I'd like to reduce my water usage and chilling time. I'm wondering about using an old boil kettle as a reservoir, filling with ice water (I have a chest freezer, so ice can be made easily and in large quantity), and using a pump to recirculate on the cold side. Has anyone done something similar? I have a sump pump for the recirculation on the cold side, and a March pump for the recirc on the wort side of the plate chiller.
I figure the sump pump will rest on the bottom of the reservoir and the hot water return would be at the top.
how much ice (in pounds, litres, or gallons) do you find you need (using chill city water) to get 5 US gal of wort to pitching temp?