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hippies water cooled over-haul. (iceboxes)
- Thread starter DIGITALHIPPY
- Start date
1hp...ur probably going to need 4 8inch boxes....How big of a chiller would i have to run on 4000w. Do you think i could get away with a 1/2hp chiller hooked to 2 8in iceboxes?
It would be about double the price of buying an ac but on the other hand it would be half the wattage more or less. I am contemplating picking these up for the upcoming summer when i run CO2 on my 4000 since I have to close it up!!
Peace,
Fireman
startup is always higher on effeciant systems.
my 15K window a/c only cost 150$. cooling the same room with this method cost 2000$... but it only takes 20 months to repay that cost, and all months after that are pure savings. its better system when u use the liquid lumins fixtures. but the iceboxes work well. its good for areas where u cant stuff an a/c
im sure using antifrees/glycol will be more effective then water.
junior_grower
Active member
I was just looking a little closer and noticed an ice box on your carbon filter. I'm guessing this is to help reduce the ambient temp of the room am i correct in this? How efficient do you find this system? And would you add an extra control with two set points one for the lights and one for the room?
Dr. Buddington
Member
I wonder what is the life expectancy of a water chiller/air handler vs split AC unit. Chances are in both the options the compressor would be most likely to fail; cant help but wonder in which one it will go first lol.
Digitalhippy, is the compressor for your chiller in the condenser unit? Does it make a noticable noise?
Like your setup. Did you change it around any? 
watercooled@
Member
not everyday i feel like a little girl with my grows.....
damn watercooled, thats erm, 'picture perfect'
pheobo-i moved the holes where the tubes come down through the roof...the movers and all make mine a pain.
i also replaced my a/cs with this so yes the 8" on the scrub helps alot., ALOT....
def get the 8"s ....6"s are onyl good for 600's i need more boxes, my setups are bleeding heat.
watercooled@-
do thoes colored lines HI(hydro innovations) makes bleed drops when the room is moist? the standard poly line for drippers bleeds real bad when RH is above 50 or so.
watercooled@
Member
Just stepping out of the skirt and into pants with you big boys.
Thank you. I need to get updated pics.
No, but I have not had humidity above 50 either. The hose is insulated and I believe would help at higher humidity levels.
The blue line is a PITA to put on the barbed fittings since it seems to be ever so slightly smaller then the red, so if you decide to go with the insulated hose and don't care to be picture perfect run it all in the red - it'll fit better and seems to be more flexible as well.
treetopmeds
New member
this type of setup is in my near future as summer approaches. thanks for all the great info!
Dr. Buddington
Member
Hey watercooled, how many pumps you have pushing/sucking the coolant between iceboxes and chiller? Also, what kind of chiller do you use?
watercooled@
Member
Hey doc, I use two 2245's from eco plus. 1 closed circuit to and from the chiller and one circuit to the manifolds. I'm using a 3HP commercial aquarium chiller from JBJ, If I need more I'll probably go with a Jandy pool chiller.
hey watercooled and digital, do either or both of you use the iceboxes in place of an air conditioner or in conjunction with an ac. i thinking of making the switch but i've wanted to talk with someone who is really using them and it seems i've found the right place. should i use the 8in iceboxes over the 6in? i plan on 2x 4k rooms, figure i'll need one 3hp chiller if i run both rooms off one res or 1hp chiller for each room. I really like how you ran your plumbing watercooled. i got a couple of months before this will be going into action so i'm just gettin an idea of what i wanna do and how much its goona cost. thanks
if you run the two room on flipflop, u can get away with a 1.5hp chiller, i shit you not.
use a 8" box on 1K lights and 6" on 600's i replaced a 15kbtu A/C in BOTH my rooms (2 a/cs gone!)
1hp can cool about 4000watts. and still keep ambiant temps perfect (no a/c required!) maybe in summer time. but slight augmentation, or with use of HLC-3e on 2 of the lights and no a/c.
with a water temp @ 20 degrees below ambiant room temp (75 room 55 water) you dont need an a/c.
my elec bill is slightly cheaper then with a/c units. ($100/month/1100bill, %8 cheaper or so.)
i looked again at thoes, they say its a heat exchanger, but its just a split A/c simaler to a minisplit.
they dont even have that good rating for how much power they use. my chiller uses less elec, and produces way more BTU's 2x the btu....
there not bad though, not bad atall.
