Garage fish room?

[ramsey]

Does anyone have their sump or any tanks in their garage? I've decided that I'm going to run my massive sump in the garage with a 1HP chiller. This would allow me to set up a somewhat automatic water change, real auto top off and would cut down on noise/space in the house. It would also let me plumb in other stuff if I decided to. It should be about 250g or so which I think the chiller should be able to handle. Two possible issues I've thought of is heat in the summer (chiller should work for this) and contaminants. I'm willing to risk contaminants and try to seal my garage really well. Any other considerations I should have?

[Texreefer]

I had a setup in my garage for 2 years. I had a massive chiller plumbed outside by the airconditioner. It worked great. but be prepared to take a second job to pay for the electricity

[ramsey]

I had a setup in my garage for 2 years. I had a massive chiller plumbed outside by the airconditioner. It worked great. but be prepared to take a second job to pay for the electricity

Really? Just for the chiller or what? I'm running pretty energy efficient gear, but the chiller won't be I presume. Also, how much more was it? Are we talking $100 or $400? You have me scared now. My electricity is already $300-$350 in the summer.

[LuckySingh]

I have tried it .. Chiller was running constantly every time I step in my garage .. Also don't forget u need to have strong heater to keep up with winter ....


Thanks
Lucky Singh

[ramsey]

I have tried it .. Chiller was running constantly every time I step in my garage .. Also don't forget u need to have strong heater to keep up with winter ....


Thanks
Lucky Singh

Yes sir, I'm planning on several large heater for winter. How much water did you have and what size chiller? I'm going to use a 1HP chiller which should be oversized and I'm hoping it doesn't stay on all the time. Worst case, I might enclose part of the garage and put a little window unit in. Thanks for the feedback though. I'm glad to see people have had success with it.

[ramsey]

One a side note, my neighbors probably already think this, but they're definitely going to think I'm growing something besides coral when I get everything set up. :)

[BBQHILLBILLY]

tell them the truth, tell them dragons breath

[ramsey]

tell them the truth, tell them dragons breath

LMAO

[allan]

Texreefer had a small room in his garage, with a window unit in it. Made the perfect little fishroom.


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[ramsey]

Texreefer had a small room in his garage, with a window unit in it. Made the perfect little fishroom.


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That's what I might do. It wouldn't have to be pretty and should be cheap enough.

[LuckySingh]

As long as u can't control the temperature I think it'll be great. .i thought my self doing it about couple times but wifey wouldn't agree now. I don't park cars in the garage beside it is more of my storage .


Thanks
Lucky Singh

[Texreefer]

I was close to $100 a month additional in electricity.. my bill went from $180 to right at $300 a month

Really? Just for the chiller or what? I'm running pretty energy efficient gear, but the chiller won't be I presume. Also, how much more was it? Are we talking $100 or $400? You have me scared now. My electricity is already $300-$350 in the summer.

[ramsey]

I was close to $100 a month additional in electricity.. my bill went from $180 to right at $300 a month

Alright, thanks. I'll run the chiller first and see how much it adds. What HP chiller were you using and how much water? If nothing else, I'll build a small room in the garage, insulate and put a small window unit in.

Oh yeah, the other good thing is my garage faces the opposite from the sun all day so I'm not sure it gets that hot. I need to check that throughout a hot day and see what it does. By "that hot" I mean it's not hot enough to roast a pork butt but it's still pretty warm.

[allan]

He had a 190 gallon in wall DT and a 100 gallon sump.

He used a 1 HP chiller as well.


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[Texreefer]

He had a 190 gallon in wall DT and a 100 gallon sump.

He used a 1 HP chiller as well.


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What he said.... I also had chilelr plumbed outside the garage and ran water to tank inside.. you put 1hp chiller inside the garage and it will reach 180 in there no problem it will also make your chiller work too hard.. My setup was great.. it just cost me a lot of money to keep it running..which is why I have a 60 in my house now

[ramsey]

What he said.... I also had chilelr plumbed outside the garage and ran water to tank inside.. you put 1hp chiller inside the garage and it will reach 180 in there no problem it will also make your chiller work too hard.. My setup was great.. it just cost me a lot of money to keep it running..which is why I have a 60 in my house now

Hmm, I wonder if I put a vent on the side of the garage and fan, if that would help suck some of the heat out? Maybe even a small window unit and seal up and insulate the whole garage. It wouldn't be bad to have a man cave out there. :) Great feedback though, it gives me a lot to think about. Worst case, I'll build a little fish room and cool it with a portable AC or window unit.

