The left side goes in a water bath, the right into the wort pot.
After watching my friend Jason use his home made wort chiller, I had to have one. Jason gave me all the pro's and con's to his design, namely it works great, but he got the wrong size copper tubing. Knowing this, I went down and got the wrong size tubing as well (dumb), but since I was committed to the tubing after they cut it, I decided it would have to do. Smaller tubing will give you more surface area for heat exchange, wasting less water in the process.
This fits on the faucet.
I designed mine with two sets of coils, one for a cold water bath with ice cubes in it, the other to submerge into the wort. The need for the coil in the cold water bath isn't founded and was just an idea. I have tried it in a cold water bath and without, and not sure if there was a difference in chill times. The copper is easily twisted, and it is best to have your brew pot around to ensure that you will get it to fit. Also, use a bottle or large can to twist the copper around and if you are so lucky as to have some tubing benders, those make the work even easier.
When you are purchasing materials, make sure you know what size your faucet is. The faucet at the old house in Lawrence wouldn't have been able to use this, but our new place does.
When you use the chiller, make sure this end goes in the sink or a bucket!
How does it work you ask? Very well. I can cool a 3 gallon vat of wort in about 8 minutes, from boiling hot to about 90 degrees or so. Mixed with room temperature water, it is yeast pitchable.
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