Air to air, or air to liquid intercooler/heat exchanger for skimmer line ran outside?

[A_Blind_Reefer]

c02 media goes so quick and is so expensive,

It doesn't seem like very high cfm for a whole house, but im not familiar with these, I know my bath fan is like 120cfm and it moves some good air

Correct, that is a single room unit. If I’m going to go through the hassle I would get one for the whole home. Just the cost of materials for my home would be $2400 (that’s with my contractors discount, I kept my license even though I can no longer work). Plus, I have been told that they are not very efficient in hot, dry environments so my ac would be running considerably more on those hot days. They work much more efficiently when they have humidity to work with.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Umm, I am wondering about the purpose of this? It is not heat that you are wanting to exchange, but CO2 right? So you can't have any barrier to the passage of gas. This whole premise seems to be wrong unless I am missing something.

Both actually. Fresh air from outside can be extremely hot (120 degrees) in the summer months. Currently it’s in the high 90s, low 100s. Bringing this air into my skimmer raises the tank temp. I do not know by how much as I have a chiller. I do know from the apex that my chiller is running twice as long as it did before to keep the temp stable. So, if the outside air could be tempered by a simple means, like being drawn through a coil to dissipate the heat, I could bring in fresh air to my skimmer without raising the tank temperate.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

As for using an HRV/ERV, that is far superior to using outside air to the skimmer. I use one myself.

I don’t question that. It’s two fold. Cost, which would be a few grand and the fact that they are not very efficient in the extreme hot, arid desert southwest. It would be great all year with the exception of the few hottest months. It would still work at air exchange, just require much more ac as they cannot temper 120 degree, dry heat down very much. This blowing hot air into the house.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

I think they were worried about raising tank temperature by using outside air to pull into the skimmer that can get to 120°f . One suggestion was the erv.

And yes that does seem like a potential issue using 120° air would probably increase overall tank temperature

Exactly.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

If you are pulling the air from the attic, it is much hotter than the outside temp.

Just get a roll of 25-50’ of 1/2-3/4” copper tubing to connect in the outside air line. Don’t even have to uncoil it. If you need more temp drop, blow a fan on the coil.

This is along the lines of my thinking. My attic is actually much cooler than the outside temp. It’s a newer home with spray foam insulation on the underside of the roof. There is no insulation over the ceiling as it’s not needed. The attic does get hot, it’s not climate controlled, but it’s cooler than one would think.

 

[Dan_P]

Ok, another of my beat to death topic, with a twist, questions. Yes, for a few thousand dollars one can install an erv/hrv system. I know this. However, when in somewhat extreme climates, or for those not wanting to go through the hassle, or unable to install a ventilation system (like in an condo), is there a smaller scale option? From my gear head days, I’m thinking of an intercooler for a turbo/supercharger. Has anyone diy’d a device to cool/heat the air in your skimmer line that was ran outside? Summers here get to 120 degrees occasionally, and over 110 degrees pretty much everyday through the summer. I would think it would be pretty simple to fab an air to air radiator of sorts on the cheap. Of course, a liquid to air, stainless or titanium version mounted in the sump would be much smaller and much more efficient, but also much more expensive. Just thinking out of the box here. It should be a zero maintenance device. Even a keg chiller, tube setup might work I’m thinking. I think you can get a 120’ stainless keg chiller coil for around $150. My fab days are over, so it’s not something I can tackle anymore.Thoughts?

Bubbling it through water would cool it, yes?