I pretty much have my mind set on doing the garage thing. It's just too much space that could be filled with fish stuff. :) So much for getting back into the hobby lightly. LOL

[JerryD120]

I had pretty much fallen out of the hobby all together. I converted my garage into a game room for my two boys. When I came across the 260g I have now. So, that is where it went. Now if I flood it will only flood the game room and ruin that floor and not the majority of the house like it did with my 75g years ago. I run a chiller that is plumbed through the wall into the laundry room. It does get hot in the laundry room when it is running, so I plan to install a vent fan to draw out the heat. When I had my 150g tall, I plumbed just the pump through the wall into what was back then the garage just to hide the noise. I was running a GenX pump, and we all know how loud those are.

Jerry


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[JerryD120]

Also, on a side note. I'm not sure about the newer houses now, but most exterior walls in the garage are not insulated, at least mine were not (house built in '67). So I pulled all the drywall and insulated.


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[Bill S]

I would strongly discourage placing the chiller in the garage. Just like A/C units, these are heat exchangers. You want them in the coolest place (outside) you can think of. If you put them inside of the house, you then have to have your house A/C remove the heat that the chiller has exchanged, into your house. The narrower the temperature difference (between the tank and the ambient temp of the air around the chiller), the better and more efficiently it will work. If your tank is 78, and it's 90 outside, that's 12 degrees. If your tank is 78 and it's 110 in your garage (120 would be more like it), that's 30-40 degrees of chilling. That will get VERY expensive very quickly, and it will also work the heck out of your chiller - they don't really like that. Putting a window unit in is just a bandaide.

[ramsey]

I would strongly discourage placing the chiller in the garage. Just like A/C units, these are heat exchangers. You want them in the coolest place (outside) you can think of. If you put them inside of the house, you then have to have your house A/C remove the heat that the chiller has exchanged, into your house. The narrower the temperature difference (between the tank and the ambient temp of the air around the chiller), the better and more efficiently it will work. If your tank is 78, and it's 90 outside, that's 12 degrees. If your tank is 78 and it's 110 in your garage (120 would be more like it), that's 30-40 degrees of chilling. That will get VERY expensive very quickly, and it will also work the heck out of your chiller - they don't really like that. Putting a window unit in is just a bandaide.

Come to think of it, why can't I just run the chiller inside? Since I won't have the sump under my stand, there will be plenty of room for the chiller. My garage does get warm, but I don't think it gets 120. Worst case, I can do what Jerry did and run it to the laundry room. It's next to the garage and has a vent already installed. One more thing to point out, my garage is vented so I was thinking of ways to add fans to pull air in and suck air out. Running the chiller inside the house sounds like a better idea though.

[ramsey]

Also, the majority of the water will still be in the house, so the ambient temperature will be somewhere between the temp in the house, and the temp in the garage.

[Bill S]

It's not the temperature of the WATER. It's the air you are using as a heat exchanger. I go into a LOT of garages, every day. The only place worse for a chiller, is the attic. Put it outside. If you put it inside, you are just heating up your house, which will then have to be cooled by your A/C. None of these are very efficient - why dump heat into your house, that you then have to dump back outside with your A/C unit. Just put the chiller outside where it belongs. By putting it outside instead of in the garage, you can halve the size of your chiller.

[ramsey]

It's not the temperature of the WATER. It's the air you are using as a heat exchanger. I go into a LOT of garages, every day. The only place worse for a chiller, is the attic. Put it outside. If you put it inside, you are just heating up your house, which will then have to be cooled by your A/C. None of these are very efficient - why dump heat into your house, that you then have to dump back outside with your A/C unit. Just put the chiller outside where it belongs. By putting it outside instead of in the garage, you can halve the size of your chiller.

The main reason is the chiller I have is not an outdoor chiller so I'm not sure how well it'll hold up. Also, how the garage is situated means I'd have to plumb across the garage which I'd like to avoid. I understand that the temperature of the air matters to the chiller, since it needs to export the heat out, but the amount of heat it needs to export from the water is lower since the ambient air temperature is lower inside the house. In other words, if my entire set up was in the garage, the water temp would be even higher than if half of it was inside. I wouldn't need the chiller if I wasn't putting my sump garage. It gives me a lot to think about though. I feel it'll just be trial and error until I find something that works.

[350gt]

Was thinking about adding

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Ventamatic-1600-CFM-Power-Attic-Ventilator-Gable-Mount/202913817/?MERCH=REC-_-mobileweb_pip_rr-5-_-202913826-_-202913817-_-N


To my garage to pull some heat out....

