5 Best Water Chiller for Hydroponics Gardening

What is Water Chiller?

A water chiller is a pretty simple piece of equipment. The main purpose of using a water chiller is to help chill your water down to the temperature you want. It also helps to cool your water down for any soil.

 

It is like an air-conditioner for your water and is especially helpful for your hydroponics gardening.

For hydroponic gardening, we do not want warm temperatures because warm temperatures will increase the chances of bacterial growth, which will cause root rot and other problems. So keeping your water temperature under control might be one of the simplest things you can do.

Holding Higher DO Levels

One of the benefits you can get from lower temperatures water is that the water can hold higher dissolved oxygen or DO levels.

Higher DO levels will give you faster growth, healthier roots, less chance of any root rot or bacteria growing, and that nutrient becomes much more available.

I think the sweet spot will be between 64 and 67 degrees. The highest degrees I would want my water running will be around 72 degrees.

Water Chillers Are Rated in Size

When you’re considering buying water chillers, you need to know that they are rated in size. Generally, most water chillers you can get in the market are 1/10 horsepower, 1/4 horsepower, 1/2 horsepower, 1 horsepower, and 1 1/2 horsepower.

 

Commercial Water Chillers

1 and 1 1/2 horsepower are commercial units. They are usually mounting to the ceiling. They need an external pump to move the water through them.

These types of water chillers have an in port and out port on the top. The function is to push the water into the in port. It will run through the chiller with freshwater or nutrient solution and lower them to the desired temperature.

The other side is the out port. When running a commercial chiller connected to a pump, you will want to make sure that the pump has enough lifts to get that water from the spot that it is sucking from all the way up to the chiller.

Pick The Right Size For Yourself

Lift is significant when you’re sizing a pump. The 1/10 horsepower chiller is rated for right around 40 gallons at the max. The quarter horse powers double that, so it is around 80 gallons at the max.

It would help if you sized it properly like an air conditioner to determine how much water you’re trying to chill. You don’t want to do the minimum because you don’t want the chiller to run constantly, just like an air conditioner.

You also don’t want to really oversize it and have it be short cycling. So you need to do a little research to figure out the size of water you need to chill and then pick the right size for yourself.

After you pick the size, the manufacturer will recommend the pump sizes to get the pump that has enough lifts for you to move the water to your desired distance.

Other Buying Tips

When buying water chillers, you need to know that these chillers o get dirty. The water or nutrient solution on the inside will start to get funky after you have used it for some time.

To keep your chiller clean, you need to incorporate some flushing agent or cleaning regimen in your systems to ensure that your chillers do not harbor or inoculate your system.

When you shut down your system, make sure you drain your chiller because if you don’t do this, you’re going to end up with some stagnant water in there. The next time you turn your chillers on, it’s going to shoot a bunch of bacteria right into your system.

There are many different models of water chillers you can get on the market. Most of them are producing the same heat. You’ll notice some variance and how they actually function in higher ambient temperatures.

If the rooms really hot, the capability of the system starts to go down. To avoid that, you will want to place them in a relatively cool room or room temperature.

The water chillers do produce some heat. Therefore some people do like to keep them outdoor just like the air-conditioner compressor.

Many people are having difficulty when it comes to choosing water chillers. I will list out 5 of them, which I think are the best based on the feedback from users who have used them for their hydroponics garden.

1. EcoPlus 1/10HP Chiller

The EcoPlus 1/10HP Chiller was made for the horticultural industry. It is great to be used for hydroponics gardening.

It’s quiet even though you can still hear the noise or vibration in a silent environment. It is especially great to be used in an area that is hot most of the time.

This chiller is available in 3 models, which are 1/10 horsepower, 1/4 horsepower, and 1/2 horsepower.

Even though the manual said it does a 1 degree Fahrenheit on-and-off cycle, the cycle actually takes 3 degrees Fahrenheit.

There are some adjustable options that you can do with this system, like setting the temperature. It would be best to hold the set button to set the setpoint and set the temperature with the up and down button.

You can adjust the actual water temperature by pressing the up and down buttons at the same time. You need to hold them for around five seconds, and you can adjust the actual water temperature up or down. It will then stores its initial setting in the system.

The front panel can be easily take off for cleaning. You will find a screw-down there to remove it first before taking out the front panel.

At the back of the front panel is a mesh the same as the one that you can find on an air-conditioner unit. You can vacuum the mesh when there is dust accumulated.

Connecting the system is very easy. The on-and-off switch is at the side of the system. The in port and out port are at the top of the system where you can’t really screw that up.

I would recommend using metal clamps for the clamps because those clamps can save you from the flood.

Advantages

• The system is straightforward to operate.
• It is silent when operating without making too much noise.

