Aquarium Chiller Recommendation for Garage Tank

[scaramanga]

Hey all,

It's about to get hot outside and I want to get ahead of the game. I recently moved my Innovative Marine SR-80 to the garage. While this is not ideal, it could possibly be be it's permanent home. I live here in Rancho Santa Margarita where it gets hot. We do get a few days a year that are 100+. Anyone have any recommendations or experiences with an aquarium chiller.

I don't think running an AC unit would work as it is a functioning garage so the door will be opened and closed. I did some research and it seems I would need possibly a 1/3 hp unit? Any advise or suggestions are appreciated.

 

[JojosReef]

I have a chiller that I used on my 83g in the office on the weekends. Was planning to hock it, but you can give it a try if you like. Needs to be cleaned (pump in citric acid bath and run through to clean out gunk from a GHA clog). I'm unfortunately about to leave for travel, but if you can make it over in the next 3 hours, I can let you test drive it while I'm gone!

 

[scaramanga]

I have a chiller that I used on my 83g in the office on the weekends. Was planning to hock it, but you can give it a try if you like. Needs to be cleaned (pump in citric acid bath and run through to clean out gunk from a GHA clog). I'm unfortunately about to leave for travel, but if you can make it over in the next 3 hours, I can let you test drive it while I'm gone!

I think i just text you. Otherwise, I can run over there now. I'm just down the street if you still have time. I can clean it up and give it a run. Did your office get pretty hot over the weekend?

 

[DannyFishForever]

Make sure you vent the exhaust heat out the window if you plan on putting a chiller in the garage. Stick its ass out.

 

[DanK.Reefer]

I have 2 tanks in my garage. The garage is on the south side of the house in full sun for most of the day. I ran 2 chiller's on the tank's in my garage last summer. They basically ran non-stop. The tank's stayed exactly at 78°, but the garage got hot as shit. The chillers would come on to cool the tank and at the same time heat the room. After several cycles of that in the AM, the room got hot and subsequently the chiller's would just stay on until 10pm or later if I didn't open the garage to air it out in the evening.

I have since installed a Mini-split AC in the garage and set it to 78°. The energy savings by not having the chillers running all day payed for the AC. Now my garage isn't crazy hot and the tanks stay constant at 77-78. Also an added bonus, by keeping the garage cooler the rest of the house stays cooler too.

 

[scaramanga]

I have 2 tanks in my garage. The garage is on the south side of the house in full sun for most of the day. I ran 2 chiller's on the tank's in my garage last summer. They basically ran non-stop. The tank's stayed exactly at 78°, but the garage got hot as shit. The chillers would come on to cool the tank and at the same time heat the room. After several cycles of that in the AM, the room got hot and subsequently the chiller's would just stay on until 10pm or later if I didn't open the garage to air it out in the evening.

I have since installed a Mini-split AC in the garage and set it to 78°. The energy savings by not having the chillers running all day payed for the AC. Now my garage isn't crazy hot and the tanks stay constant at 77-78. Also an added bonus, by keeping the garage cooler the rest of the house stays cooler too.

Do you still open the garage in the summer? We park our car in there still. If so , With the mini split was it able the cool it back down after opening?

 

[DanK.Reefer]

Do you still open the garage in the summer? We park our car in there still. If so , With the mini split was it able the cool it back down after opening?

I put in an oversized unit in so I have no problem cooling the garage after opening the door. I think I needed a 9,000k unit and I went with a 12,000k. My garage is also fully insulated and finished so unless I leave the door open for several hours in the peak of the day the AC keeps the temp pretty stable. I set it to AUTO so the heater comes on at 65° and the AC comes on at 78°. I also set the unit to shut of from 4pm to 9pm for the sake of T.O.U. peak electric rates.

Opening the garage door probably won't let in as much heat as, parking a car in there though(hot cars let off a lot of heat). I think the mini split would also help to counter act that heat as well.

 

[drexel]

Insulate the garage doors with a barrier, it makes a huge difference during those hot days.

 

[DanK.Reefer]

Insulate the garage doors with a barrier, it makes a huge difference during those hot days.

They sell a pre-cut garage door insulation at Lowes that is super easy to install. I did my door and it definitely makes a big difference. I also tinted the windows with 5% limo tint and put a new seal around the garage door which also really helps to keep the heat out.

Just keep in mind, if you heavily insulate the garage and you don't have any HVAC or ventilation, you will trap heat in more than keep it out.

 

[All Delight]

Keep in mind, the chiller needs to have an ambient room temp in order to operate properly. When the garage is hot, and the chiller is likely exhausting hot air as well, the chiller will not work. I found this out from doing exactly what it sounds like you're trying to do.

