Glycol Chillers
The glycol chiller you choose depends on a lot of variables. Sizing depends on your desired goals and setup, but in general we typically size chillers on a scenario like this: Out of every 4 tanks - the first is cold crashing, the second is holding cold temps, and the other two are fermenting. Most people are good with that, but some may want the ability to cold crash all 4 tanks at once. In general we recommend up to 4qty x 15gal on the 1/3HP, up to 4qty x 1BBL on the 1/2HP, and up to 8qty x 1BBL on the 1HP.
Some people operate in a cool basement and others in a hot garage, their cooling loads will certainly be a lot different depending on the same size of setup, but it may or may not actually require a different chiller. We have a sizing guide below that you can get a ballpark idea with, and the best safety measure is to leave a 10-20% buffer. If the chart puts you at a 100% capacity on one of the chillers, you may need the next size up.
Size |
Fermentation Temps (65F) |
During Cold Crash (35-45F) |
Maintain Cold Temps (35-45F) |
7 gal |
60 BTU/hr |
300 BTU/hr |
120 BTU/hr |
14 gal |
90 BTU/hr |
600 BTU/hr |
180 BTU/hr |
1 BBL |
150 BTU/hr |
1000 BTU/hr |
300 BTU/hr |
2 BBL |
300 BTU/hr |
2000 BTU/hr |
600 BTU/hr |
3 BBL |
450 BTU/hr |
3000 BTU/hr |
900 BTU/hr |
5 BBL |
600 BTU/hr |
4300 BTU/hr |
1125 BTU/hr |
7 BBL |
850 BTU/hr |
6000 BTU/hr |
1600 BTU/hr |
10 BBL |
1100 BTU/hr |
8650 BTU/hr |
1900 BTU/hr |