[Gribble]

+3.  I've never had a problem leaving wort for 24 hours before pitching yeast.  As long as everything is sanitized properly, there should be no problems.

[scochran13]

I'm in Tucson, AZ.  Ground water is pretty warm down here as well.  I first started out with whirlpooling with chiller using tap water and collecting hot waste water for cleaning.  After getting it down to 100 or so, I used the afore mentioned method of ice bath with pump and recirculating the water.  I only had a 25' chiller then.  I've since bought a 50' chiller and so now I whirlpool with that, but put the smaller one in the ice bath as a prechiller.  Works soooooo much better.  In the summer months, I'll be experimenting with adding rock salt to the ice bath to get the temperature of the chilling water down even further.  Of course I might even make a huge tub of it and dunk myself in it from time to time during the brew day.  It's awfully hot out here during the summer! 

[liquidbrewing]

I'm in Panama City and have the same problem.  The coldest I can get my wort is around 80 degrees.  I rack it off into a large rubbermaid tub ( i can fit two 6 gallon carboys in it), fill it with ice water and salt.  This does the trick in a couple hours.  I've tried prechillers to no avail.  This method has proved very successful for me.  Around $1.50-3.00 in ice ( I can get 20lbs for $1.50)and I can get the wort down to 60-65 and pitch my yeast all in the same day, which I like doing.  Then I stick it in the fermenter and, voila!  I usually try to ferment around 60-62, to reduce off flavors.  The summers here are brutal!

[thcipriani]

The cheapest chilling method is the one you covet – you're going to, at some point, buy the chiller you want so just forgo a few batches and save up for that Therminator you want.

You'll waste a lot of money buying "cheaper" chilling methods.

This is from experience.  I own two IC's, one counterflow and a therminator – could have saved a lot just buying what I wanted in the first place.

[liquidbrewing]

The Therminator claims to chill wort to 68 degrees using 58 degree water.  So this sounds great, assuming the OP has access to 5gpm of cold water.  (A minimum of 25 gallons of 58 degree water is  needed for a 10 gal. batch)

In my eyes it's just something else to clean and sanitize.  I say just use that ice water to bathe your fermenter for an hour or so while you clean up.  My two cents...

EDIT:  I guess it would really matter what he's fermenting in as to whether or not he could use this method. (ice batch)  Carboys fine, Conical...probably not.