I am looking into purchasing an AC unit for use either in-window or in room. On Overgrow I know a few guys were convinced that purchasing an industrial-quality unit for ~$2000 was the way to go. I have always used the relatively inexpensive homeowner units purchased from home depot or the like but I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the higher-quality units and what the advantages were. As I understand it, the commercial-quality units weren't even necessarily higher BTU's than the cheap ones but they just worked better. . . Anyways feedback would be helpful. Peace.
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AC Units: What are the pros using?
- Thread starter all_is_1
- Start date
G
Guest
What are your requirements for the a/c unit??
Advantages to higher quality units are higher quality parts. Look for units with Copeland
Compressors. They are much better than Techumseh and Bristol. Most more expensive units have a higher seer rating (better efficiency) and digital controls which are more accurate. Noise factor is also going to be lower with more expensive units, which can help with nosy neighbors.
Mitsubishi makes the mini split....very pricy but a very trick system. It has separate heat exchangers....which means it is in two parts like most air/air conditioning systems. They are freakin QUIET ! !
Anyways....tell us what your looking for and we can reccomend something.
Advantages to higher quality units are higher quality parts. Look for units with Copeland
Compressors. They are much better than Techumseh and Bristol. Most more expensive units have a higher seer rating (better efficiency) and digital controls which are more accurate. Noise factor is also going to be lower with more expensive units, which can help with nosy neighbors.
Mitsubishi makes the mini split....very pricy but a very trick system. It has separate heat exchangers....which means it is in two parts like most air/air conditioning systems. They are freakin QUIET ! !
Anyways....tell us what your looking for and we can reccomend something.
I currently have 9 600W digital ballasts running in a large apartment--though my grow area is sealed and approximately 15ftX20ft. Noise is not particularly an issue. I'm air-cooling the lights but I would like to be able to run a CO2 gen. even during the hot nights of summer. I'm at 43degrees North latitude so temps average in the 70's and 80's during the summer. I'm not sure how many BTU's this will require. Thanks for helping a brother out, SonshineWurship.
G
Guest
Ok....You have 300 sq. ft. With air-cooled hoods i would recomend a 12,000 btu window unit. I'm not going to reccomend a brand name because i don't know what is available in your area and don't really reccomend ordering on over the internet. I always like to hear a system run and see it in person before i make a purchase. Just pay attention to compressors and seer ratings.
Since you are living in an apartment, i wouldn't reccomend a mini-split system because you will need to penetrate an exterior wall which is hard to hide from landlords. You couls run it into a separate room but this defeats the purpose of the pricy system. Just have the window unit mounted into you grow area wall and venting into another room with good ventilation and you should be good. This will allow a "sealed" room for your co2. Any more questions, feel free to ask away.
Since you are living in an apartment, i wouldn't reccomend a mini-split system because you will need to penetrate an exterior wall which is hard to hide from landlords. You couls run it into a separate room but this defeats the purpose of the pricy system. Just have the window unit mounted into you grow area wall and venting into another room with good ventilation and you should be good. This will allow a "sealed" room for your co2. Any more questions, feel free to ask away.
G
Guest
I'm gonna try putting a cheapo 5,000btu $100 window unit in a 4'x2'x2' cab, where the exhaust from the ac is coming into the room. It's about 5 times the recommended btu's for that space, so i think it will run on low and work pretty well without heating up the room. Also, i can get rid of the cool tube, and the ac has a slide out filter, which if it isn't activated carbon, would be an easy modification to make it one. I'll find out though. At the worst, i could run a fan to cool the room if the exhaust is too bad.
There's no health hazzards right? just heat?
There's no health hazzards right? just heat?
whoamI?whoRu!
New member
Shit...I bought a cheapo window AC unit for "legit" reasons and returned it the next day because it was such a noisy/vibrating POS. I can't imagine trying to run one while trying to keep it "low-key"...haha
My Bro has an expensive 10K BTU window unit that is pretty damn quiet considering you're standing right there looking at it. The vibration is SO much lower aswell. Don't recall the brand...sorry. Like SW said...you may have to "test hear" them.
For my "regular" household use during the summer...we have a portable 10K BTU that is actually pretty quiet. I imagine it could be used at will in an apartment? It needs an intake and exhaust port. (and in and of itself...the exhaust should be odour free if it works as I think it does???)
My Bro has an expensive 10K BTU window unit that is pretty damn quiet considering you're standing right there looking at it. The vibration is SO much lower aswell. Don't recall the brand...sorry. Like SW said...you may have to "test hear" them.
For my "regular" household use during the summer...we have a portable 10K BTU that is actually pretty quiet. I imagine it could be used at will in an apartment? It needs an intake and exhaust port. (and in and of itself...the exhaust should be odour free if it works as I think it does???)
2buds
Active member
So far my experience with window units is GE and whirlpool seem to make quality quiet products. They run quiet without making the windows and walls rattle. Bestbuy has a 10,000 btu whirlpool for $250 that runs real quiet, has an efficiency rating of 10.8 and only draws 8.1 amps. I plugged it up at the store and turned it on, real quiet with lots of air flow. The most inportant thing I have found with the new digital units, not all have an auto restart, meaning if the power blinks at any point the units turns off and don't restart when the power comes on but your lights will and damn everything is cooked. So far I can only find whirlpool and kenmore brands stating they have auto-restart. Good luck and remember auto-restart on digital units, mechanical units would auto-restart by their design.
G
Guest
this is the one i ended up getting:
[Edit] - this actually isn't the right one. Mine is digital, but it's close.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4456962
It says it's got "Ultra-quiet operation", but let you know. Considering i had a big square fan going constantly before, i'm not too worried about the noise... but if it was too loud to sleep, that'd be bad. It's just a tiny thing though... i'm pretty optimistic about it.
