Water Cooled Growers Unite!

[watercooled@]

No.. never been in a situation where an exterior chiller (A/C looking thing) was acceptable as a permanent solution in order to attempt a large cold water air handler.

In situations where a stream or a pool is available, I like using self contained water cooled A/C's. Can't beat the price.

There is a chance I'll get to use a Jandy pool chiller soon in a setup with two flower rooms and cooling provided by a pool. There is ZERO chance that the 5 ton's of chilling power will cool the 24k watts in the two rooms, but the water cooled A/C's will work flawlessly and only need the chiller to run in the hottest months of the year to keep the pool from having to be filled every day because of water loss due to the jacuzzi like temps. During the cooler months a water fountain will help keep the pool water temp acceptable, and I'll be surprised if the pool wouldn't be nice to swim in 12 months a year.

P.S. I have had zero condensation problems, even when the chiller was on for testing. Of course the dehumidifiers to the tune of 250 pints per day are plenty to keep the dewpoint in check...

 

[bipotato]

Does anyone finally believe me now, that a BTU is a BTU, that this whole "water-cooled" thing is really just air-cooled system in disguise w/ water used as heat transport?

Or do you still think you're going to pull 4 ton cooling capacity out of a 2 ton ChillKing or whatever? Let LoudBlunts tell you all about ... what was it, again, kid? The thermal coefficient of water being 20x of air or some shit you read in your high school textbook which has zero relevance in comparisons? Why do you think they put "2 ton" on a "2 ton" system, rather than labeling it "4 ton"?

 

[Lazyman]

Man, I'd try running the two rooms on a flip to split up that heat, but I've heard reports of steaming swimming pools from water cooled grows that overheated the water. If you're in cooler climates another outdoor heat exchanger would be nice to help keep the heat out of the pool a bit.

Yep those are some big dehueys, I see a santa fe max dry or a big Drizair in my near future.

 

[Lazyman]

Does anyone finally believe me now, that a BTU is a BTU, that this whole "water-cooled" thing is really just air-cooled system in disguise w/ water used as heat transport?

Or do you still think you're going to pull 4 ton cooling capacity out of a 2 ton ChillKing or whatever? Let LoudBlunts tell you all about ... what was it, again, kid? The thermal coefficient of water being 20x of air or some shit you read in your high school textbook which has zero relevance in comparisons? Why do you think they put "2 ton" on a "2 ton" system, rather than labeling it "4 ton"?

Water is more efficient at transporting and exchanging heat (vs air) by 5X, but unlike air-cooling setups, watercooled rigs can store cooling in a reservoir of cold water. During winter months the external chillers compressors need hardly run to keep temps down, reducing energy consumption further.

I've read a couple reports of AC guys switching to watercooling and their power bills dropped from $1300 a month to $1000 in the summer months. In the winter it drops another 1-200 dollars.

It is more efficient at cooling, but has it's drawbacks, and the ROI is up to you to determine for yourself.

If you can find a used chiller for cheap then all bets are off, and it's an easy sell. If you have to pay retail, or even close to it it's probably not a good deal if you plan on ever moving.

 

[bipotato]

What about comparing water vs. R410A for transporting and exchanging heat? An A/C's refrigerant lines aren't exactly filled with air, you know...

 

[Lazyman]

Right, but an AC without the compressor running is nothing at all. A chiller without a running compressor is still a heat exchanger with fluid running through it. And you can't exactly store a bunch of cold air in a bag somewhere, like you can with cold water.

 

[watercooled@]

...
If you can find a used chiller for cheap then all bets are off, and it's an easy sell. If you have to pay retail, or even close to it it's probably not a good deal if you plan on ever moving.

All Jandy Pool heaters can be ordered as chillers. Check 'em out. I think the price is GREAT.

What about comparing water vs. R410A for transporting and exchanging heat? An A/C's refrigerant lines aren't exactly filled with air, you know...

I can't confirm, but I'm guessing water is still quite a bit more efficient.

Man, I'd try running the two rooms on a flip to split up that heat, but I've heard reports of steaming swimming pools from water cooled grows that overheated the water. If you're in cooler climates another outdoor heat exchanger would be nice to help keep the heat out of the pool a bit.

Yep those are some big dehueys, I see a santa fe max dry or a big Drizair in my near future.

Done that... steam coming off the pools kind of defeat the stealth benefit. I got a couple sweet deals on stackable 125 pint dehueys. Too much for a "normal" room.

Def going on a flip flop, with each A/C pushing hard for 12 hours at a time, but the pool will be recieving heat 24 hours a day. 12 hours from 5 ton unit A, and 12 hours from 5 ton unit B. The occasional run from both units a few minutes a day as well. It'll get hot without that Jandy!

P.S. Glanced at your threads and they look cool. I'll spend some time over the weekend reading them. ' night all.

