AC question, probably an easy answer

[baddru]

I need to get my temps down because for some reason even in a basement in a room 12 by 12 with only 2 600 HPS and a 465 CFM exhaust my room is still 90 degrees under the lights. I've got the 2 600's setup vertical style with a fan blowing up on them from underneath towards the cieling and the exhaust fan sucking air from the top of the garden. I just bought a window style 8000 BTU AC and can install it normally in the basement window.

Question is - does running an exhaust fan to bring in fresh air not remove all the cold air put out from the AC? I thought about turning off the exhaust and just running the AC but then theres no fresh air. Whats the solution to this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[morrisgreenberg]

that ac should just about do it, they say 3500btu is good per 1000 watts, but you may want to run your exhaust on a timer cus yes it will suck out cold air, especially 450cfm fan, with your a/c installed you just may want to bring in fresh air a few times a day and use the high cfm fan for a carbon filter if you dont already have it hooked up that, all we want i n fresh air is the co2 that comes with it, now if you are already in a basement and these a hheater system down there you may already have high co2

 

[morrisgreenberg]

also if you want to bring in fresh air you can use a $15 bathroom exhaust fan from lowes or HD, i dont think you would want a hardcore wind come in like that, just try to treat your fresh air openings with a fine mesh screen for critters and pests

 

[baddru]

So does the 465 hooked to the carbon filter not actually get vented somewhere? It just runs hooked up to the filter in the room and cleans the air? Does that actually remove the smell? I thought the point was to suck smelly air through the filter and deposit clean air outside, while keeping negative pressure in the room in order to keep smelly air from leaving via the intake? So it seems to keep the smell down the exhaust nees to be running full time, and thus remove all my nice cold air along with all my nice smell.

 

[Lazyman]

Get air cooled hoods and hook those suckers up to your exhaust fan, just make sure your intake air is filtered, or that it comes from a non-MJ room so the small doesn't push out. That will reduce your heat and make your AC more effective.

 

[baddru]

the bulbs hang vertically. I know that there are vertical cool tubes, but I think next run I'm going to be changing my setup and so don;t want to invest in them. Also even with the air cooled hoods, it would be sucking my nice cold air through the filter, through the hood and putting it outside.

 

[squirrelfooker]

You draw air from outside-->cooltube--> back outside
It never mixes with the inside air.

 

[medicine_man_bc]

hey baddru, those "window banger" style a/c units actauly exhaust hot air and bring in cooled air. i would spend 10 bucks and add a temp gauge to your exhaust and set it to the max temp you want, just in case. 8000 btu should work for your set up, polus a dehu and co2 burner if needed. dont run the exhaust unless its needed

 

[squirrelfooker]

hey baddru, those "window banger" style a/c units actauly exhaust hot air and bring in cooled air.

Most of them do NOT exchange are with the outside, they are about 99% sealed up and only let a very small amount of air exchange. Some of them have a lever to adjust whether you want air to exchange or not.

 

[baddru]

yeah, I read that the back portion of the AC that goes out the window draws in air that is used to cool the reigerant, and then exhausts the same air back out. While the front section that is in the house draws in air from the room it is in, cools it and exhausts it back into the room.

Thanks squirrel, I always seem to look for the complicated method rather then just the obvious of hooking up the intake of the cool tube to another room. Duh.

Still confused about the smell issue though. Does running a carbon filter with a fan, but not actually axhausting the clean air anywhere, just letting it run in the room do anything for smell? How can I run an AC and deal with the smell issue at the same time?

 

[smokinshogun]

-

 

[squirrelfooker]

If you run cooltubes you may not need the A/C. You are already vertical with a fan under the bulb so cooltubes may not help you alot, but they do help some.

If you want to run the A/C you will need a timer to shut off your exhaust fan while the A/C is running. Figure out how often you want to exchange the air in your room and run the A/C until that point, then use an oversized fan to exchange all the air quickly with the A/C shut off.

