Energy Efficient System

[ryanlio]

Hi,

Just thought that i can start the ball rolling on some ways to minimize energy consumption with all the cost of energy going upwards..

If there are any bro or sis with suggestions, please feel free to contribute.

For a start on what i did to my system:

1. Have my photoperiod between 7pm - 2am

Reason: Since its cooler in the evening, my chiller will not kick in that much as compared to photoperiod in the morn + afternoons.

Observation: So far based on my Aquatronica stats, I see a drop from 3 hr 43 mins to 2 hr 24 min on my chiller usage.

2. Plumped my Eheim return from internal to external. This is to use air to cool the pump rather then submerged, that means water cool. The energy will be passed on to the water medium, thus, causing the chiller to work excesively. Discovered the amount of heat the pumps generated when i remove the pump to clean and ran it in a container.. I think the temp is similar to how warm i want my coffee to be..

any other ideas.

[shootsimon]

Has anyone tot of using mirror to reflect sunlight into the tank so totally discard using any electronic lightings

[netviper]

I believe buying better/branded equipments will save more $$$ in the long run.

Energy saving equipments are normally more expensive, but it does helps and is more environmental friendly.

Juz my 2 cents worth

[Achilles Tang]

Other tips:

1. You can use a fan to cool your tank but it'll evaporate your tank water faster so you'll have to top up with FW more often.

2. Insulate as much of your piping as possible (esp from your chiller output).

3. reduce the number of internal water circulation devices/upgrade to better ones eg. wavemakers with external motors and internal propellers.

[jervismun]

Be more sensitive to your equipments' power consumption... in almost all cases power consumption = amount of heat generated... you can also try not to set your water temperature too cold (for example 25ºC)... the bigger the difference between your desired water temperature and room temperature, the harder ur chiller will have to work.

[ryanlio]

Other tips:

1. You can use a fan to cool your tank but it'll evaporate your tank water faster so you'll have to top up with FW more often.

2. Insulate as much of your piping as possible (esp from your chiller output).

3. reduce the number of internal water circulation devices/upgrade to better ones eg. wavemakers with external motors and internal propellers.

Thanks AT,

Might implement point 2.

fyi, tried different chiller setup and logged the chiller's running time.

1. setting the chiller to run if temp is more than 29 degrees and to chill water down to 28 degrees (total chiller daily run time 52mins)

2. setting the chiller to run if temp is more than 28.5 degrees and to chill water down to 27 degrees (total chiller daily run time 2hr 10mins)

I'm not into discussing about chiller efficiency cos I'm trying to keep things simple.

Just wanna let reefer see the differences as some reefer might not be able to take comprehensive statistical data.

will look for insulation for my pipes and monitoring its efficiency.

Keep the ideas coming in.

[ryanlio]

Be more sensitive to your equipments' power consumption... in almost all cases power consumption = amount of heat generated... you can also try not to set your water temperature too cold (for example 25ºC)... the bigger the difference between your desired water temperature and room temperature, the harder ur chiller will have to work.

Thx Jervis,

can't agree more.

heat generated is passed into its surrounding medium.

I used to plumb my return pump in my sump. this means that the heat will be transferred to the water medium. water, being a lesser conductor of heat as compared to air will require more energy to cool (pardon my half baked thermodynamic theory). Hence, i had since plumbed the return externally to allow the pump to be air cooled. (previously did a test on a pail of water.. man.. even with eheim.. the heat generated was high enough to make my morning breakfast's half boiled egg).

might consider running natural filteration, ie, algae, mangoves, etc in place of my skimmer for nutrient exports. advisable?

[Gouldian]

Hi guys,

Here's my humble experience.

Past: 1/3 hp Daeil chiller inside cabinet next to sump. Struggled to maintain a constant temperature during hotter months and ran practically non-stop. In order to dissipate the heat, have to add another fan inside the sump. Livingroom is hot and noisy due to chiller.

Present: DIYed a 1/2 hp Starmex connected to a Titanium heat exchanger. Cooler and quieter livingroom, paid lesser for my uitilities, lesser cut in and out, sump fan not running since the change.

[Gouldian]

My humble experience 2:

Past: 2 x 250w Aqualight Pendant

Present: 1 x 400w Lumenarc

Effects: Can't tell the difference, so far no complains from corals too.

[bgrking]

Hi,

I would like to contribute too. The most efficient way of reducing heat (no costs at all!), is..........................

to place your tank away from the windows, and best of all...

place it at a direction that always get natural wind blow !

thats what i did for my current 2 feet tank and it maintains @ 26-29 degrees without using fan or chiller at all! somemore im using T5HO lightings!

Cheers,

bgrking

[tigershark]

use a shorter tank + wider water surface... encourage more natural evaporation and lower temp....

more windy area to setup ur tank, if not, buy a fan and use it as exhaust fan to reduce the humidity in your fish tank room....