cheap wort chiller

I am new to this but already wanting to have all of the nice little toys. I was at a local box store looking at material to build my own wort chiller. I came across some 1/4" copper tubing (20ft.) for a refrigerator water hook up and a hose to 1/4" compression fitting. I was thinking I could use the fitting to connect to garden hose and run through copper tubing and then out into big tub for waste water. I know this would not be ideal but for about $25 should work well enough, right?

Yeah, that's what an Immersion chiller is. Just sanitize it.

it should work, it just might take a while. the more surface area you have in contact with the wort, the more efficient the cooling will be.

the more surface area you have in contact with the wort, the more efficient the cooling will be.

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+1. Is that 1/4" ID? It would work but you would probably use more water. The key is to maximize your efficiency by pulling out as much heat as possible before the water is expelled. 50' would be better. If you used 50' you would take out more heat from the wort using the same amount of water. Or use a larger diameter. I used 20' of 5/8" OD copper and I can use my well water in the summer and get down below 70 in under 15 min (with stirring). It was $35 from Lowes. I also got fancy and used 2 hose fittings, 4 elbows and 2 straight pieces instead of bending it up so I have about $48 into it but it's the cats a**! After spending $15 on ice and freezing a zillion plastic bottles for the first 2 batches, I'd had enough.

If you are concerned with using too much water then remember, if the water coming out the end of the hose is cooler than the wort, you aren't getting the most from your water. It's going too fast.