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Who has experience with portable AC units?

C

cobain420

Hey just wondering if anyone has tried to use a portable AC unit to cool a flowering room similar to this one:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...03+90401+503405&marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125

I am planning on having 2 - 1K HPS in the flower room. I am getting sick of the window AC units, had a few problems recently.

Basically from what I gather to use this portable AC unit you need a place for the exhaust and a place to drain the moisture built up from condensation.

If you have anymore information or experience using similar units please let me know!

Thanks for the space!
 
P

petfish

Member
im my experience with portables. (ive owned a 10,000btu, 12000 btu evaporated, and now i have a 13500 btu evaporated unit) they are not very good. first off the exhaust will pick up the smells in your room ,so dont use them with close neighbors. but ive blown out all the above units. imo the 13500btu unit is not as good and efficient as a 10,000btu window a/c. the rear of the unit need to be far away from any walls or they expend more heat than they cool. this would probably work for you with 2k running. but i would air cool the lights ,because they have trouble keeping up with anything fighting against em.
for example i shut down a few lights for the summer and am running 5k. i have a long skinny floweroom. i have a 12000btu window unit at one end, and i put the 13500btu portable unit at the other side. the room was running 90 degrees,then after just 2 weeks of the portable running 24/7, it died and just blows out hot air.$550 for 2 weeks work..... so i pulled it out and ran a 10,000btu window unit at the other end, even in the hottest of days(i run fresh air/exhaust)i can easily keep the room in the 70's now.
this is how i make window units into portables.and the suction keeps the a/c running better and more efficient than the rear 12000btu unit.
oh by the way i hate all a/c units and usually go through 4 or 5 a year. they are not built to last at all anymore.
good luck on you decision.

oh a quick edit. none of these portable units that ive owned, are able to run dehuey and cool at the same time. its one or the other.

 
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S

Supreme

New member
first off the exhaust will pick up the smells in your room
Click to expand...

Isn't it possible to let the exhaust push the air through a carbonfilter? So the carbonfilter is in another room and connected to the exhaust of the portable AC? (I have no experience with this myself)
 
C

cobain420

Nice setup pet, do you have a grow thread? Looks like your doing your thing.

My only problems with window AC units are:

Like you said, they are not built to last. I went through 3 - 10,000 BTU+ air conditioners with the digital thermostats. Honestly, they cooled the room fine, but with the 3K HPS I had going, when an AC dies you only have a few hours before the lights kick on, and your plants are toast because temps hit 90+.

I hate relying on something that isn't reliable.

Another major concern:

I live in a cold climate, and even when the temperatures outside were below freezing, my room still needed to be cooled. Chunks of ice would actually form on the window AC fan blades, and eventually stop the fan, and again, stop my cooling.

Costing me money for another damn AC, and stressing out my ladies.

I just want something that'll get the job done, give me complete control over temperature, and be RELIABLE. Think if I drop the money for a real high end portable it'll last at least a year or two?

Also, would it be possible to hook up a carbon filter to the exhaust of the portable?

Thanks for all the help!
 
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G

Guest

screw the portable!
if you read up close, it says not to put it in a direct heat source.
i bought a 13,000btu unit for a 6'x6' flower room w/ 1200 watts(at the time)
and it didnt even come close to getting the job done.
best it got was 87 degrees, and it ran all day.
 
G

Guest

cobain420 said:
Hey just wondering if anyone has tried to use a portable AC unit to cool a flowering room similar to this one:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...03+90401+503405&marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125

I am planning on having 2 - 1K HPS in the flower room. I am getting sick of the window AC units, had a few problems recently.

Basically from what I gather to use this portable AC unit you need a place for the exhaust and a place to drain the moisture built up from condensation.

If you have anymore information or experience using similar units please let me know!

Thanks for the space!
Click to expand...

I have and have used both, my thoughts:

1) The solaire, or one like it, evaporates the water condensation. You still have to provide an exhust for the hot air but water handling is iliminated.

2) Worst of all - The stand alones use MUCH more power. 3 x 4 times as much. The solaris I have is 8000 BTU and uses 13.5 Amps! The 10,000 BTU window ac uses 4.5 amps. This is the critical piece if you are anywhere near your power ceiling.

3) Mine can AC and humidify at the same time, but it does neither as well as stand alone units and uses more power.

4) I have solved the 'Oh my god, I've ruined my crop" with two equipment purchases. One is using 2 small AC units in grow room. When both are working, they keep the room easily at 70-75 degrees. If one goes out, the temp goes up but not enough to kill em before I see em again.