You can also do a completely sealed room with no intake or exhaust except for the separate cool tubes. You will need a co2 bottle and ppm controller. Look up sealed room, perfect room, controlled growing environment, cge.

 

[Kindman69]

I hear what you say about changing your set up soon, here is an idea:

- isolate light cooling from grow space
- install AC
- seal room
- get co2 controller and co2
- add a small hepa/charcoal filtration system
- don't forget the de-humidifier

Bam! Enjoy a completely controlled environment

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Vertical 600w's? Have you thought about getting 2 Pyrex Bake-A-Round tubes and making your own cool tubes? I'm guessing you have plants on all sides of these, so a commercial cool tube might not be what you want.

Running the ducting as suggested from outside, through the lights and then back outside, you take most of the heat out of the room.

Since the room is pretty much sealed, I'd either put around a 100cfm fan on a carbon scrubber and vent the room slowly (to draw in fresh air without overtaxing the A/C) or go some sort of CO2 setup.


Stay Safe!

 

[baddru]

Thanks Shogun - The cool tubes sound like a good idea, but my next grow I intend on going back to a horizontal light setup, and doing a 6 site Recirc DWC under each 600. I will definetely be looking into air cooled hoods though, as it seems that pretty much everyone recomends them.

Squirell - Thanks a lot for the advice, I will definetely look up all those terms. I'm a guy that likes to research as much as possible so Im looking forward to some good reading. I don't know much about CO2 so I'm sure I'll be up all night.

Kind - that sounds good man. This idea of a controled environment, is sounds like it could not only solve this issue Im having but some other concernes as well. Pretty excited.

Hydro - after all the good advice hear I think thats what it sounds like Ill be doing. Is the purpose of ventilation only to bring in CO2 and temperature control. If you can find another way to control the temp (AC) and add CO2 from a burner or whatever is there no other benifit to exhaust?

Thanks everyone for so much great advice. Been lurking for a long time now and am very happy with how quickly I was able to get an answer to a specific question I was having a problem with. Looking forward to better and better shows from here on.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Hydro - after all the good advice hear I think thats what it sounds like Ill be doing. Is the purpose of ventilation only to bring in CO2 and temperature control. If you can find another way to control the temp (AC) and add CO2 from a burner or whatever is there no other benifit to exhaust?

As long as the A/C is taking care of the heat then, yes the extraction fan is only for CO2. If you run CO2 either with bottles or DIY, you can keep the room completely sealed, no need for air to go outside.

 

[bdomina]

i think u might want to give this a read. it may help you.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=95491

is this AC unit completely contained withing the room or is it actually in a window. the exhaust an AC unit puts out the back is HOT. sorry if u mentioned this in the thread I am a bit

 

[baddru]

Thanks hydro - I read the majority of Kinds 7k sealed grow yesterday, and read about his offgassing. I'm a little confused about this so hopefully you, (or kind if your reading this) can help. All the info I found on offgassing is about the plastic from hydrohuts. But it seems in his grow that he is not using a hydrohut. Is there really NO need for air exchange ina sealed room as long as the temps are in check, and there is supplementart CO2? Does the plants natural respiration process change the air? Also it seems to me that letting a compressed gas into a sealed room would change the atomspheric pressure as there would now be a higher volume of air (CO2, O, and the various other components).

domina - thanks for the link, I have actually read that thread in its entirety and is pretty much everythign I know about how an AC works. Very very informative and helpful in how Im setting up my ac. What I'm going to do is build a box around the open basement window, and install the entire back part of the AC in this bow as if it was the window itself. That was there is freshair in the box from the open window to take care of the back part of the ventilation and cool the compressor, while leaving the front part in the room to cool the air. Does this sound correct.

I will try to get pics up soon. I did how ever open this account with just my regular e-mail etc. Maybe someone has some tips on how to be a little more secure and I will create a new account etc.