Running AC during the winter?

[Finagleabud]

I live in a legal state (northern WA) and we're starting to get some pretty cold weather at night. I use a window AC unit to keep the ambient air in the room where my tent is at about 65 degrees, which keeps temps inside the tent at a constant ~68-70.

Last night we had a pretty cold night where I live, and the AC unit started making an incredibly loud shrieking noise. I turned it off obviously, but now I have a problem.

Running my tent without AC in the room is out of the question. Opening the window isn't an option cause the temperature is way too variable. If it's not cold enough it will get much too hot, not to mention I don't want smell leaking out to my neighbors. I'm legal but it's definitely still not something I want to advertise.

Any solutions? What can I do? The screeching noise stopped and the AC unit seems to be working fine, but obviously this alarmed me greatly and I don't trust it anymore.

 

[TreehouseJ]

I live in a legal state (northern WA) and we're starting to get some pretty cold weather at night. I use a window AC unit to keep the ambient air in the room where my tent is at about 65 degrees, which keeps temps inside the tent at a constant ~68-70.

Last night we had a pretty cold night where I live, and the AC unit started making an incredibly loud shrieking noise. I turned it off obviously, but now I have a problem.

Running my tent without AC in the room is out of the question. Opening the window isn't an option cause the temperature is way too variable. If it's not cold enough it will get much too hot, not to mention I don't want smell leaking out to my neighbors. I'm legal but it's definitely still not something I want to advertise.

Any solutions? What can I do? The screeching noise stopped and the AC unit seems to be working fine, but obviously this alarmed me greatly and I don't trust it anymore.

I can tell you that walmart, target, hd, lowes, etc. aren't going to have any window units in stock, I crossed this bridge a couple weeks ago. You'll either have to order one off the innernet or buy one on craigslist.

 

[Finagleabud]

Ack I didn't even think of that, but mainly I'm just worried about the loud noise and the AC unit possibly starting some kind of fire. It was making a LOUD noise, I've never heard one do that before, I was just wondering if anyone knew the general safety of running one of these window units during the winter months.

 

[Snook]

I live in florida and in our 'winter', and it is nothing compared to yours, at no time is the household AC or heat used in the grow room, the input vent is shut off.. incoming air is (either cold or warm) too dry at 50% and less in the winter. And if a window isn't open to let in fresh air, the 750CFM fan starts sucking household air from other rooms of the house overpowering the household AC input fan and the AC runs all day, winter or summer... I use a portable ceramic heater on a thermostat to keep temps where they need to be.. you might need two.. that's all I have for you.. other solutions will be by in a while.. GL.. I used to live in Spokane.. you know you live in the country if you live 1 mile outside any city limits in WA. High Bud.

 

[Snook]

do you allow your ac unit to shut down at any time?? maybe a belt/gear froze up?

 

[TreehouseJ]

I was just wondering if anyone knew the general safety of running one of these window units during the winter months.

You could always cut a flap in your tent and stick the face of your AC through it. This is what I do. It's about the only option is my crawlspace.

One of these CO or WA guys will probably come by to answer your question. I wouldn't want an AC sticking through my window during winter for security reasons, so I would have no idea.

I would think your ac needs replacing. It sounds like its trying to self-destruct.

 

[MrBungle]

basically all your refrigerant is hanging out in the condenser where its coldest and its starving your evap and compressor... I dont think there is a low ambient kit for window units.... may have to look into other ways of cooling your room

 

[Finagleabud]

You could always cut a flap in your tent and stick the face of your AC through it. This is what I do. It's about the only option is my crawlspace.

One of these CO or WA guys will probably come by to answer your question. I wouldn't want an AC sticking through my window during winter for security reasons, so I would have no idea.

I would think your ac needs replacing. It sounds like its trying to self-destruct.

Hmm, I never thought of doing that! That's a good idea though... is it safe to do with a standard window home AC unit? Like it doesn't exhaust anything noxious right? I'd just have to somehow vent the hot air it spits out of the tent into the surrounding room? Would it interfere with my exhaust fan? IIRC I have a fan that's on the high end if not overpowered for my 4x4x8 tent.

 

[TreehouseJ]

Hmm, I never thought of doing that! That's a good idea though... is it safe to do with a standard window home AC unit? Like it doesn't exhaust anything noxious right?

Nah, you're good.

I'd just have to somehow vent the hot air it spits out of the tent into the surrounding room?

Yep. Set up a box fan or two to circulate the exhaust.

Would it interfere with my exhaust fan? IIRC I have a fan that's on the high end if not overpowered for my 4x4x8 tent.

Welp, once you stick a window unit in der you are going to want to stop exhausting, which means you are going to want some co2 supplementation. I just keep a propane pencil torch heating up a big pot of water. Boosts my co2 levels from 3-400 to 11-1200 for ~100 daylight hours for a whopping $2.50. My 4 burner is collecting dust in the attic.

I exhaust ~1 min every 4 hours in my 5x5x6.5 tent just to make sure I have enough oxygen in the tent for my propane to burn clean, and to take some strain off the AC. I don't know that it's necessary, but I do it anyways. Propane is cheap.

