window AC box.

[wafflehouselove]

Dig, your not understanding the ac. How it works is that the fan intakes the cool air from the top and side(if you look through the top and side u see a big fan). Then that air is pushed through the coils/fins, then that is where it blows out the hot air. You basicly have the air moving from one side of the ac to the other, but your fan is still blowing hot air out the back.

 

[impeachme2]

Can you use CO2 with this setup and not have enriched air being pumped out of the room?

 

[wafflehouselove]

yes you can impeach if you seal your room.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

Can you use CO2 with this setup and not have enriched air being pumped out of the room?

aslong as the air your not pulling to cool the unit isnot comming from the room, your good.

Dig, your not understanding the ac. How it works is that the fan intakes the cool air from the top and side(if you look through the top and side u see a big fan). Then that air is pushed through the coils/fins, then that is where it blows out the hot air. You basicly have the air moving from one side of the ac to the other, but your fan is still blowing hot air out the back.

i understand that, im just trying to defeat the whole thing with pressure, sealant, and plenty of cfm...

for my next box i wanted to pull the air from bottom and blow it up... taking the hot being pushed backwards...
i c the side holes used to take in the air..but if the air going through the box allows it to cool, directions etc dont matter, its just less effeciant....

its working, just want to make improvments... im planning on getting a 20k btu unit....

 

[hazeywonder]

I like it looks good i did a write up just like this a while back and still use and make these all the time. the more recent was to re-work the space between a thick doorway. Glad to see that its working out for you.

 

[clowntown]

Not sure if I understand how this (or window AC's) work.

Do window AC's work by taking in air (warm) air from the bottom, larger grille on the control panel side, cooling it, then spitting out the cooled air through the top, smaller grille? And spitting out the heat through the back only, without exchanging any air from outside to inside?

If so, your box design is connecting the hot exhaust from your A/C to your hood cooling fans?

Pretty good idea. Never thought of that; air-cooling an A/C!

Perhaps on your next version, use insulation and provide a drainage channel? Even without a jigsaw, it's not terribly difficult to cut a hole using a single hacksaw blade. Never said it was fun or comfortable, though.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

Not sure if I understand how this (or window AC's) work.

Do window AC's work by taking in air (warm) air from the bottom, larger grille on the control panel side, cooling it, then spitting out the cooled air through the top, smaller grille? And spitting out the heat through the back only, without exchanging any air from outside to inside?

If so, your box design is connecting the hot exhaust from your A/C to your hood cooling fans?

Pretty good idea. Never thought of that; air-cooling an A/C!

Perhaps on your next version, use insulation and provide a drainage channel? Even without a jigsaw, it's not terribly difficult to cut a hole using a single hacksaw blade. Never said it was fun or comfortable, though.

the ac's almost always pull air in through the side, top and bottom slats, then run it over the hot radiator and expell it out the back.

my box pushes that hot air sideways and puts fresh air into the side slats.

ive seen someone do a BETTER design using the a/cs fan and taping side-extentions onto the a/c then limiting and ducting it up.

i pulled my a/c out and found no water on the outside(in the box) but my tiny a/c dosent use much juice so it wont make much water. i was worried about it. in rainy season i might have an issue.
its also so warm the h20 is probably evaporating....
edit: spelling

 

[clowntown]

Well you know that A/C's also function as dehumidifiers, right? And that humidity collected must go somewhere... with window A/C's, I thought the drain was out the window side normally.

Still not sure I'm getting the picture on how a window-mount A/C functions. Can you possibly draw me a picture or something?

 

[TGT]

One thing I think might be important for using Co2 with this is that I would think it would be better for you to push the air into the box instead of sucking the air out. If you push the air into the box you create possitive pressure and this will prevent Co2 from being sucked out of the room into the box if the fan is a little bit too strong. If you suck the air out I think it would be possible to take air from the room into the exhaust. I could be wrong, but it sounds logical. Anyone agree or correct me if I am wrong. I think it is an important point to mention, unless you already did and I missed it. I want to build one with a 14,000 BTU or larger and this is a great idea. Thanks for the tutorial!

TGT

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

One thing I think might be important for using Co2 with this is that I would think it would be better for you to push the air into the box instead of sucking the air out. If you push the air into the box you create possitive pressure and this will prevent Co2 from being sucked out of the room into the box if the fan is a little bit too strong. If you suck the air out I think it would be possible to take air from the room into the exhaust. I could be wrong, but it sounds logical. Anyone agree or correct me if I am wrong. I think it is an important point to mention, unless you already did and I missed it. I want to build one with a 14,000 BTU or larger and this is a great idea. Thanks for the tutorial!

TGT

you need an intake from outside the room not to suck in co2 its best to have the fan infrom of the hot exhause not pulling it out, that'll decrease its life by alot.

 

[Hydropimp]

I was thinking about doing the box thing but can it be done with one big exhuast fan?

For all you guys who have pools or well water you should get a water cooled a/c.

What about buying another central a/c and installig in the room ?

