A/C; Portable vs Window

[Thowywowy]

Given my situation of course.

I have a grow room within a bedroom. Its a 5x10x8ft space. The remaining space in the room is roughly 7x10x8ft.

Option A: Do you think I would be better off getting a portable unit and sealing off the grow room(5x10x8) and adding co2 (yeah its an option).

Option B: Or, should I run the A/C in the window, cool the remaining space in the bedroom (7x10x8) and pull air from that space into my grow room?

Consider:
Option A adds Co2, but is MUCH MUCH more expensive. More stealthy though. Running an A/C at night is suspect IMO. Something to consider for sure.

Option B would allow me to cool both my flower and veg areas, but is less stealthy. MUCH MUCH cheaper though.

NOW...there is an Option C! Get the window unit, mount it in the doorway of the bathroom door (which happens to be my ballast room) and have option B but with the stealth factor of option A. The downside is that it takes that bathroom out of commision and makes it somewhat difficult to access my ballast.


Right now leaning strongly towards Option C for the good blend of stealth and cost. Ideally I would go for option A, but I can't even come close to affording a co2 monitor/controller right now anyway so I would have to use the syringes which seems like it would be a crapshoot anyway.

What do YOU think?

 

[irie-i]

perhaps get the portable but dont seal, then after 2 or 3 succesful cycles get that CO2 moniter

 

[Hunt4Hazez]

either way you wont have to run your ac during night do you really expect temps to get above 90 at night in that space?

 

[Thowywowy]

either way you wont have to run your ac during night do you really expect temps to get above 90 at night in that space?

I guess you have never grown with 1k lights in the middle of summer in the desert :wink: Yes, Im going to have to run the A/C during the night (AM hours), that is the only time you really can run big lights during the summer where I live. If I tried to run 3 lights in that space, even during the middle of the night, my temps would be in the mid to upper 80s. Thats with aircooling the lights, and with adequete venting. Thats just the way it is, damn summer heat.

To put it into perspective, at my last place I was running 1k aircooled and pulling air from under the house, and my temps were still in the low 80s.

Also, if my temps are in the 90s or even high 80s I have SERIOUS problems. I want my temps to be in the mid to low 70s :wink:

 

[BabyHughie]

Hi thowy, I have about the same perdicament that you do. Got to love that summer time heat...at least the ladies are skantily clad

I went for the ghetto style install with a standard window A/C. Actually, I haven't hooked it up just yet, and I think I may bite your style and mount it in the bathroom doorway. When I get it hooked up Ill let you know how it works out for me.

 

[Guest]

I run 3 1K vertizontals in an 8 by 8 flower room with the temps outside at 90 degrees and better,it takes a window unit(12000 BTU) and a 9000 btu portable though lol,thats a lot of AC but it colls the room perfectly with the 3 lights

 

[Thowywowy]

Thanks for the reply SKELETOR. Im assuming your not aircooling the lights then? Thats alot of A/C man.

 

[Guest]

No you cant aircool vertizontals which are a 4 ft parabolic open hood,I love them for flowering.For flowering a shallow hood like the vertizontal is good because it disperses the light more when the plants are flowering and more spread out.For veg when the plants are closer together I prefer a deeper hood which tends to concentrate the light more straight down instead of dispersing it

 

[2buds]

Just a note for you wowy, I have a co2 monitor that has been monitoring the air in my house, its not uncommon to have a reading of 1000 to 1600 ppm in the house after everyone is home. Just food for thought on adding co2 when growing in the house.

 

[Guest]

I would wonder about the accuracy of that monitor,for me to get my 8 by 8 room up to 1000-1200PPM I have to burn my unit for 8 1/2 minutes every half hour,I dont see how your ambient co2 could possibly be that high from people

 

[Keefhead]

Be aware that with A/C and CO2 you can have a problem. The air conditioner draws air in from the room, part of it comes out as cold air, and part of it goes out the back as hot air, to be vented to another area, outside or wherever. That's what the 5" hose and window adapter is for on a portable, and why a window air conditioner has to hang out in the outside.

As it pulls the hot air out, it pulls out the CO2 also, and your CO2 bill will go way up. It didn't strike me till I was through my second bottle in a week. DUH Hopefully you will set up the controller you have to shut off the CO2 when the vents or A/C are on.

 

[SCF]

i use a window one.. The room my grow room is gets 100 + with AC its unlivable. But my plants are way happy and cold....


But my window AC has A Timer built right into it.. so i can shut it off and turn it on with my Co2.. if i had co2....

 

[2buds]

skeletor-That reading comes in late in the evening. With 3-5 people and a dog, doors shut for a few hours and you can watch it slowly climb. On average like now I got a reading of 680ppm. With the house empty for 7-8 hours it reads around 300-400. I too have wondered about its accuracy. Makes me want to get another just to compare the readings. I have talked with some growers who had great grows inside the house but when relocated to a garage or external building a lack of co2 became an issue. Makes me wonder.