AC unit and growtent?

[njayjay]

I'm confused about how to set this up. Information seems elusive and vague.
I have a 7x6x7 growtent and a 9000btu portable AC unit. I'm wondering if I should still vent the cab with exhaust/intake fans or will the AC unit take care of the venting. Do I run fans on timers if i have to install them. Can anyone give me some info on this? Thanks

 

[njayjay]

BUMP

why are people completely ignoring this, is it some sort of joke?

 

[vinnythebat]

i would still exaust with a scrubber 24/7

 

[njayjay]

Thats a fucking start lol, how about intake fans should any of those be necessary? What kind of fans should I use?

How does exhausting 24/7 affect the dehumidification provided by the AC? Should I just cool and dehumidify the whole room the tent is in? Cus I can fit the AC inside my growtent and would rather do that so I can leave the actual room window open to let fresh air in. How about the AC itself, does it cycle any air at all? (portable unit)

Peace

 

[Ipsissimus]

read this thread Calculating The Size of a Air Conditioner. It's stickied in this forum.

 

[lysol]

ACs recylce air, no intake fan needed. Venting the cool air from the ac directly into the tent would be one approach, just crank that bitch down to 40F and put it on a solid state timer. You could just heat the area outside the tent or preferable move that exhaust heat from the AC up and away from the grow ( attic window etc.. )

A small duct blower turned down will vent the tent for fresh air. If I had a nice portable AC I would totally run Co2 instead of venting tho.

 

[njayjay]

I am thinking of sticking the AC right inside the tent if this is an option since it would be more efficient at keeping desirable temps and RH however how would venting the tent with exhaust fans affect this? Should I rather run the AC outside the tent to cool and dehumidify the whole room?

Lysol how would I vent the AC air into the tent? I can get a good deal on a 8000 BTU portable unit so I'm lookin at buyin that.

Problem is I won't be aircooling my 4 x 400w lights and I run RDWC with no res chiller and buying one is not an option so I really wanna make sure the AC is taking good care of my cooling needs. This is why I'm leaning toward running it inside the tent.

However I don't want to exhaust all the conditioned air so to speak, if im running the unit inside the vented tent, so can anyone clear up for me exactly what effect this will have. I hope this better explains my dilemma thanks for the replies in advance.

 

[njayjay]

You people are plain rude arent you?

Bump

 

[Ipsissimus]

You people are plain rude arent you?

Bump

honestly no one wants to help you because you are coming off like an impatient lazy brat. don't insult the people you are asking for help!

...from that link I posted, a few people recommend 5000 btus per 1K so for you that would be 8K. you want to replace the air in your room slowly, so your plants aren't c02 starved, but not so fast as to make the AC inefficient. A low cfm fan hooked up to an carbon scrubber outside of the tent, enough to create slight negative pressure.

I've never used portable ac's but from the threads where you can see them, it looks like they have a heat exhaust. I'd try to keep any heat from the portable unit outside of the room your tent is in.

I'd also air cool the lights if possible, it vastly reduces your cooling needs, and you want to be on your A game with DWC. Another factor is your outside temperatures and humidity, and thus seasonal weather is a factor. Many grows skip summer indoors for this reason.

Remember, as your ac creates cold air, it produce an equal amount heat to offset this. It stays efficient by re-cooling air inside the room. In a closed environment, you can imagine why you would need to add c02.

Also keep in mind with window units, even though they are recirculating the air, there is still significant air transfer from inside the room without negative pressure, causing a smell risk.

 

[njayjay]

thanks for the reply ipsissimus a few pointers come a long way for a newb

i want to run a dehumidifier as well as AC inside the tent, im wondering could I just put my exhaust on a timer to run at certain intervals, or is the constant airflow and a smaller fan option better? also at night do the plants need fresh CO2 or can I shut off the exhaust? how about the dehumidifier?
how much more or less of a CO2 benefit would i get from running the above mentioned setup as opposed to say, running AC and dehu outside the tent, cooling the whole room, and having the tent exhaust run 24/7? (a lot more power consumption this way both in fan usage and AC and DH size requierements.)
sorry if im asking a lot of basic questions im just trying to get a better picture here and would like to hear from those with experience, peace

 

[CanadianGrower]

go buy a book

 

[apartmentblower]

if you are using a portable a/c, wether dual hose (not unless you are using a good industrial unit aka kwikkool but i assume you arent) or single hose, either will vent the tent. single hose more so. you can get away without extra ventilation via fans depending on how many lights you are running. ie. i can run 4x600watters open hood with only a dual hose 13kbtu a/c and no fans for venting. its up to you how you take care of odor from there though, either scrubbing the a/c exhaust directly (dont know how well that will work as it is really hot air and would deplete carbon pretty quick i assume, plus you just have to guess the CFM i think as its not usually stated) or scrubbing a lung room



if you plan to redirect the a/c air and blow it in the tent while keeping the unit outside you will have to account for the positive pressure and get a suitable exhaust fan and scrubber . this is the best route i think, albeit you are purposely sucking out the expensive a/c air that you paid for.



all in all i think the simplest route is just using the a/c to cool the room the tent is in, and letting the tents intake/exhaust take care of the tent itself.


btw good luck running co2 in an unsealed tent and especially with a portable. thats going to be a nightmare. portable consumer a/c's are more a bandaid solution than a good permanent cooling device. window box a/c or sealed air cooled or water cooled is best but pricy. in my mind if you are running co2 you absolutely have to have a sealed room for efficiency and to not drive yourself to drink