Which Chiller? Hailea vs Boyu

[GoogleGenie]

Hi all

Back growing after a few years off.

I’m looking to invest in another chiller for my other grow space. I currently own a Hailea HC300A which comfortably keeps my RDWC temps between 18-19C. It’s solid and does the job.

I wondered if there was any reason I should go for this BOYU brand? This wasn’t around last time I was growing, does anyone know anything about it?

For me the BOYU-L075 would do the job if I were to go that way. There would need to be a pretty compelling reason for me to switch from Hailea though. I use their air and water pumps and water chiller, and really happy with all of them. Reliable gear.

 

[Stoned Ape]

I am happy with hailea too. Improved my dwc dramatically

 

[GoogleGenie]

I am happy with hailea too. Improved my dwc dramatically

Thanks for sharing @Stoned ape. Another reason for me to stick with them

Which system do you use? Or did you diy?

 

[Stoned Ape]

Diy 100 litre tub 4 air stones 1tenth hp chiller. And the pump for the chiller moves heaps of water around in the res. Running chiller outside tent. 4 plants in there

 

[BirdieNumNum]

I am in UK...

Some cheap chillers have appeared on eBay this year.. $100

have previously had a second hand Hal...

35L 100W Aquarium Water Chiller Fish Tank Shrimp Cooling Crystal refrigeration

 

[GoogleGenie]

I am in UK...

Some cheap chillers have appeared on eBay this year.. $100

have previously had a second hand Hal...

35L 100W Aquarium Water Chiller Fish Tank Shrimp Cooling Crystal refrigeration 871248863203 | eBay

This aquarium chiller applies high-quality material for durability. It is low-noise, power-saving, high-efficient & has excellent heat dissipation. This is our new 35L 100W aquarium water cooling machine with many functions.

ebay.us

Hi @BirdieNumNum. I’m in the UK too. Thanks for sharing, I hadn’t seen those before. I run RDWC so I would need something with a larger capacity than those eBay ones, I can see those being useful for single buckets though

 

[BirdieNumNum]

Perhaps not. Given UK temps a smalker chiller might be powerful enough to reduce temps enough. Also in the UK, I would have thought it is easy to keep a reservoir that isnt in your tent or room cool enough without a chiller - most of the time..on the odd ocassion your rez goes high cool it with ice packs etc. Running a chiller costs the out lay for the machine electricity noise etc... Most of the time uk ambient house temps wouldnt get a rez up so high it threatens the crop. Consider CO2 supplimentation...before rez cooling... I use 2 x 100l dwc rezs in a 1.2 m x 60cm small tent. Dont even need to cool them and never had root issues. Also a cooler isnt without risk as more pipes that could leak...more noise etc..

 

[GoogleGenie]

Perhaps not. Given UK temps a smalker chiller might be powerful enough to reduce temps enough. Also in the UK, I would have thought it is easy to keep a reservoir that isnt in your tent or room cool enough without a chiller - most of the time..on the odd ocassion your rez goes high cool it with ice packs etc. Running a chiller costs the out lay for the machine electricity noise etc... Most of the time uk ambient house temps wouldnt get a rez up so high it threatens the crop. Consider CO2 supplimentation...before rez cooling... I use 2 x 100l dwc rezs in a 1.2 m x 60cm small tent. Dont even need to cool them and never had root issues. Also a cooler isnt without risk as more pipes that could leak...more noise etc..

Thanks @BirdieNumNum. I’ve tried a few things to deal with res temperatures. And a chiller is without a doubt the most effective if you can afford it. Although temps in the uk are generally low they do still regularly exceed 19degrees c which is the temp I aim to keep my nutrient solution. At this temperature the most amount of dissolved oxygen is available to the plant.

For me the advantages of having a chiller far outweigh the disadvantages. For one, the peace of mine alone is worth it. I get no problems with roots at all when running a chiller, without, even with beneficials I’ve hit issues before. Never had a leak from the chiller or connectors, as long as you secure your input and output there should be no reason to be concerned about your chiller leaking.

Also the yield. I’ve ran the same strain with and without. Without I struggled to consistently hit 12oz per 1.2x1.2m space. With a chiller, I can clear 24oz (dry) regularly, no problem.

When running a chiller, you don’t want it to be strained. Best to buy one with a larger capacity than you need so it doesn’t over exert itself. Noise isn’t much of an issue as the Hailea I have isn’t very loud. It produces some heat but my ventilation setup takes care of that.

I considered CO2 supplementation when we had a heat spell earlier in the year, and it just isn’t worth it for me, all things considered. If I were to run it I’d run it for part of flowering. But for the small space I have and the fact they are 2 separate areas it makes things complicated and expensive, mainly because I run constant exhaust with negative pressure. It also wouldn’t change the fact that the water temp in the res would be less than ideal with less dissolvable oxygen available to the plants.

If you can afford one, I would strongly recommend investing in a chiller if you are running DWC and especially if running RDWC. Without a chiller, personally I wouldn’t even bother, it makes that much of a difference. I’m running 2 spaces at the mo, one RDWC and the other Coco. I’m changing the coco for another RDWC, which is why I need another chiller. If you buy a good one and don’t like it, it won’t be difficult to sell on.