light heat

[Nano_Steve]

im wondering, ive got plans to set fans in between my mh and the glass above the tank on the upcoming mb7. will this cool the air or will i need to put the fans in between the water and the glass?

i guess what this boils down to is it the heat from the lamp that creates all the heat from our metal halides or is it the energy from the light making the air molecules beyond the protective lens that makes them hot?

-steve

[Ram_Puppy]

By far and away what you need to be concerned with is the heat generated by the lamp, Incandescent bulbs, whether they are halide or regular every day light bulbs, most energy that goes into an incandescent bulb goes out as heat.

[Nano_Steve]

ok, so the plans i have to have the fan in between the lamps and the glass will cool it? thats just what i needed to know :) thanks ram!

=steve

[Tim Marvin]

Fans + ? = Boils
?=failure
fans+ failure = Boils!
Fans + saltwater also = failure
So there for when your fans fail, (and they will eventually), the tank boils!

Keep the top open and check the fans a couple times per day.

[MikeDeL]

Fans + ? = Boils
?=failure
fans+ failure = Boils!
Fans + saltwater also = failure
So there for when your fans fail, (and they will eventually), the tank boils!

Keep the top open and check the fans a couple times per day.
You took advanced calculas too Tim? :-D

[Tim Marvin]

Advanced coralculas......LOL.....+ beer = ?..........LMAO........

[Nano_Steve]

lol, tim.

im hoping i will be able to keep a close enough eye on something like that, im more worried about whether the way i have them planned will keep the water cool to begin with. i dont want to be cooling something that wont make a difference. :P

-steve

[MikeDeL]

You could hang an ice maker on the back of your tank and hook it up to a RO/DI unit. This would have 2 functions, cooling and auto-top of. lol

[Nano_Steve]

im wondering of these two options what would yall think would be effective?

tank canopy
metal halide
fan
glass
water

or

tank canopy
metal halide
glass
fan
water

this is my question. cuz the way i have it planned now is like the first one, and if ram is correct then i should be fine but if the light itself is what makes the heat rather than the bulb then im in trouble and will need to make new plans by tomorrow afternoon.

-steve

[Nano_Steve]

im wondering of these two options what would yall think would be effective?

tank canopy
metal halide
fan
glass
water

or

tank canopy
metal halide
glass
fan
water

this is my question. cuz the way i have it planned now is like the first one, and if ram is correct then i should be fine but if the light itself is what makes the heat rather than the bulb then im in trouble and will need to make new plans by tomorrow afternoon.

-steve

[MikeDeL]

Im pretty sure it is the energy the bulb is using that creates the heat, and not the light. Flouresents run cooler the incandesants, so that would lead me to believe its the energy usage creating the heat. Either way you do it you should get cooling. I would think you would get more cooling if there was no glass between the fans and the lights because you would get cooling from evaporation as well as from air circulation.


Mike

[Nano_Steve]

and the evaporation was what i was worried about when designing. since these fans are so high powered i wanted the evaporation to occur in the sump/fuge area and not from the display tank simply because i didnt want saltcreep in the canopy to mess with all the glass covering the mh. i wanted as much light as possible to go through for better efficiency.

thanks for the replies all, youve put my worries to rest, and ill be sure to take lots of pics tomorrow during construction! :D

-steve

[adaminaustin]

tank canopy
metal halide
fan
glass
water

[Tim Marvin]

Well, if you have them blowing on the water they will evaporative cool, but then you'll get a lot of creep on the glass to clean daily. Above the glass may be a better deal.

[brewercm]

Is your canopy tall enough that you can ditch the glass altogether?

[GaryP]

The purpose of the fans is to move air over the water to help evaporation. A tank works like a big evaporative cooler. Increasing air flow increases evaporation, and thus increase the amount of cooling for the tank. You're not really cooling the bulb or the air, you are simply increasing evaporation.

The hardest time I have with cooling is when the windows are open in the fall and spring and its a little humid. That's because the air is already saturated with water and have less capability to absorb evaporation. Extremely dry air like we have in the winter increases evaporation. Of course air conditioned air is dryer than what's outside.

Gary