Orlando-Jeff
Active Member
I'm running a Aqua Euro USA 1/13hp chiller in my C-130. Works great and has no problem keeping my tank at 78F. I was a little worried about the cost because of the stories I've read stating that chillers are expensive to run. Well, after two months of running, my electric has only gone up 5 dollars a month. Now, of course it's still relatively cool here in Florida so I will just have to wait until those 95+ degree summer days hit to see if the electric bill goes up higher than normal for summer. Anyway...I have my chiller in the cabinet which isn't a very good idea because there is pretty much no airflow inside. The instructions state, at least 8 to 10 inches of space in front and back of the chiller. I'm lucky if I have 2 inches with the door closed and about 4 inches in the back. The other night I decided to check the temperature inside the cabinet while the chiller was running...WOW..96 degrees. I'm sure that's not good for the chiller. It's like running a window air conditioner in your closet. Then I came up with an idea. Put a cabinet fan through the front door that comes on when the temperature gets too hot. And that's what I did. I have a temperature controller that will turn on the fans when the temp reaches 85 degrees and shuts off at 75 degrees. I also have a small fan in back blowing the hot air out of the back of the cabinet. It works great and I'm sure the chiller is way more efficient when it's running cooler. The fans continue to run about 5 minutes or so after the chiller shuts off to cool down the cabinet space.
