Looking for a small AC

[Lazyeye]

I'm looking for a small AC for my tiny grow room. The dimensions of the room are 120x220x250 (cm).

I can only find AC's that are for rooms of 12m2+, wich is a bit big I reckon. Not to mention expensive. I want something pretty small, preferably with the capability of vaporising the water it collects. Don't know if this function is new and expensive, I've read about it and I think it fits my purposes perfectly.

Any advice for a lost soul like me? If anyone out there could recommend a good thermostat to go along it would be great (on a pretty tight budget, no figure set in stone but preferably under 200$ if it's possible).

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lazyeye]

Uhm...?

 

[Garhart]

I was looking for small AC to put in cabinet, the smallest I was able to find with out getting into strange stuff was the 5000 btu unit. Think you can find them in the big box stores for under 100 dollars, used for much less. There are a few VERY nice threads on converting them for use in tents, cabinets etc.

 

[Lazyeye]

That sounds interesting. I live in the EU, but if you have the name of the AC it would be great. Do you know if it evaporated the water or if you needed a hose?

 

[Lazyeye]

I can't seem to find any AC without ducting for the hot air to be transported, except those mini split systems, wich costs a fortune. And I'm not even sure how those work.

How would you people set it up in an apartment where you can't cut out holes in the wall etc? A bit worried about my grow when we are entering the summer months... I don't think I can use the window neither, there's a pic of my window in my grow journal.

 

[Garhart]

I live in a one bedroom and grow in cabinets, I only use small computer fans to cool my grows. It has worked well for me. Here is the link to the info that I used. https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=112862 If that does not do it for you, here is the rest that will : https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=40637 Best luck
IF money were no object: http://www.atrendyhome.com/doghouseair.html

 

[ak-51]

I'm looking for a small AC for my tiny grow room. The dimensions of the room are 120x220x250 (cm).

That sounds like a closet. Is it a closet? I think you might just need to A/C cool the room and then make sure there is enough air circulation between the room and the closet. What size light are you running in there?

preferably with the capability of vaporising the water it collects.

I have never heard of that feature before. I don't think you're going to find it in a sub-$200 unit, if at all.

I can't seem to find any AC without ducting for the hot air to be transported, except those mini split systems, wich costs a fortune.

Any mini-split system that I know of would be massive overkill for the size of room you're talking about. Pretty much anything but a window unit is going to be overkill for you I think.

How would you people set it up in an apartment where you can't cut out holes in the wall etc?

Maybe you could vent the hot air somewhere all the way across the room, or even out the window. I had a setup in an apartment a couple years ago that pulled fresh air in through the window, ran it through the hood, then pumped it back outside. I used two separate contraptions to accomplish this: the first was something made out of wood and sheet metal that you jammed into the window. It had 2 6" duct starters on it and a partition inside so the two wouldn't mix inside of it. The other was a window fan that I fixed 2 10" duct starters to. That one was much better. It just looked like a window fan from outside.

I don't think I can use the window neither, there's a pic of my window in my grow journal.

I didn't see any pictures for you anywhere. Why can't you use the window?

 

[Lazyeye]

It's kind of a stripped walk-in closet. Just an empty room.

I attached two photos of the window, as you can see it's probably not going to work... The temps are fine right now when running at 400W, sits around 27C. But when cranking it up to 600W it goes up to 30, and this is with below 0 temperature outside and the small venting hatch open.

I'm playing with the idea of asking the landlord if I can make a hole in the wall to the living room. Exhausting everything there. But I think the chances are very slim. And I'm worried that it will rise suspision.

Otherwise I'll just have to finish this grow like this and reinvest in some LED's or something...

Any advice are most welcome!

 

[ak-51]

So does that window not open at all?

I would definitely not ask the landlord if you could saw a hole in the wall. It is a no-brainer for him to deny that, and I can't think of a good cover story why you would need a 6 inch hole in the wall. You could just do it without asking, if you are confident that you can fix it afterwards. If the attic is above you, you could saw the hole up there. Generally a mended hole in the ceiling is going to be a lot harder to notice than a mended hole in the wall.

How is your hood setup. Are you venting air from your hood directly out of the room? Insulating the hood, using insulated ducting and then blowing straight out would help. How stealth does this need to be? I used to just have a 6 inch duct going from my grow all the way out of the bedroom door and half-way down the stairs.

 

[Lazyeye]

Well the part above the glass part of the window is a venting hatch or whatever you want to call it. It opens about one centimeter, it's just for recirculating air in the apartment I think.

I live in a 5 story building, me being somewhere in the middle. So the attic is a no go. I'm using a prima klima vented hood. You can see my setup here: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=253362

It basically just pulls the air out of the tent and the exhaust is placed on top of the tent directed towards the opened venting hatch. The plan was that the hot air clashes with the cold from the hatch. This is not enough obviously.

Since my apartment is just one floor and pretty small I'd want to keep everything in the closet. The closet door goes right out to the hallway, so if I got stuff going out there anyone who comes to visit (or if the landlord needs to do an emergency fix or whatever) would see it, and probably be suspicious about the stuff in the grow room.

 

[ak-51]

ok here's an option:

You could cut a hole in the wall between the room that your doing this in and an adjacent room. It would look weird to just have a big hole in the wall, but I think if you have it only about 6" to a foot off of the ground, and install a vent cover on it (something like this), it wouldn't look so suspicious.

The benefit of this would be that if you needed to clean things up in a hurry, or even just whenever you move out, you could just put a vent cover on the other side and make it look somewhat normal. It would just look like a vent between the two rooms for circulation. It wouldn't have been there before, but I doubt the landlord is going to go to the trouble to remove the vents and then re-do the drywall if it looks semi-respectable.

Another option is to make an adapter that mates 100% with that tiny ventilation hatch above the window. Then you would use that to vent all of the hot air out directly. 1cm tall? That's going to restrict the airflow for sure, but getting the hot air out of your place directly might be worth it.

 

[Lazyeye]

Been thinking about both alot! Cutting in the wall would be a totally last resort. Don't want to get a hefty fee when moving out or whatever. I have no idea how picky this landlord is, but I'm guessing pretty picky.

The option to get an adapter is something I have thought about alot. I just don't know how to go about it. Been thinking about covering the hole window up with something and cutting a hole for the exhaust. Preferably plexiglass, wouldn't look suspicious from the outside. But I don't know if it will work..