Active Aqua AACH50HP Water Chiller for Aquarium, Hydroponics, Bathtub – 0.5 HP, Fast Cooling, 90-172 Gallons, Titanium Evaporator – Fittings Included

Quiet, powerful, efficient
I have been cold plunging for a year now. I wanted to start out cheap. I bought a soft portable plunge, and a cheap Vevor 1/4 hp chiller. IT all worked and I plunged at around 50 degrees, but I wanted colder. I upgraded to the 1/3 hp Vevor for around $360. IT got me down to 39, but it had to run all day to do it. I even super insulated my plunge to help. The Vevor chiller has the volume leve3l of a cheap walmart window AC. This may not bother most people, but we have the Plunge on our lanai, and my wife likes to sit out there and have a cup of tea. She does not like listening to all the noise, so she would often unplug it, and then forget to plug it back in. This lead to several days of running, to get the temp back down. That whole time it was very noisy.Finally I caught the Active Aqua on a great sale. They do this from time to time, so track the price on camelcamelcamel dot com. Its worth it!So I finally get my active aqua, and let it sit for 24 hours. This is important with any products that contain refrigerant. Not doing so, will shorten the lifespan. After letting the Active Aqua aclimate, I got it all set up. It had larger fittings than my previous Vevor. SO I had to adapt my plumbing. I probably should have just upgraded to new larger tubing, but I did not want to jump in to that much work right away. I just wanted to get this thing going. Right out of the gates, I noticed how quiet this chiller is. The down side is that it showed how loud my danner 950 pump is. I actually ended up making a hush box for my danner pump. It helped quiet my entire system, to a very manageable level. I used the foil backed foam and carpet padding to wrap the pump in sort of an envelope. This made my pump so quite! Since it has 39 degree water running through it all the time, when running, I figured it did not need to be air cooled. The next thing I noticed, is that my system does not need to run as often. I use an Inkbird controller set at 39 degrees. When the temp is above 39 degrees the inkbird turns everything on. This ensures my pump, chiller and ozone are running when they need to. If I just relied on the temp gauge in the chiller, it may turn off, but my pump and ozone would continue to run. I don’t need 24 hour circulation. The Active Aqua only goes down to 39 degrees. That is my desired set point, so there was some issues with the chiller kicking off, and the inkbird letting things continue to run. So I went in to the active aqua settings and calibrated the AA to think it was a few degrees warmer than actual. This way, if the inkbird is calling for 39 and its at 39.1, the active aqua will show 41, and continue to run until the inkbird temp range is satisfied. You can calibrate up to 5 degrees warmer, which will push you down to 34 actual. For me, after a year of plunging, 39 still provides about 30 seconds of full shock and awe mode. Perhaps Ill eventually need it to be colder, and I have room to grow. At these temps ever single degree makes a big difference. I plunge for around 2 minutes, and at that time my feet hurt. Now, the bottom of my tub may actually be colder, as my tub is pretty deep, and long. It could be much cooler where my feet are.At the end of the day, I love this active aqua chiller. I spent a lot on cheaper chillers trying to figure it out. I was able to sell each, and not lose much money. But had I known I would still be doing this, the AA would have been the way to go up front. The sound level, and the extra power make this chiller the perfect choice for my set up. I have an inflatable tub I bought here on Amazon. Its 59 inches long, and probably close to 40 inches deep, 36 inches of water level. Its around 120 gallons according tot he amazon ad, but it feels like more. I wrapped it in 10 mm foil faced soft foam (also purchased on Amazon). I run the Danner 950 pump, and a spa ozone that I purchased, you guessed it, right here on Amazon. Now I am thinking about upgrading to a larger Danner 1200 pump. The 950 works, but more flow may help the filtration, and also help mix the water as I am plunging.If you’re worried about price, buy the cheap Vevor, and try it out. But if, like me, the Vevor is not powerful enough, or its much too noisy, this Active Aqua is the perfect solution. 1/2 hp seems to be the perfect size for around 120 gallons, if you’re insulated. I live in south Florida, so it it works here, it should work most anywhere in north America.

1/2 HP on a fully insulated DIY 150 G Stock Tank (Florida)
So far so good. I have the 1/2 HP active aqua on a fully insulated 150G Stock tank. (Still waiting on supplies to build and insulate the lid.)The 1/2 HP w the 150G stock tank was widely recommended. Some say the 1/4 HP is fine too. But Sarasota FL Summers peak in the mid/high 90’s and with this build being outdoors, I didn’t want to risk the chiller not keeping up with the heat.So far the chiller is keeping up and maintaining. (Just got it a week ago) I have it set at 60 F and it goes up to 62 F then kicks on to bring it back down. (It is spring time – the high today is 86 F)It is pretty quiet. The only function/feature I wish it had was the option to turn the display off at (Minor detail)A couple things to mention:1. I do have this in my covered/shaded lanai.2. It’s spring time in Sarasota FL. 84 F – 88 F3. Home Depot – LP SmartSide Cedar siding.4. Home Depot – Foamular NGX insulation sheathing + insulating spray foam.Follow up:May 3rd: Still going strong. Temp is set at 55 F. No problems.June 5th: Still going strong. Temp set at 50 F. No problems. The only thing I’ve noticed is that the chiller sweats/condensates every now and then. But it’s early summer in FL, so this is expected. I’ve also drained this twice to clean it and had no problem getting to temp over night.July 7: Still working great. Chiller set at 48F. No problems. There is a small puddle of condensation from the chiller (Normal). I now have it raised slightly for air flow.Oct 11: Had the chiller off for about a month and powered it back on. Still going strong.Lastly, if you are running this 24/7 (not on boost mode), it will add about $55 dollars a month to your electric bill.