Good glycol chiller alternative?

[acarter5251]

I came across a deal on this water chiller on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Active-Aqua-AACH25HP-Hydroponic-Chiller/dp/B07BHHP71C) and was wondering if this would work as an alternative to a glycol chiller? I would plan to use it for 2-3 carboys (5 gal) at most and would be using it at 70-80 degrees ambient temperature. Thanks in advance!

 

[SanPancho]

these units typically can't get lower than 45-50F. so while you can control your Ferm temp, you can't crash. which means you gotta disconnect it and get it into a fridge/freezer or somewhere you can crash.

 

[MidnightRising]

It absolutely will work for holding fermentation temps. Not sure if I would trust it with 3 5 gallon carboys though, that's a lot of heat to transfer.

However, it will only work for holding ale temperatures. Remember, water freezes at 32F and you generally need the liquid 6 degrees colder than your desired temp (i.e. if you want it at 50 you need the liquid at 44 at maximum). So you can only really get it down to maybe 40 in perfect ambient temperatures. Meaning lagering/cold crashing is going to be done in another chamber no questions about it.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I have the smaller 1/10hp chiller for my hydroponic garden. It can easily cool my 30 gallon system to the lowest temp setting it goes to ( I can't remember what that was however). That's fighting some pretty warm lights which I imagine have alot more heating power then fermentation. As far as I remember my chiller is supposed to be capable of at least 50 gallons. As others noted though it won't go low enough to cold crash and for that reason it's not a good glycol replacement. Cheers

 

[Jag75]

Have you looked into the DIY chiller? This is definitely smaller then the DIY. My chiller is about 21 x 34 if I'm not mistaken. It was cheaper to build then the price for this hydroponic . If your wanting to cold crash or Lager this may not work very well.

 

[Blazinlow86]

Have you looked into the DIY chiller? This is definitely smaller then the DIY. My chiller is about 21 x 34 if I'm not mistaken. It was cheaper to build then the price for this hydroponic . If your wanting to cold crash or Lager this may not work very well.

I'd agreed with this. If you had one kicking around and were on a tight budget it would be ok but I definitely wouldn't buy one for brewing. Cheers

 

[augiedoggy]

I have the smaller 1/10hp chiller for my hydroponic garden. It can easily cool my 30 gallon system to the lowest temp setting it goes to ( I can't remember what that was however). That's fighting some pretty warm lights which I imagine have alot more heating power then fermentation. As far as I remember my chiller is supposed to be capable of at least 50 gallons. As others noted though it won't go low enough to cold crash and for that reason it's not a good glycol replacement. Cheers

the new grainfather chiller designed to control temps on 4 grainfather conicals at once is only a 1/10hp aquarium chiller...(a very expensive one)

these will go lower you just have to bypass the built in temp controllers and use some other thermostat like a inkbird or stc1000... honestly it would be no different than doing the same thing with a fridge of chest freezer... the simplest way is to just remove the built in temp probe wire so it reads warmer and then control the whiole thing with another controller.

 

[Blazinlow86]

the new grainfather chiller designed to control temps on 4 grainfather conicals at once is only a 1/10hp aquarium chiller...(a very expensive one)

these will go lower you just have to bypass the built in temp controllers and use some other thermostat like a inkbird or stc1000... honestly it would be no different than doing the same thing with a fridge of chest freezer... the simplest way is to just remove the built in temp probe wire so it reads warmer and then control the whiole thing with another controller.

Great point. I'm currently not using mine so maybe I can give it a shot to see how low it can actually get. It would be a great size for someone cooling a single fermentor if it can get down to crashing temps. Cheers

 

[Nummisoft]

the new grainfather chiller designed to control temps on 4 grainfather conicals at once is only a 1/10hp aquarium chiller...(a very expensive one)

I thinks it's possible because grainfather conicals are well insulated.

 

[augiedoggy]

I thinks it's possible because grainfather conicals are well insulated.

so ive been told however its kind of unclear whether is the jacket of water/glycol between the walls or actual insulation on top of that?

 

[Nummisoft]

so ive been told however its kind of unclear whether is the jacket of water/glycol between the walls or actual insulation on top of that?

At least current (new?) model has description "The Conical Fermenter is constructed with a double walled skin filled with a thick layer of polyurethane foam for insulation."

I think the unique valve is partly result of insulation.

I have also seen insulation jacket for grainfather conical. Maybe older model did not have insulation or it was insufficient.