I ended up getting a gloried bathroom exhaust fan for the heat and humidity, and used fans to blow across the top of the tank to cool the tanks. Worked well for me.

 

[helmsreef]

If you can avoid parking your car in the garage you will be better off. The ambient heatsoak from the car will keep that garage pretty warm for awhile. I have my smaller system in my garage and we get summers at about 110 at peak and I can keep my tank cool with fans. This is an 80 gallon system. I don't park any cars in there and my door is insulated. I know my garage hits about 90 on those days but my tank will stay cool albeit you go through a lot of evap top off. I also ran a 200 gallon frag system in the same garage and heat with just fans.

 

[Jimbo327]

Like others said, parking your car in the garage keeps the garage hot since you trap in the heat. And running a chiller in the garage will make the room hot, so if you can vent out the exhaust from the chiller, that is the best.

I'm renovating my garage, it's about 600sf and the electrician/HVAC guy recommended that I put in a 24k btu mini split. Seems a bit too large, but he says that it's better to oversize to cool the room down fast. But I think 12k btu is sufficient. The biggest problem is cost. Especially the 30% tax break is gone this year for AC due to the government ending it. So there is little incentive to put in a mini split. I decided to wait and see how hot the summer will be.

 

[scaramanga]

If you can avoid parking your car in the garage you will be better off. The ambient heatsoak from the car will keep that garage pretty warm for awhile. I have my smaller system in my garage and we get summers at about 110 at peak and I can keep my tank cool with fans. This is an 80 gallon system. I don't park any cars in there and my door is insulated. I know my garage hits about 90 on those days but my tank will stay cool albeit you go through a lot of evap top off. I also ran a 200 gallon frag system in the same garage and heat with just fans.

This is where I found myself as of right now. I have a large floor fan that blows on it. My garage is also insulated, there are some windows that let in light that I'm not able to cover due to HOA. Other than that I've found myself having to turn off the fan even when its 90 degrees in the garage because it was cooling it well below where I needed it. I just need to get an additional inkbird to regulate the fan.

I also was able to get the chiller up and running that Jojo is letting me tryout. However, I haven't had to actually run it yet because the fan is doing such a great job.

I think if it does come down to it I might be able to add a portable AC, but a mini split is out due to HOA regulations. I've been able to find a few portables in 12k btu. Worse case is if we take the car out for the day I can find a parking spot to leave it.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Oh yeah, life in the hell hole we call Irvine! Can't do this, can't do that.

 

[pledosophy]

We just had a Quiet Cool Gable Fan installed in the peak of our garage. It is making a huge difference.

I also purchased some of the NASA insulation for the door but haven't put it on yet. The more insulation/exhaust you can get the better.

Worst case if the tank is in the garage and there is a water line there you can automate filling of your ATO and put a huge fan blowing at the tank. I was able to keep a tank 10 degrees below ambient room temp with a fan, but I went through 5-6 gallons of top off a day.

 

[scaramanga]

We just had a Quiet Cool Gable Fan installed in the peak of our garage. It is making a huge difference.

I also purchased some of the NASA insulation for the door but haven't put it on yet. The more insulation/exhaust you can get the better.

Worst case if the tank is in the garage and there is a water line there you can automate filling of your ATO and put a huge fan blowing at the tank. I was able to keep a tank 10 degrees below ambient room temp with a fan, but I went through 5-6 gallons of top off a day.

WOW! 5-6 gallons a day.... How big was the tank?

 

[moondoggy]

EG-4 makes a mini split with a fresh air replacement option ERV, some of them can be hooked directly to solar.

 

[wishntoboutside]

Cooling for my aquarium is a Tradewinds chiller which is an actual home AC unit with a bladder conversion kit on the bottom. The coil inside the bladder chills the water and all heat from the AC is outside. Prior to installing this, I used the Window AC unit to cool the fish room, it made it really humid but it worked. That and older aqua logic chiller in a dog house did the job prior to the tank upgrade. now I just want a ceiling fan in my garage.lol

 

[scaramanga]

Cooling for my aquarium is a Tradewinds chiller which is an actual home AC unit with a bladder conversion kit on the bottom. The coil inside the bladder chills the water and all heat from the AC is outside. Prior to installing this, I used the Window AC unit to cool the fish room, it made it really humid but it worked. That and older aqua logic chiller in a dog house did the job prior to the tank upgrade. now I just want a ceiling fan in my garage.lol

Ceiling fan, never really thought of that idea. Wonder if that would work. That would be an easy install too

 

[DETANE]

I’ve always placed my chillers outdoors and partially covered them with a cover that had vents and fans to maximize the exhaust. This helped to keep noise levels down in the garage/home and remove the heat exhaust from the garage/house. It was all hard plumbed through the wall.