Water Chiller ore Aquarium Chiller nessesary for Cooling down the Water?

F

Fiete

Well-Known Member
Hello,


maybe i made a wrong buy :( i bought a water chiller for cooling down my Water Reservoir (20-40L) temps in Summer time between 24-27 Celsius it's Very warm but only in the hottest Day's from maybe Juni-August. A guy on Reddit told me the Drain to Waist System don't need a Water Chiller in my Coco Softpotts. Is that true? If yes i can sell that think and safe the Electricity Money for them it's expensive running it. IMG_20230612_081559.jpg
 
Fiete said:
Hello,


maybe i made a wrong buy :( i bought a water chiller for cooling down my Water Reservoir (20-40L) temps in Summer time between 24-27 Celsius it's Very warm but only in the hottest Day's from maybe Juni-August. A guy on Reddit told me the Drain to Waist System don't need a Water Chiller in my Coco Softpotts. Is that true? If yes i can sell that think and safe the Electricity Money for them it's expensive running it. View attachment 5299479
Click to expand...
Yeah drain to waste you don’t need a chiller. Just put a wave maker in the res to keep the nutrients mixed and water moving so it doesn’t go nasty. I run DTW coco and I have my wave maker kick on for 5 minutes every half hour and it works great
 
Treesomewanted77 said:
Yeah drain to waste you don’t need a chiller. Just put a wave maker in the res to keep the nutrients mixed and water moving so it doesn’t go nasty. I run DTW coco and I have my wave maker kick on for 5 minutes every half hour and it works great
Click to expand...


Wow, so temps higher then 24 ore 26 are not a big deal?
 
Fiete said:
Wow, so temps higher then 24 ore 26 are not a big deal?
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Not really. You don’t want to water with water so warm it will harm the roots but as long as you keep the nutrient solution circulating it won’t get all nasty on you.
Plants grow quicker with warmer water than colder water. So if your water is about ambient temp is perfectly fine.
my water stays about ambient temp although when I was using a pond pump to circulate it would warm up a lot so I switched to the wave maker and it doesn’t raise the temp at all and keeps the water circulating really well so I highly recommend the aquarium wave maker.
 
Treesomewanted77 said:
Not really. You don’t want to water with water so warm it will harm the roots but as long as you keep the nutrient solution circulating it won’t get all nasty on you.
Plants grow quicker with warmer water than colder water. So if your water is about ambient temp is perfectly fine.
my water stays about ambient temp although when I was using a pond pump to circulate it would warm up a lot so I switched to the wave maker and it doesn’t raise the temp at all and keeps the water circulating really well so I highly recommend the aquarium wave maker.
Click to expand...


I have a idea, what you think of settle the Chiller on a timer and maybe 1-2 hours bevore the Watering Timer goes On then i i put the chiller bevore on and settle the Chiller timer on maybe 20 Celsius? Ore lower? That will save Cost and the Water has enough Oxygen in it.
 
Treesomewanted77 said:
Not really. You don’t want to water with water so warm it will harm the roots but as long as you keep the nutrient solution circulating it won’t get all nasty on you.
Plants grow quicker with warmer water than colder water. So if your water is about ambient temp is perfectly fine.
my water stays about ambient temp although when I was using a pond pump to circulate it would warm up a lot so I switched to the wave maker and it doesn’t raise the temp at all and keeps the water circulating really well so I highly recommend the aquarium wave maker.
Click to expand...


Wave maker sounds interesting I only have a Aquarium Pump for circulating.
 
Fiete said:
I have a idea, what you think of settle the Chiller on a timer and maybe 1-2 hours bevore the Watering Timer goes On then i i put the chiller bevore on and settle the Chiller timer on maybe 20 Celsius? Ore lower? That will save Cost and the Water has enough Oxygen in it.
Click to expand...
Yeah you could cycle it once in awhile to cool it a little. The pump is also adding heat to your water so if you can swing a wave maker they are super cheap like 10-15 bucks
 
I get a week plus out of a tank refill in DTW rockwool so cooling is required if I dont want feed temps in the mid to upper 80's f.
not good for stability.
I set the cooler to 67*-69*f and let it go. cycles once or twice a day as needed. one less thing to be a problem.
 
Warmer water holds less oxygen. Roots need oxygen.
I leave my reservoirs on the cool concrete and they stay around 66-72 depending on the season.
In the warmer months, they're topped up daily with cool mix so it keeps temps down.
 
Fiete said:
I have a idea, what you think of settle the Chiller on a timer and maybe 1-2 hours bevore the Watering Timer goes On then i i put the chiller bevore on and settle the Chiller timer on maybe 20 Celsius? Ore lower? That will save Cost and the Water has enough Oxygen in it.
Click to expand...
If it only needs to cool a few ° that's prob your best bet. It takes less energy to keep it cool than to cool it down multiple times a day from warm though.
Insulating your res will help maintain a cooler temp for longer, and save on cooling costs. You can use things like styrofoam/foamboard, insulating blankets, actual insulation... Etc etc
 
Jjgrow420 said:
If it only needs to cool a few ° that's prob your best bet. It takes less energy to keep it cool than to cool it down multiple times a day from warm though.
Insulating your res will help maintain a cooler temp for longer, and save on cooling costs. You can use things like styrofoam/foamboard, insulating blankets, actual insulation... Etc etc
Click to expand...
or even an actual insulated cooler/ice chest.
mines 40L/10G
101_0266.JPG
 
In my mind coco has the optimal air to water ratio, and also keep evaporative cooling in mind. I wouldnt think it's necessary to chill the water in DTW but also my reservoir temps don't really go above 75F. I would try a run with it and a run without since you already have the unit, then decide

If you insulate the reservoir and lines it will also help with efficiency of the chiller
 
If you have a chiller you're winning, keep the water around 68 °F (20 °C), this will help reduce chances of root rot & bacterial growth in the water. It will also naturally increase the oxygen concentration of the water ~Henry's Law.

You don't need a chiller unless your water is mid 70s or warmer), usually chillers are used in recirculating systems where air/water pumps heat the water over time or you have a very large standing reservoir in a warm area.
 
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