JB's Killer, No-Chiller Eperiment

I refuse to get a chiller, but I'm determined to keep my water temps down. Last few hydro grows I used frozen jugs to keep temps in check, and it worked great. However, it's kind of a pain. I also had a small fan blowing across the surface, which also helped keep temps down via, evaporative cooling.

What I'm trying now is using the room's vent, and ducting, to route cool air to the water. I keep my house blower on all the time because it filters allergens in the house. So, there's always cool air blowing on the water.

So far it's working really well! Temps are hovering around 67f/19c!

I do realize that my title is spelled incorrectly. RIU gives an error when trying to go to the page where I can edit the title.

Have you seen any change in your ppm? I would be worried about particles falling into my res. Nifty idea man definitely thinking out of the box. I just put in my chiller got a price that was too good to pass up.

TIMtoKILL said:

Have you seen any change in your ppm? I would be worried about particles falling into my res. Nifty idea man definitely thinking out of the box. I just put in my chiller got a price that was too good to pass up.

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Nah, no particals or changes in TDS. If I do end up seeing any, I can just stretch a nylon stocking over the end, to act as a micro filter. I do that on a lot of my intakes.

Temps still holding at around 68f!

In the Winter, when I have my home heater on (heat I don't want blowing from my vent to my reservoir water), I just use a fan to bring in air from another room. I keep my house around 68 in the Winter, so that's the temperature of the air blowing on the water, as opposed to 60 degree air, from the ac, in the summer. Both ways keep my temps between 67 and 69!

I got my new setup going. I'm still using my 1k, as I wait for the money for some QBs. Water temp without the 4"inline fan, and ducting blowing on the water, 77 degrees. With the ambient house air being 68 degrees, the water stays at 69 degrees.

I still want to make use of the cool air the fan brings into the room. I added a short piece of duct that directs the air towards the plants as opposed to having the air blow straight up towards the ceiling.

I've been running two hoods for about a month, a total of 1600w. Even with the extra hood and light (being used for supplemental lighting), the water is staying rock solid at 67 degrees. The room hovers around 80.

So, you're using your house's ambient air, ducted into the grow room from a different room via ducting, directly into/onto the surface of your rdwc/dwc reservoir?

Does this air just exit the res tote and go into the grow room, before being exhausted? Is it exhausted back into the lung room/rest of house again, OR is it exhausted outside the house then?

And you have central ac/heating?

2com said:

So, you're using your house's ambient air, ducted into the grow room from a different room via ducting, directly into/onto the surface of your rdwc/dwc reservoir?

Does this air just exit the res tote and go into the grow room, before being exhausted? Is it exhausted back into the lung room/rest of house again, OR is it exhausted outside the house then?

And you have central ac/heating?

Click to expand...

Correct. I draw the air from the hallway vent I installed, and through the closet on the opposite side of the vent. This also serves as ventilation for the closet, when I have clones going. The air is exhausted directly into the reservoir, keeping the water cool. The reservoir air is then exhausted through an exit hole in the lid. I use a little ducting to make sure light isn't going into the reservoir through the hole.

That's during the winter though.

During the summer, I run ducting from the floor vent (yes, I have central air) into the reservoir. Because the AC runs at around 62°, the reservoir stays cooler in the summer by a few degrees.

This is my current "summer" setup.

JSB99 said:

Correct. I draw the air from the hallway vent I installed, and through the closet on the opposite side of the vent. This also serves as ventilation for the closet, when I have clones going. The air is exhausted directly into the reservoir, keeping the water cool. The reservoir air is then exhausted through an exit hole in the lid. I use a little ducting to make sure light isn't going into the reservoir through the hole.

That's during the winter though.

During the summer, I run ducting from the floor vent (yes, I have central air) into the reservoir. Because the AC runs at around 62°, the reservoir stays cooler in the summer by a few degrees.

This is my current "summer" setup.

Click to expand...

Very nice idea, indeed.
How has/does it effect the RH of the room?

Spliffer1 said:

Very nice idea, indeed.
How has/does it effect the RH of the room?

Click to expand...

Thanks

It raises the humidity a little, but nothing out of control. I use a little tabletop dehumidifier during flower, and it keeps the rh around 50%.