Idea for cooling res.

Hey all. I'm currently growing in soil but will be switching to hydro in a couple months. I plan to do DWC in a rubbermaid container. It will be in a cabinet in my basement. Im wondering if it would be worth it or even practical to keep my water temps down by running a water pump (in addition to an air pump) with 10-20' of hose running under the cab and along the cold concrete floor then back into the reservoir. I also thought of maybe doing the same thing and running everything past my air intakes instead...I live in Canada and I think the cold floor would be more effective but the air intakes would be easier because it would all be contained in the cab. I don't know if the heat from the pump would offset the whole effort or if it isn't practical to run that long of a hose on a small water pump. Anyone else ever thought of this or tried it?

It depends on how much you run the pump.

Just insulate the res except for the bottom and set it on the floor...sounds like that will work fine. Pumps add heat...but if your pumping into a heat exchanger then that's good.

I read a thread where someone said they put a frozen 2 liter in there res.

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Originally Posted by latewood

It depends on how much you run the pump.

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Hmm...do you have any suggestions? :) I can run it non stop if thats what needs to happen or I can buy a timer and set it to whatever would work best. I don't know though.

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Originally Posted by Cyclonite

Just insulate the res except for the bottom and set it on the floor...sounds like that will work fine. Pumps add heat...but if your pumping into a heat exchanger then that's good.

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Good idea to insulate the top! But it has to stay in my cabinet for stealth...drilling 2 holes and running tube along the bottom out of sight is one thing, but a huge reservoire sized hole is going to create a smell issue I think.

I'm just curious if anyone has tried anything similar or knows where I can find information about what sized pump I need for X length of tube. Also any thoughts about if it would be better on the cold floor or around the intake with constant air moving past?

:jointsmile:
-Doyu

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Originally Posted by socialistpete

I read a thread where someone said they put a frozen 2 liter in there res.

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Also not a bad idea...would it be ok if temps fluctuated? Like what if I didn't bother one day or went away for the weekend, would it stress the plants? I suppose temps in nature change all the time but I'm just learning hydro...not sure if it matters.

-Doyu
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Everything I say is a lie or copied from another source and is purely for entertainment.

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Originally Posted by Doyu

Also not a bad idea...would it be ok if temps fluctuated? Like what if I didn't bother one day or went away for the weekend, would it stress the plants? I suppose temps in nature change all the time but I'm just learning hydro...not sure if it matters.

-Doyu
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Everything I say is a lie or copied from another source and is purely for entertainment.

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No your plants would be fine. Yes it's best to be as consistent as you can of course but for weekend Iâ??m sure they would be fine.

In order to err on the safe side. I always cut the pumps 15 minutes after an hour...60 on 15 off. this allows the pump and rez to cool. On the other hand. If you find that the floor is too cold, you may want to leave pump running in order to keep you rez temps warm enough. what you need is to run the system and take rez temp measurements after pump runs for an hour.
if temps are above 70 degrees turn off 15 minutes check temps, and start pump again. monitor rez temps for another hour. If temps are not above 70 degrees. keep pump running and monitor hourly, until you determine stability. It is also a good idea to turn off pumpo every couple hours in order to let debris clear from pump inlets. goodluck, and I hope this helps.

If you cannot keep water up in the 60's, then build a 2" high plywood subfloor, the little bit of airspace between the warm rez and the cold floor will balance your rez temps somewhat

Start it off on the floor and see how the temps are then adjust as suggested above. Just go buy some insulation on a roll and duct tape it around your res. You will notice a huge difference in temp stability.

ahh it's good to see LW and Z posting ;-)

I have to agree with JW and CYC on the res temp solution the simpler the better

Yer in a canadian basement so even during the summer the slab shouldn't be gettin above 60 (maybe in a heat wave) so you'll be fine...my 250gph pump runs 24/7 and it barely raises the 10 gallon res 5 degrees

As for the stealth I'd just cut the bottom of the cab out and sit the res right on the floor, especially if yer insulating the res it shouldn't be leaking too much smell at all