This is the other equipment:

http://www.temperatureguard.com/vm503.htm

I actually bought this after my breeding room heater malfunctioned, it went to 110 dgrees and killed everything in the room. It's $250, so it's not cheap, but what is the price of a wasted crop?

It works very well in testing although it has not called me for a real emergency yet.

Hope this helps!

The Kid
 
G

Guest

One other VERY important factor. Are you air-cooling the hood? This will reduce your need for cooling dramatically, but only if you use a pass through system.

I have a tube type hood with a 1K light. Last winter, I drew un-tempered air (40 degrees) from outside the grow room, through the fixture and out the grow room. The glass on the tube was cool to the touch. It was choice. I was giving plants 100,000 lumens, had them 8 inches away from a 1K light with no damage.

This summer, I thought that would not work. So I did the usual - had the room air pulled through a carbon filter, through the hood, then exhusted. My AC could not nearly keep up. I switched to the same set up I had during the winter and the AC has been fine. Although the air I'm pulling through the hood is 60-90 degrees, since it's not sucking out all my AC'ed air, it can keep up easily.

Just a thought.

The Kid
 
WhoAmI?

WhoAmI?

Member
EXHAUSTED!

EXHAUSTED!

That USB thingy is sweet! Right, so here's my conundrum: I'm running 1200 watts in 10x10 sealed room, in which my grow area is 4x8 (8 buckets). My lights are sealed and exhausted into the attic. Can I filter a portable a/c unit's exaust through a scrubber and tap it into the lights' exhaust line to the attic???? Or should I just run a window unit?

:joint:
 
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NiteTiger

NiteTiger

Tiger, Tiger, burning bright...
Veteran
Wow, air cooling definately makes a significant difference.

I've run 2k with a 5000 BTU A/C keeping my room at or below 70.

Definitely need to get into some air cooled hoods guys. For 10% of what you're spending on one a/c, you could have 2 cool tubes running, and save your A/C's and your wallet!
 
G

Guest

WhoAmI? said:
That USB thingy is sweet! Right, so here's my conundrum: I'm running 1200 watts in 10x10 sealed room, in which my grow area is 4x8 (8 buckets). My lights are sealed and exhausted into the attic. Can I filter a portable a/c unit's exaust through a scrubber and tap it into the lights' exhaust line to the attic???? Or should I just run a window unit?

:joint:
Click to expand...

Can you bring air from outside the grow room directly to your lights - through your lights, and out the other side? No need to cool it or filter it.

Then, run a window unit. If you are not exhusting all the cool air from the room, and you're cooling your lights well with ambient air, you should be fine.

The Kid
 
G

Guest

Dont get me started with flippin portables,they cost me in more ways then one!Nothing beats a remote control window AC for a sealed grow.I could very easily have 70 degree canopt temps with uncooled 1K vertizontals with 4K BTU per 1K horty,but I run co2.I set my AC on 83-84 to keep 85-90 degree canopy temps,I know it sounds hard to believe with uncooled fixtures.You need a wall mounted oscillator of course,air king makes the best IMO.My AC goes down to 64 degrees,so without co2 I'd be able to keep 70 degree canopy temps.Get the portable idea out of your mind,dont waste your time.
 
C

cobain420

Alright thanks for all the information guys, I am going to try to improve my air cooled bulbs, and figure out how to make the window mounted AC unit more reliable.

Anyone else ever have chunks of ice form on AC fan blades?

Also, I'm worried about running an AC in the WINTER. Looks kind of suspicious.

Thanks!
 
C

cobain420

Petfish I can't check PMs on this site yet, when I hit 50 posts I will check it though.
 
OsWiZzLe

OsWiZzLe

Active member
OceanAire makes real deal heavy duty portable AC units...they are made for hot enviroments....just gotta break the bank for em
 
darthvapor

darthvapor

Active member
what about just adding another ac outside next to the house ac and useing it for your grow. I see house with 2-3 ac units so it wouldnt be suspicious. It would take 3-4 window units to equal it in performance and that would look funny with 4 window ac stiking out. This would be for a permanet location btw not some apartment. what do you guys think?
 
G

Guest

Funny?I guess I'm hilarious then as I have 5 window units in my house lol.As for running the AC during the winter months,many models are cooling/heating units.The problem you're going to have running the AC during the winter is the AC icing up.There are a couple ways I've found to remedy this,first always use the fan on high speed.Second,run the AC at high temps for several minutes on a cold morning and gradually decrease temps.Third,if icing occurs kill the AC for about 10 minutes (you may want to kill the lights also.And fourth when all else fails,take a blowdryer to the bitch!Running a window AC during the winter is doable though difficult even down here in Fla,it probably will be magnified anywhere else
 
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