I have a chiller I made 20 years ago out of 20 feet (I think) of 3/8" OD soft copper tubing. It does a great job of chilling 4 or 5 gallons of hot wort from boiling down to about 90°, then gets pretty slow after that. I usually give up at about 75°.
I'm thinking of making another one with 50' of copper tubing. Would it be worth the extra expense (about $15 more) to use 1/2" OD copper instead of 3/8?
With 2 chillers, in the late summer when tapwater temperature is pretty warm, I can put the old chiller in a bucket of ice and salt to prechill the water before feeding it into the new one. The old one is not quite adequate even in the winter when the tapwater runs cold.
I'm thinking of making another one with 50' of copper tubing. Would it be worth the extra expense (about $15 more) to use 1/2" OD copper instead of 3/8?
With 2 chillers, in the late summer when tapwater temperature is pretty warm, I can put the old chiller in a bucket of ice and salt to prechill the water before feeding it into the new one. The old one is not quite adequate even in the winter when the tapwater runs cold.