Pumps are only seriously affected by 2 things (within reason...really complicated setups will have a ton of things to consider) but that being said ya should only have to worry about how many feet high the water will be pushed and how many turns it will make on the way there (with a bit of planning I'm sure you can avoid looking like the windows screen saver) so just make sure the pump has enough power to deal with the height

best of luck doyu let us know how it goes

tthe only reason i wouldnt use ice coolers like a bottle of frozen water, is just the maintence value. I dont see a pump making your res temps rise signifigantly, i used to run a pump 24/7 in 5 gals and it made the water feel warmer, but it really was a temp difference of about 8 degress about 69 room temp, water always is cooler then roomtemp left alone, i have always found the best bet leaving the res on the floor, i dont think the pump is the problem so to say it contributes a little bit, better cooling methods other then off time on the pump is your best bet like suggested put it on the floor, out of the light, insulate it, these all help out alot more.

Well I know that the pumps will raise temps as much as 10 degrees if run all the time. Your suggestion that is doesn't is careless. Jack...Nothing wrong with simplicity, but I believe that doyu asked my opinion. Didn't he?

If water feels warm, then it is too warm for optimum root conditions and will cause environmental problems. Peace

You want temps in the 60's because the molecules are smaller and produce more oxy in rez. 77degrees, and you lose a chitload of oxygen in the scheme of things. Not only that, but why would you say pump time off is bad?
The only time I run pumps 24/7 is for my lettuce; Or anything green that stays in veg. Flowering or fruiting plants need water off times.

There is nothing simple about hydroponics...easy Yes, If you adhere to strict rules, but not simple.

listen to Zandor and latewood. I love tuning in a system, every one is different. During the winter here I have to go to the pet store and get a fish tank heater to keep temps up to 68 when lights are off. Look for a good one that is adjustable and sized to your tank.

LW

what type of pump and res volume? my 250GPH pump has a ceramic impellar...this thing barely makes a sound and uses very little electricity...using less electricity in a unit that is less likely to radiate heat simply means less heat added to the res unfortunately the pressure the impellar puts on the water still imparts some heat....different pumps could vary widely in temp change I can't say for the other pumps made but once again =>my<= 250gph pump runs 24/7 and it barely raises the 10 gallon res 5 degrees

A pump running 24/7 will last longer than one on a 60/15 schedule. Obviously the life of the pump is affected more the hotter the pump gets during operation...Doubling the life of your pump saves you the cost of replacement...if you still save more money in extra pump life compared to added electricity use and all other things are equal ie the plants will perform the same I would have a hard time turning the pump off...

If a plant absolutely needs dry time using a cheap electronic valve switcher rather than buying an interval timer for the pump might be the way to go with that you'd get the added benefit of 15 minutes of having the res mixed while extending pump life

I don't see how you can call myself or Jack, for that matter, careless when you didn't find out the specs of materials that were involved in our case study...I admit I probably should have been more specific (this post is to clarify) but you didn't even reference res size or pump rating in your comment...furthermore you said if water feels warm it's too warm...that's just too subjective for more reasons than I care to denote (if yer hellbent on that I'll reply later with a list)...just use a thermometer.

As for the 2" plywood subfloor suggestion...I know doyu didn't ask me but frankly I don't care because if its sole purpose is keeping res temp up that's just a bad idea for so many reasons...material, labor, the fact that non pressure treated wood wicks?sp? moisture which would increase the rate at which temp would be tranfered which would greatly reduce effectiveness of the resolution, not to mention the nasty mold issue depending on severity of moisture leak from the slab and it wouldn't do nearly as well as several thin styrafoam?sp? sheets which are much cheaper, easier to install and even give you some ability to control res temp increase in several stages ie removing/adding layers...

All that being said...

doyu, you should look at the watts of your pump and compare that to the watts of same gph rated pumps...it might actually save you money to buy a different pump and junk the old one...lowering overal res temp is just a bonus...if it did come down to running pipes along the slab I'd just drill holes in the bottom of your res and make a metal heat sink that would sit between the res and slab with in effect radiating metal in the res to cool it off this solution would probably be quicker and way more stealthy than pipes snaking around