What should I consider when buying a chiller?

[Jon]

Now that summer is finally over I quit worrying about the temp. of my tank and am already thinking about next year. Next summer I will really need a chiller for my Oceanic Tech 120 with a 30 gallon sump. I am thinking about either a 1/5 HP or a 1/4 HP depending on the price. I have never owned / operated a chiller before so I was hoping that I could get some first hand advice from someone who has.

From what I understand chillers can be very noisy so I am willing to spend the extra money on a quiet version. What I don't know is to get either a "drop in chiller" or a regular chiller that requires a pump. I also have read that you need to clean a chiller which can be tough depending on the way it was configured. Is there anything else that I should keep in mind before I start looking for a bargain? Since I began looking the JBJ 1/5 HP looks like a good model and is currently on sale for $509 plus shipping. I also have been reading about the Tradewinds 1/5 HP drop in chiller which looks a little easier to operate.

Please any advice / feedback is much appericiated.

Jon

 

[mikem]

If you're buying new, I would go with the drop in. I had a few tank crashes last year because of the chiller problems. My pump went on me one time and caused one of the crashes.

 

[radiata]

Before buying a chiller, you should consider just air-conditioning the room the tank is in. It is cheaper, and it will keep both the tank and you cooler.

 

[Jon]

Mike how can your tank crash from a pump going bad for your chiller?

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

You should also consider venting the exhuast air to the outside or have it in another room. If you can't then I wouldn't bother because the chiller will just heat the room with hot exhuast air causing the room to get hotter which makes the chiller run more which makes the room hotter which causes the chiller to run more......see where this going? LOL.