To Chill or not to chill

[bloodhound]

Here's a question from a newbie for all the "experts" out there. I'm in the process of building a new house with a 215g built-in. I plan on it being a reef tank. I had air-conditioning supply and returns run into the enclosure. Living in North Texas, would you recommend a chiller? The lfs owner says that I wouldn't need it except if we were to go on vacation in the summer, we could turn the a/c off in the house and just leave the chiller on. I'd hate to drop $1000 on something I don't need. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[nm reef]

What are you going to have for lighting?

...and list any other equipment that may contribute to you source of heat...

 

[bsp]

Would you have anything else in the house that would need A/C when on vacation? Could you get a timer on the A/C unit when on vac. If so you would have to check it to see if it would do what you want before going away. We would leave our heat on in winter as to not freeze the pipes. Here that is.

 

[jer4916]

From an honest stand point, to not have a chiller on a tank that big and with that many corals would be foolish. Heck figure this...you have ONE bad day in the summer and your power shuts off your SCREWED. I have a chiller thats on a generator just incase my power goes out...plus it runs on a daily basis even when i have my a/c on... heck its -20 degrees outside right now...and my chiller is on...hehe get my point? ...for a person doing a 55 gallon tank....a chiller is not really needed...(i would still have one myself) ..because at 55 the standard user isn't going to be having things like you and i do in larger tanks.
word of the wiser...
get a chiller and a generator.
~Chris

 

[bloodhound]

Thanks for the help. I don't have the list in front of me but the lighting will be some type of MH lights. I have found some chillers on line that are considerably cheaper than the price quoted from the lfs.
Another couple of questions, though. I read in another thread that the person was concerned with the operating cost of a chiller. Out of curiosity, what is the typical electrical consumption of a unit for a 215g tank? Also, it seems that noise level is another concern. Does it make any sense to insulate the enclosure to reduce the noise? Or is not that big 'a deal?