Foster chiller configuration

[Jvoelcker]

Afternoon All,

I have been looking at my chiller and am trying to work out why it eats so much electricity and the layout on it doesn't make sense so I hope some refrigeration specialists can advise.

The unit is a GRL1H-A and is laid out with the vapour tray and heater beside the condenser and then the compressor is the other side of it.

Currently the fan is drawing air from the heated tray side, so warm air, through the condenser and then onto the cold compressor that is covered with condensation.

Wouldn't it make more sense for the fan to be drawing cold air from the compressor through the condenser and then the warmed air would be blown over any water in the tray?

Secondly - the heater element seems to be on all the time - the spec is to shut off at 70, but reset when it drops to 50 - a relatively cool garage it is on pretty well all the time - could this be altered to only operate when there is actually some water in the tray,? I'm tempted to add a water level sensor.

Does that make sense?

Thanks

 

[homer]

Just for comparison, what size is it and how much does it cost per day to run?
Mine is 2m x 3m, and costs about £1.50/day based on electric @ 30p/KW.

 

[Jvoelcker]

Just for comparison, what size is it and how much does it cost per day to run?
Mine is 2m x 3m, and costs about £1.50/day based on electric @ 30p/KW.

6"x4"x4" not sure exactly how much it costs, but quite a bit based on the whines from the wife

 

[trucraft]

I have a double door Foster commercial fridge not sure model or size off top of my head but it also sucks some electric

 

[homer]

I bought a small plug in meter that records electric consumption, was only a few quid.

 

[Jvoelcker]

I bought a small plug in meter that records electric consumption, was only a few quid.

We have a smart meter - the wife reads it and complains, I just pay the bills

 

[75]

We have a smart meter - the wife reads it and complains, I just pay the bills

Buy a cheap meter off Amazon / eBay etc and then you’ll know whether you have an issue. Anything else is guesswork.

My old 1m x 1.2m x 2m chiller used about a quid a day, depending on ambient temps.

 

[Jvoelcker]

Evening all,

I'm not so worried about the running costs, more interesting to know if it setup to as efficient as possible - sucking air over a heated tank, through a condenser and then over a cold compressor seems back to front.

You need to pass cool air over the condenser for maximum cooling so cool air from the compressor would make more sense.

You also need warm air to evaporate away the water that has gathered in the evaporator and the warm air from the condenser would work better.

So I'm just wondering if the fan motor is going the wrong way around - looking at the design of the fan I get the impression it is