40F and in summer up to 90F. I would like to place my chiller outside for better performance and lower noise. Anyone else with this situation that would like to offer their thoughts on special considerations for this placement? Obviously I don't want freeze up in the winter or other damage from the elements.

Thanks!

Jeff

[chevell]

Chillers like air conditioners need to vent outside or else the heat they remove will be pumped right back into the room again. I recently mounted mine outside for obvious reasons. I'm using an Aqua Logic titanium coil so it had to be mounted right outside behind my tank in a little chiller house I built out of plywood which is vented on both ends and then weather proofed. The coil hose doesn't bend much so placement was important to avoid bending the hose. The ones that use a pump can be mounted further away from the tank but some of your cold will be lost due to length of hose and the pump being used. It works like a charm keeping both the noise and heat out of the house. Pumping that heat back into the house will just raise the ambiant air temp therefore heating the tank water right back up again resulting in a very ineffciant situation. Freezing isn't an issue here in San Diego and i'm not sure what the cold maximum that the units can operate in would be or if there is one. So you might want to contact the maker of your chiller to find that out.

[jeno]

Thanks Chevell,

I have to use an in-line type with a pump because of the placement of the tank. I'll have a 15 foot run each direction. I have contacted a couple of manufacturers to see about operating temperature ranges but I was hoping for some real world experience from those in colder climes as well.

Cheers,

Jeff

[jeno]

Chillers can't be left outside in the Canadian winter according to two manufacturers I contacted.

So what do I do? I am 15 feet from an outside wall. I really don't want to run a chiller or air conditioner inside. I am going to need chilling in the winter because of the heat from the lights (one company said to bring the chiller inside in the winter).

Has anyone already solved this problem? I could build a separate electrically heated chiller house outside to keep the temp >40F (while its -40F outside) but that sounds like a royal pain in the elbow.

Thoughts?

[AcroSteve]

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=473104&highlight=fan+switch

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=177020&highlight=outside+chiller

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=423553&highlight=outside+chiller

[jeno]

Steve, those are great links. I can't tell you how many times I searched various chiller links and found nothing helpful.

These ones are bang on.

Thanks!