Reservoir insulation?

Major Blazer

Well-Known Member
Idk if you mean like a custom made for a specific container kinda thing or like in general but in the home-brewing world there are insulation wraps for misc containers and in the DIY world people insulate with all kinds of stuff. I used bubble foil from home depot and it did actually work
 

JDMase

Well-Known Member
Thick blanket wrapped around your res seems to do the trick for me.
Idk if you mean like a custom made for a specific container kinda thing or like in general but in the home-brewing world there are insulation wraps for misc containers and in the DIY world people insulate with all kinds of stuff. I used bubble foil from home depot and it did actually work
I'm Just curious how much heat protection it gives. Would good insulation negate the need for a water chiller? I suppose it depends on how much you use..
 

mytwhyt

Well-Known Member
If you have a hot reservoir, insulation will keep the heat in.. If you have a cold reservoir insulation will keep the heat out.. Insulation doesn't cool the reservoir..
 

JDMase

Well-Known Member
Good ideas here keep em coming. I want to know what they make those cool bags out of.. Had a bottle of ice water in direct sun in summer and it was still chilled after an hour
 

Major Blazer

Well-Known Member
I'm Just curious how much heat protection it gives. Would good insulation negate the need for a water chiller? I suppose it depends on how much you use..
Right I see - well you're right there'a a big that depends there. I had heat issues with my res and buckets back in my dwc days and so I first tried using the frozen water bottle technique in the external res but they melted rather quickly. After double layering the reservoirs, buckets, and wrapping the lines (not sure the was needed), I was able to reduce the need for bottle changes by maybe 50%. It worked but heat was still a problem that can only be truly solved by a chiller.
 

GoatSoup

Well-Known Member
Isn't the heat caused by the lights? I've seen lots of people insulate the tops of their tubs to prevent light heating their rez. high air temps caused by excess radiation should be fixed by air exchange, ( bigger exhaust fans!).
 

TIMtoKILL

Active Member
Your not really giving us any information man. What are you trying to keep cool? Do you have any sources of external heat hitting your res? Are you set up in a closet? A shed? The garage? Insulation is going to be different in all of those. I wouldn’t put a blanket in my shed becuase that could be a good place for bugs to stay warm. My chiller exhaust right on my res which is why I wrapped a blanket around it to keep that warm air out. The bigger your res the harder it’s going to be to get the temp down. I have 35-40 gallons in my system and the water bottle technique would not work for me. Throwing 5 water bottles in there would bring my temps from 80 to 74. I would have to do that 4-5 times a day. Part of that has to do with the huge 40 gallon hdx container that I grow my two plants in. The surface area under your lights will cause heat. But if you are growing in 5 gallon buckets it would be a diffferent solution. Give us some info to better help you.
 

Mont@n@

Well-Known Member
I'm Just curious how much heat protection it gives. Would good insulation negate the need for a water chiller? I suppose it depends on how much you use..
I use a cooler and you will need a chiller or in my case I have to bring my mini split temperature down to 70f. I have 1250 watts of leds in a 5x5 and before the cooler when lights where on my res temp went out crazy but now it takes way longer to gain just one degree. I hope it helps.

I live in the sunshine state so you might get away with the ice bottles in a colder weather. Also it depends on what type of hydroponic system you are going to use.
Good luck and happy growing
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JDMase

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the replies everyone!

Ive never really seen anyone with or talk about reservoir insulation so I didn't know what materials or products people used.

I just really enjoy thinking of ways to reduce cost and electricity. It's why I use rockwool vs dwc or similar, although rdwc seems like a fun hobby hence me asking the noob questions about chillers and things.
 

Mont@n@

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the replies everyone!

Ive never really seen anyone with or talk about reservoir insulation so I didn't know what materials or products people used.

I just really enjoy thinking of ways to reduce cost and electricity. It's why I use rockwool vs dwc or similar, although rdwc seems like a fun hobby hence me asking the noob questions about chillers and things.
you are going to love this thread. is the one that make me buy my res cooler
good luck
https://www.rollitup.org/t/the-official-dwc-cooler-club-any-kind-of-cooler-res.366114/
 
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JDMase

Well-Known Member
you are going to love this thread. is the one that make me buy my res cooler
good luck
https://www.rollitup.org/t/the-official-dwc-cooler-club-any-kind-of-cooler-res.366114/
Thanks! Off the back of that I did a Google and found this -

https://thetailgatesociety.com/2017/07/diy-build-a-yeti-insulated-cooler/

And I'm thinking yeah, why not buy some buckets and do this for each plant AND the Rez.. And the piping. Chuck some ice in tbere and I'll have around 100 hours of cooling.

Although in a rdwc im guessing the pump gives some heat? Maybe i would still need a chiller. Climate is cool here but grow room
Temps still get high.
 

Mont@n@

Well-Known Member
Thanks! Off the back of that I did a Google and found this -

https://thetailgatesociety.com/2017/07/diy-build-a-yeti-insulated-cooler/

And I'm thinking yeah, why not buy some buckets and do this for each plant AND the Rez.. And the piping. Chuck some ice in tbere and I'll have around 100 hours of cooling.

Although in a rdwc im guessing the pump gives some heat? Maybe i would still need a chiller. Climate is cool here but grow
Thanks! Off the back of that I did a Google and found this -

https://thetailgatesociety.com/2017/07/diy-build-a-yeti-insulated-cooler/

And I'm thinking yeah, why not buy some buckets and do this for each plant AND the Rez.. And the piping. Chuck some ice in tbere and I'll have around 100 hours of cooling.

Although in a rdwc im guessing the pump gives some heat? Maybe i would still need a chiller. Climate is cool here but grow room
Temps still get high.
check member 907 post. this are his pics. I run a Lp aero/nft
good luck
https://www.rollitup.org/t/the-official-dwc-cooler-club-any-kind-of-cooler-res.366114/page-34
image-1072559830.png image-3752701092.png image-4017316961.png
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
what i did with my totes, was to use the low expanding spray foam insulation cans. get a cheap putty knife to spread it out evenly and it works perfect.

i want to see somebody with a Yeti cooler grow where they spent $300 plus per cooler for the grow. lol.
 
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