(Use in conjunction with a regularly tested leak detector, and keep it tilted to prevent condensation dripping on your pilot)

 

[coldcanna]

In the name of efficiency why don't you exhaust the warm air to the rest of your house and save on winter heating? Guessing you have a 1k in that size space? Decent sized exhaust fan with passive intake should keep it cool in there no problem

 

[TreehouseJ]

In the name of efficiency why don't you exhaust the warm air to the rest of your house and save on winter heating?

^^ I always do this regardless of what time of year it is or where I am growing. I don't like the idea of having that kind of heat signature pouring out of my house. Maybe I just watched "never get busted" one too many times when I was a kid.

If you stick an AC through your tent, you can redirect the exhausted heat wherever you would like. My 5x5x6.5 tent is in a 1k square foot basement so, I just let my 600cfm cool tubes push and pull the air around without any added box fans or ducting. It gets a bit warmer directly behind the AC when it kicks on, but this is a non-issue. Most of the time it is "exhausting" room temperature air.

 

[coldcanna]

Having an AC inside seems kinda redundant... your using 1500 watts to move the heat instead of 400 or so for a bigger in line fan. I bought a wall plug in that is thermostatic, it turns the fan on when temps go beyond 82. Was only 15 bucks on amazon

 

[TreehouseJ]

I don't think I could keep my co2 levels up with constant ventilation. I'll plug my exhaust into my thermostat and monitor co2 levels tonight though. It would be nice to halve my electricity bill.

 

[queequeg152]

Any solutions? What can I do? The screeching noise stopped and the AC unit seems to be working fine, but obviously this alarmed me greatly and I don't trust it anymore.

believe it or not... that loud screeching can be from the run capacitor on alot of fans.

i have 0 clue what size window ac unit, but split cap motors are not uncommon for even small fans.

other thing is shitty bushings need regular oiling... but this shit has been outdated for years now, even in low end crap.

most bushings are now these scintered bronze deals that are "permanently" lubricated and shielded to some extent. i doubt its a bad bushing or bearing tbh. not unless its crazy old or gotten crazy dirty some how.

if your compressor is a scroll... there is all sorts of wacky noises scrolls can make when they malfunction. some scrols have valves to unload pressure when they shut down. this makes it easier to start up again.
ive hear that these valves can chatter and be quite noisy... squeal though? idk.

there are also the valves on the suction and discharge... these are vital to the operation of the compressor though. if they started to fail you would notice quite a bit of capacity loss and some bad liquid noises id think. idk though, from what i understand these valves dont usually fail outright.
does your ac have a scroll compressor? is it a 410 unit or older r134a unit?

can also be your metering device? does your window unit have a TXV or a fixed oriface?

txv's can squeal hum or whistle too... but you wont find a TXV on a crappy old 9kbtuh window unit. they are more likely to be found on newer stuff... r410 units.

if your TXV is bad. good luck. you are going to need to recover the refrigerant, purge and braze in a new one... then vac it down and recharge and tune the charge if necessary.
maby you could take the whole thing to an appliance repair place? no clue what such a thing would cost tbh.

 

[queequeg152]

holy shit lol... listen to this one. hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK-xDvxvjes

 

[Drop That Sound]

For sure its getting cold out, the first frost is near! Maybe you could use something like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KEYDNKK/ref=pd_sim_60_6?ie=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01KEYDNKK&pd_rd_r=PSNK228VXJ03NX7H9312&pd_rd_w=WUj27&pd_rd_wg=aG2CO&refRID=PSNK228VXJ03NX7H9312&th=1

to regulate the ambient room air, with a fan in the window (sucking in free AC!) plugged into the cooling side, and a fan that sucks warm air in from the rest of the house on the heating side of the controller.

 

[botany]

Hey there, as with most AC units, when you use them in the winter, the evaporator coil is prone to freezing up. I see 'em a lot in restaurant kitchens where they run the AC year round. On a regular split AC unit you can use a head pressure controller. It will cycle the outdoor fan on and off to maintain head pressure. Unfortunately, on a window shaker it's not possible to accomplish this. Might try blocking off part of the condenser coil with cardboard or something. Should help out. Might ruin your window shaker though. Best luck.

 

[brown_thumb]

If it's an emergency you could get a window mount fan to bring cold air in and add a baffle to direct the airflow upward and into a corner so it doesn't blow straight onto any plants. You'd need to control it's operation with a thermostat located centrally in the room. That might work well enough until you can get a replacement A/C unit. Who knows... maybe it would work well enough all winter? I don't know... I'm just guessing.

Oops... I should have read the entire thread before posting. DTS beat me to it.

 

[brown_thumb]

In the name of efficiency why don't you exhaust the warm air to the rest of your house and save on winter heating? Guessing you have a 1k in that size space? Decent sized exhaust fan with passive intake should keep it cool in there no problem

That makes a lot of sense. But won'i some of the smell be spread throughout the house even with a good carbon filter?

BTW, sorry for my intrusion but this interests me.

 

[coldcanna]

That makes a lot of sense. But won'i some of the smell be spread throughout the house even with a good carbon filter?

BTW, sorry for my intrusion but this interests me.

If you have a good carbon filter and change it as needed, then no you will not smell it in your house so long as you seal the room. If the OP was worried about smell I assume he already handled this, because with his current setup you would still get drafts of smell if the room is under positive pressure or there is some kind of negative coming from the house side of the unsealed door