Chiller power vs AC power

frantz

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I've been telling myself I'll buy chiller so I'm not using my AC to cool the tank. But then I got to thinking that the heat will just be going into my apartment anyhow. Last year I kept my AC at 76 and the tank barely broke 80. This year I have a girlfriend and the AC is down to 72. If I put the chiller outside and run a line to it, will I save electricity? I know other variables are there, but as far as general theory goes. I am running about a 180 gal total system.
 
It will depend if the chiller is rated to 100 degree ambient. If the condensor is not large enough it will cause the head pressure to run up too high causing the compressor to draw more power and have a shortened life.

But if you can put it outside it will probably save power as the heat rejection will not be soak up by the ac
 
help me understand this.

ac =76 and tank just under 80

ac=72 what is the tank at?

i would think tank would be cooler and might even need the heater

or am i missing something

Frantz;768900 wrote: I've been telling myself I'll buy chiller so I'm not using my AC to cool the tank. But then I got to thinking that the heat will just be going into my apartment anyhow. Last year I kept my AC at 76 and the tank barely broke 80. This year I have a girlfriend and the AC is down to 72. If I put the chiller outside and run a line to it, will I save electricity? I know other variables are there, but as far as general theory goes. I am running about a 180 gal total system.
 
He is wondering if it will save him power after I reread the post. I would say no. because btus are btus.
 
BTUs are BTU but ...

you forgot the most important part of the equation, that a happy girlfriend/wife /partner is truly priceless
 
I have a chiller but I haven't set it up because I'm concerned about runnig it on the same circuit as the rest of my equipment on my tank. It's a 1/10 hp chiller...would this be to much draw for a single circuit? I also have LEDs, stunner strips, two mp40s, apex, ato, multiple pumps, heater, uv, and protein skimmer, all running on that circuit.
 
I still don’t understand it
If the ac on at 76 and the tank is 80 and then you take the room down to 72. Would the ambient temperature of the room cause the tank temp to come down to say 76? Or even lower. I would think that you would have to run a heater. If you run a chiller it will be exhausting the heat into the room but I think the tank will be fine without it.
 
I 1/10 hp chiller will be aproxx 100 watts. So aprox one more amp of draw. if you have a killa watt you can check if you ok. Never load a breaker more than 80% so on 20 amp circuit 16 amps will be the max
 
The tank has been fine this year so far, and I don't think there will be problems. I have two heaters in the tank that both check out ok so I'm not worried about it getting too cold. The original idea was that it might be more efficient to run a chiller out of the apartment because the tank heats up the apartment which makes the AC cycle more. Because it is an apartment I can promise you it is not a new efficient model of central air. This isn't a tank cooling issue but rather a how to save money topic.
 
But it seems like it would be more efficient to use the chiller to cool the tank that use the A/C to cool the whole apartment. You are cooling a smaller volume of space.
 
O I C

after the price of the chiller LQQK at the power it consumes vs the AC. if the tank is heating up the room and then the AC is cooling the tank. would your return pump be big enough if you put the chiller outside? is your return pump internal? what if you changed to an external?
 
I didn't even think about the return pump aspect. The patio is on the same level as the sump which uses an internal pump (I honestly forget the model) so head pressure is the issue, but its a long distance. Perhaps I'll just have to keep all this mind when I buy a house and get to re-setup my toys.
 
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