Disadvantages

• The build quality of some parts is quite low.
• The size is huge.
• It put off a lot of heat.

Cooling Ranges

• 1/10 HP – Cools a 40-gallon reservoir by 15°F
• 1/6 HP – Cools a 65-gallon reservoir by 15°F
• 1/4 HP – Cools an 80-gallon reservoir by 15°F

2. Active Aqua AACH25HP Hydroponic Water Chiller

Assembly for this system is quite simple. It will help if you fit in the in and outfit. Then, place the system in a well-ventilated area so that the system can dissipate the heat.

You need to program the temperature controller. Thanks to the digital controller of this system, the program is pretty straightforward.  You will need a pump for this. I suggest you buy a black vinyl pump.

You can program the chiller to your desire temperature. The chiller compressor will turn on and off as needed to maintain the temperature for your hydroponics garden.

Once programmed, the chiller will display the ambient’s real-time temperature, making it easy to monitor through the first few days of operation.

Advantages

• Assembly is simple and easy.
• Good value for the money you spent.
• Very effective to keep the water to meet your desired temperature.

Disadvantages

• The sound it produces is a little louder compared to others.
• It is heavy.

Cooling Ranges

• 1/10 HP – Cools a 40-gallon reservoir by 15°F
• 1/4 HP – Cools an 80-gallon reservoir by 15°F
• 1/2 HP – Cools a 132-gallon reservoir by 15°F

3. JBJ Aquarium Arctica Titanium Chiller (My Pick)

JBJ is an aquarium chiller company that obtains a UL listing, making it among the safest and most reliable products you can get.

Many people love to buy this JBJ water chiller is because the system is operating in tranquil mode. So it would be best if you are no worried that you will get disturbed by the noise.

If you are unsure what size of chiller you should buy, you can head over to the JBJ website as they have prepared the chiller calculator that can help you calculate and ensure you get the correct chiller size for your hydroponics garden.

For this JBJ Aquarium Arctica Titanium chiller, you need to take out the in and out cap from the system when doing the installation.

There is a washer that uses to protect the unit. You need to pull out and discard that. Then clip back the cap, connect the hosing and pump, then everything is set. I recommend you use a pump with an adjustable flow regulator to adjust the water flow.

Advantages

• It is a tranquil unit.
• It does effectively dissipate a lot of heat.
• It can cool the water very fast and keep the temperature stable at the level that you want.

Disadvantages

• .No pump and hose come with the chiller. It would be best if you bought them separately.

Cooling Ranges

• 1/10 HP – Cools a 40-gallon reservoir by 15°F
• 1/3 HP – Cools an 80-gallon reservoir by 10-20°F
• 1/5 HP – Cools an 80-gallon reservoir by 15-20°F

4. Poafamx 16gal Aquarium Water Chiller

This is a compact type of chiller. You not only can use it to cool the water, but you can also use it to heat the water as well.

The recommended reservoir size is 16 gallons, and it is designed for continuous load.

The chiller will sense the water temperature, and it will turn the compressor on and off throughout the day. That’s how it maintains the constant temperature.

If something goes wrong with your electricity, the circuit will pop the circuit breaker before you get shocked.

Control buttons can be a little clunky. But once you have done the setting, you can leave it without the need to set it again.

Advantages

• Available at quite an affordable price.
• Easy to set up.
• Easy to operate where you can set it and let it run all the time.

Disadvantages

• The cooling fan may need improvement. It tends to break down quite often.
• The material used to make the unit may not be of good quality.

5. Hydrofarm Active Aqua Chiller

This water chiller is not a passive system. Instead, it is an active one with refrigerant components.

The system is easy to use where what you need to do is connect the in and out port, fill it with water, and power it on. Then it will start operating.

You can adjust the temperature by pressing down both arrow buttons and hold them for about 5 seconds. Then, you can press the up and down button to adjust to your desired temperature.

The system is featured with surge protection. In case of a power surge, the system will turn off itself automatically.

Advantages

• Can cool the water to your desired temperature very fast.
• The unit is very compact.
• Energy-saving.
• Eco-friendly.

Disadvantages

• The sound is a bit loud.
• It can be a bit confusing when setting this unit up.

Among these 5 water chillers that I recommend, my pick would be the JBJ Aquarium Arctica Titanium Chiller. Overall, it is a great chiller that can offer me all the functions that I need. In terms of price, it is also quite affordable, and it falls within the price range that I am willing to pay.

In terms of quality, it is reliable where most of the parts are built with good quality material. I have less worry about the part will break down after using for some time like some other water chillers did.

Nevertheless, all these are great products to help your hydroponics garden do much better. You will have healthier roots, less fluctuation, better yields, and quality from summer to winter. If you are living in a hot state, you definitely need one of these water chillers.

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