 

[toohighmf]

[I design and build medi grows too. this is where I have issues w water cooling:

here is a 10K air cooled, CEA grow using 3 6" 435cfm fans, and a friggin 10 year old,10k btu recirculating AC to cool it in 100F outdoor temps. a 25lb tank of gas lasts 35 days.
no odor. the "duct" is clear PBT I swaged on with a heat gun. totally sealed.. room maintains 78 during peak hours w help from a CAN 8" HO exhausting the heat outside. room took about 40 hours to build w lots of smoke breaks. looks like a lot of labor insulating and stringing up those manifolds/iceboxes. where are you even getting your cold water from? Even though it didn't need, it, I imagine he ran at least one AC ran, no?
https://www.icmag.com/ic/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=375589&size=big&cat=&ppuser=22454




10,000 watts 50a
1100 watt AC 5.5a
1305 watts in air cooling
310 watts in attic evac.
360 watts for the Carbon scrubber fan.
300 watts for pumps
100 watts for oscilating wall fans..

You have me thinking that unless I can pipe my own well with 55-60F water, it's not worth the hassle and expense of those iceboxes or particularly a chiller.. A 3 HP heat exchanger to cool 4 bare bulbs? how much is that? $2500???

In the name of science and for the application, I am going to try water cooling this summer in 1 area. the rest will be run off splits or window AC's. I'm sorry, but I don't really think I can justify the labor or expense. only a comparison will tell for sure..

 

[Lazyman]

Actually freon is better than water for exchange (if I recall correctly) but expensive to buy 100 gallons of it.

Was just looking over the Jandy hybrid heat pumps, I can find heating performance but not cooling. How much for a unit that does 5-7 tons of cooling?

 

[Lazyman]

Oh and what is their SEER rating? Efficiency matters a lot with big gear.

 

[Dr. Buddington]

I looked into the biggest Jandy heat pump/chiller. I contacted the makers of the product and they said that the cooling capacity is smaller than the heating one, and that the biggest unit cooled 80,000 BTU

 

[NorCal]

I just spent a damn hour writing a huge write up on a 24 light flip flop I did using Liquid lumens lights and ICMAG Screwed it up!!!!
ahhhhhh!!! when I get some time soon ill rewrite the whole damn thing, im pissed right now.

 

[Rednick]

I just spent a damn hour writing a huge write up on a 24 light flip flop I did using Liquid lumens lights and ICMAG Screwed it up!!!!
ahhhhhh!!! when I get some time soon ill rewrite the whole damn thing, im pissed right now.

With long posts I now write them in a wordproccessor first, then copy and paste.
We have all been there, it sucks!

 

[mrwags]

WTH is wrong with some of YOU?

God forbid we adults try to have a civil conversation regarding the different possibility's of water cooling.

If some of you want to bicker and fight could you please use the pm system and leave the discussion to the big folks please? You guys can sit over in the corner with all the other little kids if you wanna fight.

Now I'm NOT DIRECTLY insulting anyone simply stated what can be read in the above posts.

Be Civil Be Respectful or Be Gone.


Damn Kids Every Thanksgiving
Mr.Wags

 

[toohighmf]

mr. Wags, are you watercooled yet? how did you get along w HI and chillking? anything absolutely mind blowing??

 

[mrwags]

TY Payaso

TY Payaso

mr. Wags, are you watercooled yet? how did you get along w HI and chillking? anything absolutely mind blowing??

No sir not yet still trying to figure out which way to go with it. Will update when the time comes just trying to keep it all civil so that those that know share instead of saying "fug these idiots I'm out of here" lol.


Have A Great Day
Mr.Wags

 

[toohighmf]

I hear ya. When I started this thread I was hoping to see a lot of watercooled grows and different applications to find what works best for me. didn't really get that many people into it. with a 110K+ members I figured if 10% of the active members watercooled, 1% might even post up here. I guess I was wrong. I now question the method. I guess if I run it 5 years, It pays for itself. I can pay for a traditional setup and usually profit 1st time out.
not to mention the labor involved... I will do it once and try it out this summer. I just wish I had more people were chiming in with practical experience and have learned the tricks & tips to make this run properly, instead of trying shit to make it work efficiently w/o hearing multiple reports and different methods. how do we attract more water cooled users to post up and share their wisdom??

 

[U4EA]

Practical experience (watercooled@) basically just told you that everything you've been talking about is impractical. Cheap/free cold water (colder than you imagined) and lots of heat exchanger surface area & airflow, or it's like bashing rocks together to make fire. Wanna bet that the #1 reason for why DIGITALHIPPY's energy bill was lowered was directly related to the coincidental higher efficiency of his water chiller vs. indoor-housed window unit? "That's the point, water chillers are that efficient!", you say. No, not really: split units with better efficiency ratings are available.

 

[Rednick]

it's like bashing rocks together to make fire.

Flint?

 

[U4EA]

Flint?

I think you know what I meant. But I'll spell it out anyways: Turning something so trivial into something so tedious and complicated, and not gaining anything at all in the end.

You guys were almost fooled by the marketing hype of HI.

I guess that's a real long "NO". More like cold wet river rocks.