It's digital though, and i don't know if it has auto-restart. I haven't read that yet. It has a timer though, so it can go off with the lights, then back on... or maybe not back on... i'll have to read the manual... dang.
Oh yeah, and i meant to say before that my cab is 4' wide x 4' tall x 2' deep. I'm going to see if it works better with the ac + cool tube, or just ac.
[Edit] - this actually isn't the right one. Mine is digital, but it's close.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4456962
It says it's got "Ultra-quiet operation", but let you know. Considering i had a big square fan going constantly before, i'm not too worried about the noise... but if it was too loud to sleep, that'd be bad. It's just a tiny thing though... i'm pretty optimistic about it.
It's digital though, and i don't know if it has auto-restart. I haven't read that yet. It has a timer though, so it can go off with the lights, then back on... or maybe not back on... i'll have to read the manual... dang.
Oh yeah, and i meant to say before that my cab is 4' wide x 4' tall x 2' deep. I'm going to see if it works better with the ac + cool tube, or just ac.
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G
Guest
well it does make a fairly noisy ringing sound. I'll see if I can muffle it enough though.
2buds
Active member
AK, if you want to see if it has auto-restart, just unplug it from the wall, wait a few minutes and plug it back in, if it powers back on with the your settings still showing you should be good. If not, I'd take it back and look for one with the restart feature. I think the timer is so you can set it when you leave for work to wait ? hours then power on and cool the house before you get back, pointless feature in my opinion but it adds a few lines to the manual. Good luck with whatever you decide to use.
G
Guest
Yes 2buds, correct on everything you said. It's NOT auto-restart.
I
irie-i
i got the same amount of lights and same room size as A_I_1 and i bought a sears 10,000 btu portable. it can exchange air through a window. although i havent tried it yet. it was recomened by my local hydro shop
captain bigbud
Member
I have a porgammable thermostat that I plug my AC into set at 75 room stays cool and I save on my elc bill I got 80$ AC it has hi cool lo cool hi fan lo fan Iturn on hi cool and set my thermostat turns on and off as needed stay away digital AC
captain bigbud
Member
got mine at www.wormsway.com search for tct600 stay cool
G
Guest
Damn fine info right there.
2buds
Active member
Agreed on the digital a/c units but its almost impossible to find one now a days that doesn't have the dang digital thermo/fan controller installed. Everything I looked at over the last 2 weeks that was over 5000 btu was digital.
captain, I like your way of thinking, kiss(keep it simple stupid), not being gay bro.
The low tech route usually last longer.
captain, I like your way of thinking, kiss(keep it simple stupid), not being gay bro.
The low tech route usually last longer.
TokenBlackGuy
Active member
you could always get a digital with an auto restart feature... i wish my portable had that so i wouldnt have to run it all day ...2buds said:
Hmmm thanks for all of the good info guys. Home Depot has LG brand (hmmm.. . you know the worlds getting smaller when your cellphone and your AC are made by the same company) AC's at good prices and I might just have to go for one of those. I'll check and see if it has auto-restart before I buy though.
TokenBlackGuy
Active member
all_is_1 said:
If you are getting portable, than get a dual hose AC unit too... they are more efficient and also dont exchange air.. with my one hose portable AC, it leaks some smell...
your going to be happy when you finally get to control temps at your whim..an AC makes everything easier.. If i had know from when i first started growing, i would have bought an AC before buying the an exhaust fan and also bought a vaportek instead of a carbon filter...
2buds
Active member
TokenBlackGuy- The whirl-pool has the auto restart if the power blinks during the day. It also varies the fan speed to keep up with the variable heat load throughout the day. Now I gotta get it mounted, gonna take alot of fab work on the rear walls to mount it.
all_is_1 - L-G manufacturers all the compressors used in whirlpool appliances, ac,fridge anything using a compressor. I looked at the LG's at HD but couldn't find the auto restart feature which means the world or crop to me. P-anasonic, whirl-pool and ken-more all have the auto restart feature. I'm sure there's more but I haven't seen them or found it stated on the box. Whirl-pool 10000 btu for $250 sounded good to me. Hope it's not a peice of crap.
Edit: After 3 hours of cutting and framing an interior and an exterior wall I got the ac mounted last nite. Works like a charm. Real quite! Dropped temps to 68 degrees in about 8 minutes with 1400 watts of hps and mh glowing brightly. Cycled off for 10 minutes, then fan cuts on to test air temps, compressor kicks in and things are REAL COOL. Dropped my flower room to 80, it had been running around 92 in there. Now to wait on a hot 100 degree day and see how it holds up. My fingers are crossed the digital pad doesn't crap out and everything gets scorched.
all_is_1 - L-G manufacturers all the compressors used in whirlpool appliances, ac,fridge anything using a compressor. I looked at the LG's at HD but couldn't find the auto restart feature which means the world or crop to me. P-anasonic, whirl-pool and ken-more all have the auto restart feature. I'm sure there's more but I haven't seen them or found it stated on the box. Whirl-pool 10000 btu for $250 sounded good to me. Hope it's not a peice of crap.
Edit: After 3 hours of cutting and framing an interior and an exterior wall I got the ac mounted last nite. Works like a charm. Real quite! Dropped temps to 68 degrees in about 8 minutes with 1400 watts of hps and mh glowing brightly. Cycled off for 10 minutes, then fan cuts on to test air temps, compressor kicks in and things are REAL COOL. Dropped my flower room to 80, it had been running around 92 in there. Now to wait on a hot 100 degree day and see how it holds up. My fingers are crossed the digital pad doesn't crap out and everything gets scorched.
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