Active Aqua Water Chiller 1/10 HP with Power Boost | 1,020 BTU

What the Active Aqua 1/10 HP Chiller Actually Covers

Rated output is 1,020 BTU per hour, which the maker matches to a reservoir of 10 to 40 gal. Flow through the barrel wants 132 to 396 GPH, so the circulating pump gets chosen for the chiller rather than for the tank. Active Aqua names its 160, 250 and 400 GPH submersibles for that job. The evaporator is pure titanium, which is what lets it sit in salt water as readily as a nutrient tank. The refrigerant in the circuit is R134a. Draw is 190 W at 120 V and 2.2 A, so it lands on an ordinary household circuit. Fittings for 1/2 in and 3/4 in line come in the box. The cabinet measures 17 x 10 x 15 in and weighs 33 lb. Maximum working pressure is 10 psi, and the unit is rated for indoor use only. Part number is AACH10HP and the barcode reads 638104022965.

Holding Reservoir Temperature Without Chasing It

Set point runs from 39 to 90 °F on the digital head, and the memory brings the last setting back after a power cut. Boost either runs hard for two hours or stays on continuously, which is the control that matters on the first pull-down from a warm tank. Start the pump before the chiller, every time. Dry-starting the heat exchanger is the most common way these units get hurt. Put the pump intake low and the return at the far end of the tank so the loop is not just chilling one corner. Most growers work to the mid-sixties through low seventies, because warmer water carries less dissolved oxygen and pythium gets comfortable above that. The compressor dumps its heat into the room, so the cabinet belongs outside the grow space when the layout allows it. In a hot closet it runs longer for less result. Give the housing clear air on the intake and exhaust faces either way. The honest limit is volume: push past the recommended range and the unit runs continuously without ever reaching set point.

Key Features

• 1,020 BTU per hour: Enough to hold a small recirculating tank through a lights-on cycle.
• Titanium evaporator: Takes nutrient solution or salt water without the exchanger corroding.
• Boost or continuous: Two hours of hard pull-down for a warm tank, or steady running once it is in range.
• Memory after power loss: The set point comes back on its own rather than defaulting to something cold.
• Household circuit draw: At 190 W it shares a circuit with the rest of a small room.
• Fitting kit in the box: 1/2 in and 3/4 in adapters mean the plumbing can start the same day.

Technical Specifications