Window AC unit and odor

[SmokeTheState]

Hello,

I am still in the planning stages of my grow and looking into finding a suitable AC unit for my grow.

A window AC unit would be best for my situation, but a portable AC unit could do as well.

My question was, do most window AC units exhaust smell from a grow?

How do you guys control the odor exhausted by a window AC unit to the outside?

Do certain window AC units not exhaust air from withing a sealed grow room?

Thanks guys.

 

[MedResearcher]

Look for a window AC that has a lever on it, that changes the AC from recirculating to fresh air. A lot of the models have this feature. The lever is normally located on the cool air side, near the vent or in the louvers that direct the cool air.

Make sure the lever is on recirculate, and duct tape it in position so it never gets bumped to fresh air. That will keep it sealed up, so you don't waste Co2 nor exhaust smelly air.

Mr^^

 

[issack]

window units will re circulate the room air.. i only use them and i have no smell from my room ever.. make sure u get a unit that has a auto restart so when the power shuts off and kicks back on your A/C does as well.. Find one with a dry mode as well, and that helps with humidity huge.!

happy growing man.!

 

[SmokeTheState]

Thanks for the replies. You guys are amazing.

Exactly the answers I was looking for, and then some.

 

[globel]

do not get a portable ac unless you can afford to have the smell leave your grow room. Very few portable ac's are built properly and most of them leak air. Unless its built by kwikool or designed for hydro stay away.

 

[*mistress*]

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[CanadianGrower]

Im having this problem with my a/c the conidsation on the out side stinks and ive only had it in their for 1 month, not sure what to do was think bounty sheet on out side, or might get something to mask the odor.

 

[ddrew]

Christ, now I'm going to have to go outside and sniff the back of my AC, I never thought of this.

 

[ItsAllOver]

I always thought window A/C units were pretty well sealed from the factory. I'm sure there are some ways to make them more smell proof. After all, the "exhaust" everyone keeps referring to isn't really exhaust. Window A/Cs don't move air from the inside space to the outside, they just dump the heat out the back, air is used to strip the heat from the coils, but that is outside air...
So somewhere I saw a thread about light-proofing A/Cs where the guy removed his cool side vents and spray painted black the styrofoam that you can see back in there. Maybe a coat of that black spray would help with odor. Looking at mine, it seems like this foam is not totally airtight.
Tomorrow I'll take a look at my A/C unit and see where odor leaks could occur and report back. It's not important in my situation, though, because I'm not running sealed. Still might come in handy one day.
Also for you sealed room guys, why don't you just run a large fan/filter combo near the A/C unit window? This would probably help a lot, and when running a sealed grow, I assume you aren't squeamish on the cost side...
Peace

 

[hoosierdaddy]

If there is any smell leaving the coil side, then the unit has a vent that is not sealed up.
The vent needs to be closed shut, and then glued shut and sealed with caulk.

Small units like the $100 window units at Walmart have the cool side separated by a plastic bell of sorts. There is no air being sucked from the cool side and exhausted at all. None.

 

[ddrew]

If there is any smell leaving the coil side, then the unit has a vent that is not sealed up.
The vent needs to be closed shut, and then glued shut and sealed with caulk.

Small units like the $100 window units at Walmart have the cool side separated by a plastic bell of sorts. There is no air being sucked from the cool side and exhausted at all. None.

Yeah, that's what I thought, this thread made me second guess myself.

 

[ItsAllOver]

I don't understand why A/Cs have those damn vents, anyway. I'll be caulking mine up today, in addition to the light proofing spray paint job.

 

[*mistress*]

........

 

[apartmentblower]

you mention that you are interested in portables. if you have the cash (which doesnt really make sense cause window a/c's are generally cheaper) go for the window a/c over the portable. consumer level portable a/c's, no matter whatt their configuration (single or dual hose) will exhaust room air. you can't run a sealed room with them and they will let odor out, some more than others. thats not to say that you cant run an effective grow with one, in fact i use one with a carbon scrubber recirculating inside the room 24/7 and i cant easily detect smell outside but if i stick my nose in the exhaust vent i can definately smell something "plant" smelling. and thats all a crooked cop needs to get a warrant


if you are running a larger grow and have a good budget, you can look into industrial "portable" a/c's. they aren't really that portable as they are heavy as hell but the dual hose models, according to users on this board whom i trust, do NOT exhaust room air


if a company simply took their window a/c's and boxed them up like many growers do, but in a more professional-looking package, im sure growers would buy them up... its sooo easy in practice, i wonder why they don't just take the extra time when they design the portables to seal them up so the room air doesn't mix with the air that cools the unit??? and even the regular consumer (non-grower) would appreciate the little bit extra energy savings in not using expensive air conditioned room air to cool the unit and spit it outside

 

[*mistress*]

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