Wort chilling

It's my birthday and my wife has given me permission to buy a piece of brewing equipment. So I thought about my brewing process that needs refining.  It would have to be reducing my wort chilling time. I'm thinking of purchasing a counter flow system. Any thoughts? Do I need to by a pump as well? What brands work well / are best?

I have used my plate chiller several times now and it works just perfect. Especially in the winter when tap water temp is about 10C (50F), but it also works OK when the water temp is about 15C (60F). I have a 24 plate chiller and I easilly chill my 6 gallon batch in 10 min. Again this is dependent on water temp. I don't use a pump! My kettle is on the table and the chiller on the floor, so I chill directly into the fermenter. This saves time! I boil my hops in a big hop bag to prevent them from getting into the chiller. Remeber to flush the chiller from wort after use.

I've also tried a chill spiral and it also worked well but not that fast. On the other hand it was easier to clean.

Thank you thassum.

Counter flow coil or cooling plates?

I made my own wert chiller with 20' of 1/2" soft copper. I love it. Cools my 10gal. batch down in about 15 mins.

jfkbeer said:

I made my own wert chiller with 20' of 1/2" soft copper. I love it. Cools my 10gal. batch down in about 15 mins.

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that's exactly what I have and use.  I stick it in the wort toward the end of the boil so I know it's not going to be clean, then while it's doing it's thing, cooling the wort, I use the water coming out the other end to start cleaning things up.

If your batch size is 5 gallons I would use an immersion chiller with the whirlpool option
http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php
If your batch size is larger go with an external chiller.  Whether you use a coil or plate is up to you, but do some reading first.  I have never heard of a coil chiller getting clogged. Lots of people don't get a plate chiller clogged either, I guess it depends on the operator/ingredients/methods used. External chillers will put your cold break into the fermenter. 

What equipment are you currently using to chill and what temps are feed water?

I use a Therminator plate chiller which is the most expensive brewing item I've bought. It works perfectly without a pump and cools five gallons of boiling hot wort to fermentation temperature in minutes. It's well engineered, doesn't clog up and it's very easy to clean.  like it a lot.

Roadrocket said:

I use a Therminator plate chiller which is the most expensive brewing item I've bought. It works perfectly without a pump and cools five gallons of boiling hot wort to fermentation temperature in minutes. It's well engineered, doesn't clog up and it's very easy to clean.  like it a lot.

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Fully agree/same experience here!
R,
Slurk