My intentions are to maintain low 80s which seems to be impossible in this humidity.
Glacier Chiller Not Living Up To Expectations
- Thread starter Benkg43
- Start date
I'm fairly certain the chiller is way cheaper to use, even with the pump having to run @ 100%. I'm definitely happy to have a chiller versus a heat pump with chiller mode as I don't think I would ever turn that thing on. But to beat a super dead, and not very chilled horse, I wish it did better! What's interesting is this pool is new, so I have no experience in an environment where I'm not fighting lukewarm water. Looking forward to different weather for sure.
This one time when I was in college my friends and I were so desperate to chill our pool we went to the ice depot and loaded up the back of a truck with like 500 lbs of ice and dumped it in the pool. It was like dropping one ice cube into a cup of hot coffee -- it all just disappeared with no noticeable difference in temp lol.
jark87
Silver Supporter
- Jun 5, 2011
- 1,180
- Pool Size
- 25500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Jandy Aquapure 1400
Interestingly, my pool only gets down to 80° overnight. It just doesn’t rise as much as yours. But if I was able to keep pool in the 80s without the chiller, I probably never would have bought it.
Believe me, I tried that (not 500 lbs, but large blocks) and just about everything else I could.
nice. I've heard of somebody doing this before. I'm surprised it didn't make at least a tiny difference!
When I was a teenager, we had a freak heat wave with temps everyday 110 or higher for three straight weeks and my father had the local ice house crane in a 500# block of ice...it did nothing to cool the pool, but it did chip my cousin's tooth as we played on it!
twillux
Bronze Supporter
- Oct 20, 2020
- 49
- Pool Size
- 12000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Turbo Cell (T-CELL-5)
While I’ve only had my Glacier chiller a few weeks, my experience has been similar: it won’t get the pool down to low 80’s and maintain that in south Louisiana, but it will get down to 85 and hold to 88 or so during the heat of the day. These temps were my goal to begin with though, so I’ve been more than pleased; 88 is my ideal temp when it’s 95-100 outside, and the glacier has kept the pool from becoming a bathtub again.
From a cost perspective, with the VSP running at about 2200 rpm, enough to circulate the chilled water while managing cost, it’s only about $1.00 a day for the chiller and added pump runtime. More than reasonable, and I’ve really just been running it Friday to Sunday for the weekend.
Here are some shots of the last three days of energy usage; the pump spikes are just an hour of skimming, while the rest is Chiller and circulation runtime.
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I cannot get enough water pressure in to spin the chiller wands at a walking speed unless I'm at a minimum of 3100 RPM on the pump. 3200 RPM gets the wands moving to the speed I think they should be -- it's not fast, but it's not a painfully slow walk. This is with the intake actuator fully opened. So.... how are you able to get your chiller to operate @ 2200 RPM???
I gave my filters an extra good cleaning yesterday morning, including a 20-1 water-MA bath. It definitely improved the flow to the chiller and got the wands moving. But if I want a lower pump RPM, which I definitely do, I need to figure out how to get enough pressure into the chiller at that lower RPM.
Attachments
- May 3, 2014
- 58,545
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Toxophilite
Silver Supporter
I'd swear your plumber and mine were one in the same on layout. On your pool return side, see if that makeup line to spa is partially open - you would know if your spillover flows during pool mode.
It is. The actuator is right by the chiller and I have it fully opened.
That's a great idea, I can certainly send less water to the to the spa for that spillover. Sadly doing so exposes the imperfections of that spillover wall but such is life. Giving that a try now.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,545
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Do you have automation? If so, you can schedule the spillover and thus send all the flow to the chiller.
Done. I almost completely closed the water return for the spa spillover effect and now I am able to get enough pressure to the chiller with the pump at 2600 RPM. I'm sure I could do better if I killed the water to the spa completely but I don't want to kill that effect. Regardless, this is progress!
That's a really good point. I do not have an actuator on that particular valve but money can fix anything.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,545
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
You should not need another actuator.
Sounds like you have a make up line to send water to the spa in Pool Mode. If so, you turn that line OFF. Then set up a Spillover schedule that will open the valve to the Spa Return to chlorinate the spa water. Then it closes and all the water returns to the Pool.
Sounds like you have a make up line to send water to the spa in Pool Mode. If so, you turn that line OFF. Then set up a Spillover schedule that will open the valve to the Spa Return to chlorinate the spa water. Then it closes and all the water returns to the Pool.
twillux
Bronze Supporter
- Oct 20, 2020
- 49
- Pool Size
- 12000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Turbo Cell (T-CELL-5)
Progress! You almost certainly have far more return plumbing than I do. I plumbed the chiller after the filter, before the heater, and can run the chiller all the way down at 1,300 RPMs with still good wand speed; that’s not enough to circulate the water however. If you’re now at 2,600 you should see a good drop in operating costs!
I hear you, but when I'm in pool mode, which is 99% of the time, I like that valve opened so the spillover effect to the spa is visible. If I close it all the way, which I admit would give me even more flow the the chiller, then the spillover effect to the spa will not be present. Know what I mean?
oh wow, yeah I can see how plumbing the chiller right after the filter would allow you to run your pump that low and get plenty of flow. I think I'm jealous of your PVC config.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,545
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40