Bozo
Active member
I think water cooling is where its at but have to ask where you came up with info that a water cooled heat exchanger uses more electricity than a 3 hp chiller?
I built a unit outa a old a/c condenser .Cold water runs through it via chiller /dtw either works and there are 2,20 inch fans blowwing air through condenser.
I dtw so no electrical draw leaving the 2,20 inch fans and a water solenoid valve connected to a chhc-1 as the only power draws.Whole unit uses about 200 watts max
So basicly it boils down to you have 8 mini heat exchangers compared to one big unit.Same concept ,water cools air .How you cool the water determines the cost
Depends on what suits you DTW water cooling if you have cheap water will likely be the cheapest way to run these type devices
I built a unit outa a old a/c condenser .Cold water runs through it via chiller /dtw either works and there are 2,20 inch fans blowwing air through condenser.
I dtw so no electrical draw leaving the 2,20 inch fans and a water solenoid valve connected to a chhc-1 as the only power draws.Whole unit uses about 200 watts max
So basicly it boils down to you have 8 mini heat exchangers compared to one big unit.Same concept ,water cools air .How you cool the water determines the cost
Depends on what suits you DTW water cooling if you have cheap water will likely be the cheapest way to run these type devices
Dr. Buddington
Member
Yeah man, my 2 fan unit does 3 lights no prob and sucks 400 watt for the fans, and I could get a fan speed controller for that one to lower the draw. Heat exchangers like that are basically what is used in a commercial setting (cold storage, etc) only they are hooked up to a giant rooftop chiller thats like 500 ton lol
D
dunkybones
Digitalhippy and watercooled@,
I'm pointing towards watercooling these days, my canfan is loud and perpetuates a draft up the basement chimney, and the ac unit is just a pain. I have a couple questions about the ice boxes --
Do they restrict airflow much, or does the fan push right through them?
Do they have drain ports for condensation, or does it get caught in the housing?
And light rails, are those things noisy?
I'm pointing towards watercooling these days, my canfan is loud and perpetuates a draft up the basement chimney, and the ac unit is just a pain. I have a couple questions about the ice boxes --
Do they restrict airflow much, or does the fan push right through them?
Do they have drain ports for condensation, or does it get caught in the housing?
And light rails, are those things noisy?
watercooled@
Member
stonedm, Digitalhippy is right on track with his answer.
I have not yet tested without A/C, but a twist in my room is that I have 2 Webasto FCF 16,000 BTU Marice A/C's. These are water cooled air conditioners. Guess where they get the water from? Same manifold as the lights. This means the chiller is cooling the air conditioners as well as the lights and that the $1,100 spent on the A/C's are a nice backup.
To answer your question, yes they restrict airflow, but that is obvious since we are comparing a big open whole version having the heat exchanger in the vent.
This room has a two 3 light chains with a single max fan 8" for each chain. They blow cold at the end of the chain and keep the lights plenty cool. you can have your hand an inch from the glass and feel warm, but not HOT.
drilling a drain port would be easy. I have not had a condensation issue, but have been able to keep humidity low since I can run my marine A/C's in a dehumidification mode.
DH. I do not mean to thread jack and can stay out of your thread at your request, but as I've stated at RIU I'm posting info on this room to put real world info out there... too much marketing and hype with no real world info on our setups.
I have not yet tested without A/C, but a twist in my room is that I have 2 Webasto FCF 16,000 BTU Marice A/C's. These are water cooled air conditioners. Guess where they get the water from? Same manifold as the lights. This means the chiller is cooling the air conditioners as well as the lights and that the $1,100 spent on the A/C's are a nice backup.
To answer your question, yes they restrict airflow, but that is obvious since we are comparing a big open whole version having the heat exchanger in the vent.
This room has a two 3 light chains with a single max fan 8" for each chain. They blow cold at the end of the chain and keep the lights plenty cool. you can have your hand an inch from the glass and feel warm, but not HOT.
drilling a drain port would be easy. I have not had a condensation issue, but have been able to keep humidity low since I can run my marine A/C's in a dehumidification mode.
DH. I do not mean to thread jack and can stay out of your thread at your request, but as I've stated at RIU I'm posting info on this room to put real world info out there... too much marketing and hype with no real world info on our setups.
