Lowe's Copper Coil on clearance

I"m not sure if it's countrywide or not, but I went into my local Lowe's to check the copper tubing prices. Their website had 50' of 5/8 OD/ 1/2" ID for $75. When I got to the store, almost all of their tubing was on clearance.

I found 1/2" ID Type K 60' coil for $32. Normally it's $103. So now I can finally make my whirlpool chiller!

This tubing is the same size as common 1/2" copper sweat fittings. They also had a number of other sizes on clearance as well.

Wow, I guess I'll go check out my local Lowe's tomorrow.

K copper has a pretty heavy wall (thickness). I don't know if you will get the same cooling properties as you would with the thinner refrigeration type tubing? Maybe someone that knows about thermal dynamics will comment. I know baseboard heating uses thin walled copper for better heat tranfer. I also recall someone stating that 3/8" id cools better per foot then 1/2"

Yup, chemical engineers can swing the bat when it comes to thermodynamics. Thin walled copper tubing is preferable since it will have a lower resistance to heat flow and thus a higher overall heat transfer coefficient. Still, a steal is a steal!

OLDBREW said:

K copper has a pretty heavy wall (thickness). I don't know if you will get the same cooling properties as you would with the thinner refrigeration type tubing?

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Yeah, my preference was the 5/8" OD refrigerant line, however the $43 savings made it doable for me. I already use a counterflow chiller which works really well, I just want to see if I can bet better hop character using the whirlpool chiller. The experiment just got a little cheaper!

Copper coil is a weird item to put on clearance. I seriously doubt that would be a widespread thing. There'd be plumbers renting Uhaul's driving across the country pillaging every Lowe's on the way.

Awesome price. I'll have to check out the local Lowe's. As far as tubing thickness.. I doubt you could measurably tell the difference. Copper conducts like mad.

JKoravos said:

Copper coil is a weird item to put on clearance. I seriously doubt that would be a widespread thing. There'd be plumbers renting Uhaul's driving across the country pillaging every Lowe's on the way.

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Yeah I stopped by my local Lowe's yesterday to check, and it was regular price. I too thought it was strange, but I thought maybe Lowe's was phasing out some of those products from their inventory.

I purchased 50' of 1/2" refrigeration copper for $38 at lowes. I thought I got a good deal at Mendards for 1/4" x 60 for $46 so I checked lowes while buying other stuff and jumped on this when I saw the price. This is in Chicago.

Note there was no clearance or other special markings on the shelf. Regular color price tag.

I checked another store in Cleveland. No clearance. Bierstein - did you find it at the Mentor store?

This was the Willoughby store on Saturday. They had 3 more coils left. All on the top shelf.

I picked up a 1/2"X60' Type L coil for 28.50. The guy at the register did a little bit of a double take.

Thanks Bier. I owe you one.