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Most efficient/cheapest automated cooling

  • Thread starter lithopsman
  • Start date
  • #21
I used ice last night, it got down to 60*, my goal is 55*, and I figured out how, by adding a little more ice
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  • #22
couple thoughts, first, do a search on desktop fountain ultrasonic humidifiers, theya re incredibly small, just the disk. Don't get one with a light attached, as that DOES get hot.

Also, I have NO Idiea if this would work or not.. but if you go to www.xoxide.com you can find some liquid CPU cooling units that move water to a metal plate, strip the heat away, and then move the water to a thermal sump resivour, where fans cool it off. the process is continuous, you would just need to either mount the plate inside the tank, or on the glass... and again, as to whether it would work or not, is another questions, plus, I think they are wired to run off a computers power supply.
 
  • #23
Thanks! Last night it got down to around 54*F
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I also got my PFT Bareroot Sarracenia!
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I now have a minibog with 6 new Sarracenia, a PFT VFT double plant 'typical', and a Sarracenia rubra!
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  • #24
How did you get ddown to 54*F. Plus I wouldnt go lower then 55*F it might start to damage yor plants. I use 2 frozen water bottles and 2 cups with ice in them for a 35 gallon tank. It gets down to 60-62*F wich is fine.
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  • #25
Heat and Ultrasonic Humidifiers.

Nep. G and joseph's comments about ultrasonic humidifiers heating up their terrariums tweaked my curiosity so I did a Google search on "How do ultrasonic humidifiers work?"  I checked five different sites and they all said about the same thing: ultrahigh frequency is used to create water droplets approx. 1 micron in size.  That they are about 90% more efficient than steam humidifiers since they don't have to heat up a tank of water, yada, yada, yada.  I was coming up with a blank until I read how to make a cloud machine.  It had one warning that cleared things up and made me say DUHHHH!  I should have figured this out quicker!  It seems that you need to modify the fan exhaust port in the humidifier that blows the vapor out into the air, this occasionally caused some humidifiers to quit working because they also used the fan to cool the transistors and other electronics on the circuit board of the humidifier.  In other words the heat from ulrasonic humidifiers is coming from the electronic components not the oscillator that produces the water drops.  This brings something else up.  Electronics and high humidity are a bad combo over long periods of time unless the electronics are sealed so that water vapor can't get to them and cause corrosion on exposed metal parts.  You might want to check the electronics and wires for corrosion occasionally just to be safe.
 
  • #26
Philtraper2, don't go below 55F? Most highlands need quite cold nights to grow properly. I usually have mine drop to 50F in the gh then let the heater bring it back up to 60F then it drops back to 50 gradually again, the plants love it. Also some of the true "ultraultrahighlanders" like N. villosa, N. lamii needs very cold nights usually in the high 30's to low 40's such as a range of 38F-45F.

Steve, very neat my fan port comes up past the nebulizer and you can see the fan in the port, the air that comes out of there is very warm so that must be how mine works...now about a cloud machine how do you make one of those?
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  • #27
CarnivourKid:

I read that "how it works" thing, and at first was a bit incredulous about the "adiabatic" humidification that ultrasonic is supposed to do (adiabatic means no energy is transferred as heat).  Then later in the article it makes it clear that by "adiabatic" it's referring to the action on the incoming air, not the water.  I'm 99% sure there has to be a certain amount of energy lost as heat in the process of nebulizing (or however the process of putting the droplets into the air is called), because there's no such thing as a perfect cycle or work without heat (2nd law of thermodynamics).  In this case, what that means is that it's not possible to do the work on the droplets needed to push them into the air, and then have them recombine with the bulk of the water, with no net energy expenditure (ie without the water absorbing some heat in the process).

In other words, some heating of the water HAS TO take place, just because work is being done on it.  That means that even the small misters with just a piezo element and transformer (it seems there are two basic devices offered, the smaller of which is probably more than enough for any terrarium.  The cheapest i could find that one for is here, if the shipping is not too much, and it comes with a replacement ceramic element) will heat the water somewhat.

I wish i could explain it more quantitatively, but my thermodynamics is much more rusty than it should be considering i have qualifying exams in a month.

PS OT: Are you a scoutmaster, BCK?  Everytime i see your sig, that's what comes to mind - a troop of 12-year-olds running rampant across the countryside with their leader just realizing they've gone.  LOL
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  • #28
Thanks guys! This really helps, but I'm not totally sold on the need for an ultrasonic humidifier...
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Is it neccessary if most of the lid is covered?
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  • #29
I don't think you would need any sort of humidifying equipment with a terrarium unless one of the sides it missing! usually one would have to REMOVE excess humidity from a terrarium.
 
  • #30
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (D muscipula @ April 26 2003,08:43)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">....Are you a scoutmaster, BCK?  Everytime i see your sig, that's what comes to mind - a troop of 12-year-olds running rampant across the countryside with their leader just realizing they've gone.  LOL
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Well at the time that saying came to my attention I was handling something far worse than 12 year olds......Adults!  I was foreman of a housekeeping crew at a ski resort.  There was a lot of turn over in personnel, mostly because people hired on thinking housework is easy.  Which it is if you don't have to clean the whole place spotless in 2 hours or less and then repeat the process in 6 more condos.  Needless to say they weren't very good at following instructions most of the time.   My sister-in-law, after listening to me discuss these ja.. uuhh, uhmm, people, bought me a plaque with a momma goose looking over her shoulder at her gosslings behind her that were wandering off.  That phrase was painted at the bottom of the plaque.
 
  • #31
Thanks NG, I have all but about 30-45% of the lid covered. That space is screened in, though... So, I think I'm pretty much fine
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Bring on the Nepenthes rajah!!
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  • #32
I wouldn't jump into a rajah right now....start off easy go for an N. burbidgeae for say, it is much more tolerant of temps and easier to grow.
 
  • #33
NG, sorry... I don't mean to be ignorant of your post, but before I read it, I ordered the following from Tony Paroubek:
Nepenthes rajah
N. x Judith Finn
Cephalotus follicularis

Honestly, I'm not abeginner with highlanders... I was just seeing if anyone had any automated cooling ideas... Thanks a million for always replying!!!
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  • #34
Don't blame yourself it's ok that you ordered and good that you did!, I thought you were going to order sometime later one. Good luck with it, it's not difficult as long as you can get nights temps in 50's. 55 is great and 50 is even better yet. Mine is around 55 and lower at night. Check out my page for more info: http://www.geocities.com/argentii01/rajah.html
 
  • #35
Thanks! Unfortunately, I couldn't open your website... (stupid spam filter
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(what about the link?...)
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I believe last night at around ten o'clock, it was 53*F, So it should be fine!
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I give them LOT'S of Tender, Loving, CARE!!!
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It never gets above 80*F, and is about as bright as possible w/out burning... Thanks again!
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  • #37
unfortunately, it doesn't work... Why don't we go to the live chat so we don't just post back and forth, back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,back and forth,
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