[ramsey]

Was thinking about adding

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Ventamatic-1600-CFM-Power-Attic-Ventilator-Gable-Mount/202913817/?MERCH=REC-_-mobileweb_pip_rr-5-_-202913826-_-202913817-_-N


To my garage to pull some heat out....

Yeah, I'm thinking about something like that as well. I would think one or two of those would cool things down a lot.

[350gt]

I was just at home depot today and I forgot to pick one up....

I would like to see what happens to the temp in there....

[alton]

What if you rented a trencher, dug a 100' in your front yard 30" deep. Installed a 200' of 3/4" PVC, connected a small pump. 80 degree water in, after 200' you should have a temp around 74 degrees returning to your sump and no heat.

[CoryDude]

Still catching up on this thread but I had my dt in the living room and the sump in the garage. It worked out pretty well, especially with the noise.

But the chiller in the garage didn't work out from May- Sept. It got way too hot and the chiller started short cycling. FYI, I've run my standard chiller outside for 3 years now. It's on blocks about 3 feet from the ground with 2x4 posts and plywood for a roof. I'll never run a chiller in the house again.

[Big_Pun]

sounds like you got a whole lot of work ahead of you. so is this sump running in the house at moment ? just asking cause i thought you sold your old tank and i know this doesn't fit under the 185.

[hobogato]

like cory, i ran my chillers outside. i built an acrylic cover for them and insulated it with foam to improve efficiency. i have run two different chillers this way with no issue and no noise/heat indoors.

pics of the cover on the last chiller i ran

before painting
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/coldwater%20reef/DSC09556.jpg

installed
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/coldwater%20reef/DSC09558.jpg

[ramsey]

sounds like you got a whole lot of work ahead of you. so is this sump running in the house at moment ? just asking cause i thought you sold your old tank and i know this doesn't fit under the 185.

No, I kept the 185g. It's currently not running. Yes, a lot of work, but it's fun stuff, not like real work.

Good to know about running it outside. Maybe I will do that. Bstreep killed his first SW fish in 71. When he talks I listen. :) it wouldn't be too hard to plumb it outside the garage. PVC is cheap. Thanks again for the feedback guys. It's all great stuff. I'll let you all know how it goes.

[ramsey]

What if you rented a trencher, dug a 100' in your front yard 30" deep. Installed a 200' of 3/4" PVC, connected a small pump. 80 degree water in, after 200' you should have a temp around 74 degrees returning to your sump and no heat.

That's a little bit more work than I wanted to do. ;)

[ramsey]

Still catching up on this thread but I had my dt in the living room and the sump in the garage. It worked out pretty well, especially with the noise.

But the chiller in the garage didn't work out from May- Sept. It got way too hot and the chiller started short cycling. FYI, I've run my standard chiller outside for 3 years now. It's on blocks about 3 feet from the ground with 2x4 posts and plywood for a roof. I'll never run a chiller in the house again.

Are you still running your sump in the garage with your chiller outside?

[Bill S]

What if you rented a trencher, dug a 100' in your front yard 30" deep. Installed a 200' of 3/4" PVC, connected a small pump. 80 degree water in, after 200' you should have a temp around 74 degrees returning to your sump and no heat.

Alton, my brother is a geothermal engineer. He tried to get us to drill 3 300' wells to do a geothermal heat pump. It would take over 20 years to recoup the cost - assuming I could get the permits to put them in.

BTW, I also had my chiller outside. Tradewinds. It did just fine. Put a cover over it.

[Bill S]

Was thinking about adding

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Ventamatic-1600-CFM-Power-Attic-Ventilator-Gable-Mount/202913817/?MERCH=REC-_-mobileweb_pip_rr-5-_-202913826-_-202913817-_-N


To my garage to pull some heat out....

That's another 500 watts... It just keeps getting better!

Just remember, every time you move "heat", it costs you. Probably about 50%. Efficiencies just aren't THAT good. So, why not move it all at once - outside.

[350gt]

That's another 500 watts... It just keeps getting better!

Just remember, every time you move "heat", it costs you. Probably about 50%. Efficiencies just aren't THAT good. So, why not move it all at once - outside.


They have some solar versions but I wonder if they are worth the price..

[ramsey]

That's another 500 watts... It just keeps getting better!

Just remember, every time you move "heat", it costs you. Probably about 50%. Efficiencies just aren't THAT good. So, why not move it all at once - outside.

Good point. Well, you've convinced me to put it outside. I just need to figure out how I'm going to run pipe across the garage and I'm probably going to need a bigger pump due to the head pressure.

[CoryDude]

Are you still running your sump in the garage with your chiller outside?

Not any more, but its in the plans for my next tank build.