Sizing A Chiller

[meitzler]

I am looking for a place that has a process to calculate what size chiller is needed for a 334 gal tank. I am running 1600W of metal halides and three ocean runner 6500 pumps. The temperature of the water is 73 degrees with no lights and 82 degrees with one 400W metal halide. Since the tank is in a basement the room temperature rarely changes

I also noticed that the BTU ratings for chillers of the same horse power vary considerably. In one case there is over 1000 BTU difference for a 1/2HP chiller.

So, I am trying to really understand a process to select, so I do not make a stupid investment. Everyone seems to say bigger. The question is how much bigger.

 

[jsmkmavity]

the difference in btu is because of higher efficency components or better engineering. in order to size properly you need to set-up EVERYTHING and let in run normal cycles for pumps heaters and lites for a couple days and watch the temp change from night to day. with livestock in the tank you dont want it to change much and unless your running freshwater 73 is way to cold for most animals. when you determine how many degrees rise you have that will determine how large a chiller you need. let us know what you find!

 

[bradreef]

THe basement you might just need a dehumidafier. spelled that wrong. jnarowe has a 1000 gallon in his basement and even in the hot days he had no problems. I would talk to him
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/member.php?u=5698