New Chiller - Inline or drop-in?

I'm getting ready to buy a chiller before summer strikes once again out here in phoenix I wanted to get some feedback on whether you guys/gals like the inline chillers or the drop-in chillers and what the pro/cons are to either

I like the idea of a drop in chiller as I wouldn't have to do anymore plumbing or buy another pump to get the water to flow through the chiller, but I honestly don't know enough about either to make a good choice. Any feedback would be a appreciated.

 

thing i like about dropin is the cleaning,and like u said no more equip to add heat ur tryin to get rid of. what size u lookin into?

 

Honestly not even sure what size I would need yet.

 

we got the same size tank..and the research suggests 1/3 to 1/2 hp depending on how much pull down you need

 

Thanks, I'll start checking for chillers that size.

 

I am in Phoenix too and i recently sold my 1/4HP chiller since it never ran anymore, two 4" computer fans and a clip on fan over the sump are more than enough. You are welcome to look at my setup for ideas, you probably don't need one either. The only thing I do recommend is a good ATO since fans do add to the evaporation.

My tank is 100G with a 30G sump and 2x250w MH and 2x140w VHO is a totally enclosed canopy running 10hrs a day. The house has a digital setback thermostat and is warm during the day while we are at work so it does not help much and the tank still stays 79-81 year round.

 

I run a 1/3 hp In line TradeWinds on a 265g and it works great. I just run a manifold off my return pump to run it. Some of these tradewinds can handle a lot of flow so you may be able to run all of your return pump through it.

Only problem I see with running fans if after years of this you will start to notice metal things in the house rusting unless you have great outside ventilation. Hinges on cabinets, knobs on drawers.....fans are easy fix but will cause other problems later on.

 

Here in Phoenix we don't have a problem with anything rusting. I have a 24 gal and run a 1/10hp chiller. It works, but not too efficiently. If I were to get another I would probably get more than I need so that it does'nt run forever. Check out craigslist if you are going to get one. There is a guy in Gilbert that finds stuff and re-sells it on there. Good luck.

 

Yep, there are times when it is nice to have the extra moisture in the air! The system has been up over 6 years and both the house and stand/canopy are doing fine. I would still look at fans over the chiller if possible, there are some cases where it may not work well but usually they do a great job with our low humidity. These are with fans only, the chiller used to sit in the cabinet to the right.

 

That would definitely be a much cheaper option, my only concern is that the room I have my tank is not well insulated. But I suppose I could re-insulate it for less that the cost of a chiller :-/