TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk
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I used ice Olly, but only in the short run. I now rely on natural cooling for my greenhouse to cool down. As for cooling a tank, go for ice, peltier system (quite a bit of hassle) or you can do what member "swords" has done here, re route some air from an AC unit and re humidify it with an utrasonic fogger and direct it into the tank.
Yes I use ice for my one Darlingtonia, but not very effective as the ice usually melts in an hour or so. You can get peltier junctions at your local electronics store, straight off the shelfs. Maybe evaporative cooling would help? Sounds like what swords is doing, lithopsman designed a system intended to bring the temp down by 10 degrees celcius or so. Can't seem to find the thread now...
Whoa, that's my name! Actually, I was seeing cooling like this:
The lights off brings down probably 3-4 degrees, the peltiers another 2-3, and the fans just blowing fresh air probably added about 3 more for cooling. Remember, this is all in *F.
The thread is in the Greenhouse/Terrarium section...
This methon is strictly experimental at this point.
~LM~
I still don't believe peltiers are practical for a large sized uninsulated grow chamber. If you want serious cooling (15-20degrees below room temperature) it needs to be refrigerated as in refrigerator/freezer or a rigged up AC system.
They are $$$. I asked one of the pop(soda, to you East Coast people, lol) companies, and for a used condenser, they wanted about $250. I know nothing about electronics or refridgeration, but you can get a dorm room fridge for under $100. I got a six pack fridge at Toys R Us for $20. I am not sure if it will work, but I will find out.
Definition of a peltier junction: Peltier Junction - When electrical current is applied to a thermocouple a temperature difference is created, with one side of the thermocouple being hotter than room temperature and the other being cooler. Peltier Junctions (Peltiers for short) can be used to cool microprocessors, where the cool side contacts the microprocessor and the hot side contacts a heatsink. Peltier Junctions are rated in watts. If you do not use the appropriate wattage a Peltier Junction will be ineffective.
Basically a peltier junction is a heat pump, which pumps heat away from the body, hence reducing the temp. Quite a sophisticated piece of equipment.
Just do a search on it and it will come up a ton of info and companies selling it.
Evaporative cooling is when water takes heat away from a body to evaporate, thus reducing the amount of heat in the body and hence the temperature.
Couldn't you just rip the cooling units out of a fridge and hook it up to a thermostat?
Then throw in one of those foggers to keep it a bit more humid? (cooling element will most likely bind humidity, thus lowering the relative hum...)
Can you elaborate more on the "six pack fridge" you mentioned getting at Toys R Us? Is there a brand name, and how much did the unit cost? This sounds like it has potential.
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