Outdoor Chiller Housing
After attempting to have the chiller in the tank room and duct the heat outside I ended up having to put the chiller outside. I knew I would need to build some type of housing to protect the chiller from the weather elements. I also needed to provide some good air circulation inside the housing to exhaust the hot air produced by the chiller out so it wouldn't hinder performance.
At this point in the setup I wanted to do the most cost-effective, yet efficient, outdoor chiller setup I could find. The search began at the local hardware stores. I came across a rubbermaid pool storage container that was on sale for $40 at Menards. Then I found a large attic ventilation fan (1350cfm) with an adjustable thermostat, also at Menards, for around $49. I also found an intake screen (not sure what these are really called) for about $7. I also grabbed some bolts and insulating foam and I was almost ready to go. I still needed a bunch of 1.5" spa flex to do the run but couldn't find any locally that was reasonably priced so I had to get that online. I ended up ordering 2 50ft. rolls to do the run. The chiller is now located about 9' up and 40' horizontally away from the tank. Luckily, I was already using an Iwaki 100 RLT to supply the chiller so I didn't need to upgrade. This pump does the job, but the long pipe run did cut back the flow quite a bit. So what I did was cut out a section on the side of the container to put the intake screen in and then bolted it in. Then I cutout a section on the top of the container for the attic fan and bolted it on. Finally, I cut a couple holes on the back side of the container for the pipes. I then sealed everything up with foam sealant to keep the weather elements out. I also had to cut a couple holes into the house and I was able to run the pipe along the floor boards so it is all hidden.
Here are some pictures:
I posted this project on my tank thread at reefcentral.com and a couple people pointed out to me that in order to have a chiller located outside in my type of climate I would need to have a condensor fan cycling switch installed or else I would kill the condensor when it gets cold out. So I picked up a Ranco fan cycling switch on ebay for around $20 and had a local HVAC professional install it, which cost me another $60.
I have had this setup running for a year now and it has worked flawlessly. There has never been a single drop of water in the housing and the snow drifts always stay several inches away from the air intake.