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Well you know that A/C's also function as dehumidifiers, right? And that humidity collected must go somewhere... with window A/C's, I thought the drain was out the window side normally.

Still not sure I'm getting the picture on how a window-mount A/C functions. Can you possibly draw me a picture or something?

The exact workings differ a bit from model to model but maybe I can help you understand a bit better. Inside a window AC, there are two fans, a compressor and coils. One fan pulls in room air and runs it over the cold part of the coils to cool it (by removing the heat from the air) and blows the now cool air back into the room. A second fan pulls outside air (from the top rear usually) over the hot part of the coils (removing the captured heat) and blows that air back outside. There is no air exchange between the outside and inside air and if designed properly, they should never come in contact. The dehumidifier portion works because hotter air holds more moisture than cooler air. When the air is cooled, the moisture (humidity) turns to water. Same principle as why it rains when a cold front comes through your area.

 

[clowntown]

Sweet. Now I get it.

The dehumidifier "feature" is just a byproduct of the condensation on the coils, right? The condensation from coils dripping down into a pan, redirected outside, or something like that?

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Yep, dehumidifying is just a byproduct of cooling the air. It just happens to be very beneficial for our gardens. AC's are supposed to be mounted on a slight downward angle on the outside to let the condensation run out.

EDIT: Good write-up with diagrams to explain. Like I said, exact construction varies but you get the gist. http://home.howstuffworks.com/ac2.htm

 

[TGT]

ItsGrowTime, how would a portable air conditioner work? If explained like above, shouldn't it work just fine and not exchange air with the outside like everyone says? I understand the one hose design should be less efficient, but what about the two hose. I thought I would ask as you seem to understand these things well. Thanks for the above explaination also!

TGT

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

ItsGrowTime, how would a portable air conditioner work? If explained like above, shouldn't it work just fine and not exchange air with the outside like everyone says? I understand the one hose design should be less efficient, but what about the two hose. I thought I would ask as you seem to understand these things well. Thanks for the above explaination also!

TGT

the portable work exactly like a window-in-a-box unit onlt the WIAB unit can have its intake redirected from another place. the portables are designed that way and IMO are 95% as effeciant as a WIAB unit or a WINDOW unit mounted properly.

i cant stress enough that BIG a/c's (18k, 20k, 25k) units all need a much larger back to allow for air to actualy 'flow' within the box. ive herd of people using a 10" for a 25btu unit

id also like to note how small my unit is and how awkward my instalation is because of the room etc. im sure i could have used a smaller fan.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Im not familiar with portables, sorry. They can't be much different than window units though. They need a hose to vent out of the room and Ive heard that portables *can* blow inside air out the vent, which is bad for obvious reasons if it goes outside. Im sure a google search can explain further.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

Im not familiar with portables, sorry. They can't be much different than window units though. They need a hose to vent out of the room and Ive heard that portables *can* blow inside air out the vent, which is bad for obvious reasons if it goes outside. Im sure a google search can explain further.

no what your saying is exactly right they need to vent, and they use ambiant air to do it with. i dont have a problem with smell and portables, but im also combining it with air from carbon filter/hoods it can be an issue yes, an inline carbon filter sounds expensive.

 

[TGT]

Thanks for the info! I have decided just in case of a smell leak to make a lung room and then just exhaust through a carbon scrubber into this room. Then I'll put the portable AC in the lung room so if anything leaks it will only be clean air. I will be relying on a passive intake to circulate the cold air into the grow room. I hope it works fine, but I think it should as the grow room is air sealed and will have negative pressure from the air exhausting. It should be quite enough to pull the cold air throught the passive intake and circulate into the grow room. I will be using a Can 100 filter with an 800 CFM matching Can-Fan.

TGT

 

[Jacksparrow]

Im not familiar with portables, sorry. They can't be much different than window units though. They need a hose to vent out of the room and Ive heard that portables *can* blow inside air out the vent, which is bad for obvious reasons if it goes outside. Im sure a google search can explain further.

You are correct about portables. They still need to vent to the outdoors, the big differance is a portable AC unit usually comes with wheels made to stand in a corner while intake is remotely ducted.. such as this : http://www.compactappliance.com/Edg...ml?cgid=Air_Quality-Portable_Air_Conditioners


their disclaimer for portables reads :"*** All portable air conditioners require that the exhaust hose be vented outside of the room you are trying to cool."

Now there are also Air Coolers, that do not need exterior ventilation and cool the room. Though they usually handle much smaller amounts of sq. footage and dont cool nearly as well as a real A/C unit.
This is an air cooler: http://www.compactappliance.com/Edg...ve-Air-Cooler-EAC421W/EAC421W,default,pd.html

Air coolers only seem to cool ambient temp about 10-15 degrees, depending on the cooler and sq. footage you are cooling. So they might work for small spaces if you are only 5-10 degrees over.

Theirs my , that website has tons of different types of coolers/portables/window units. Their prices I dont know about..it was the first site i picked when I googled. Hope that helps someone somehow

Have fun