Dual hose portable AC's affect co2?

[madpenguin]

To be quite honest, I have never even heard of a window AC unit also providing heat functions. I'd be willing to bet that most of the general populace hasn't either (or a decent percentage). When you see an AC unit sticking out of a window, the first thing you think of is AC. :smile:

That being the case, anyone who see's or hears a window AC unit running during the winter months is going to be like "WTF?".

Unnecessary attention and just asking for trouble IMO... Then again, I'm the paranoid type. I literally slink down when the ghetto birds fly overhead. Might have something to do with living on the busiest street in my large city. I constantly feel exposed.

Heat on an AC unit.... No shit. At least I learned something new today. I feel kinda stupid. Makes sense I guess.

 

[sparkjumper]

Its pretty common man,but not if you've had central all your life I guess.I have a window unit in every room in the house so I can control the temps better.One room to veg one to flower and one to hang/dry,all different temps usually

 

[madpenguin]

I've never lived anywhere that had central air. My issue, I think, is that I've never owned a window unit above 10K....

Still think I'd be a little paranoid running them in the winter in a congested city. Would be a magnet for an overhead FLIR. Don't want to give anyone any reason to think anything...

Just got done cutting another fresh air intake for my veg and bloom rooms. I'm hoping I can forgo the A/C unit altogether this winter by sucking in cold air. No sense in making cold air when you've got free stuff outside.... ;-)

To add to my paranoia based reasoning, that would break up my consistent year round electric bill, putting me further below the radar (as well as saving money in the winter).

 

[Shcrews]

this thread is convincing me to buy a portable AC and seal my grow room.


so let me get this straight.... a portable unit will affect co2 levels, but not drastically. placing the AC intake close to the ceiling would also help prevent co2 loss.

it is efficient to use a portable AC combined with co2, but not ideal.

correct?

 

[sparkjumper]

I havent read the whole thread but to be short,I used a dual hose portable and it defiantely exhausted my co2.I switched to a window unit with no problems.Over the years I dont know how many changes/adjustments I've been through with my co2 lol.And Penguin,I used window cooling/heating units long before I ever thought of growing,I dont know for the life of me why you think its an uncommon thing to do.

 

[Shcrews]

how quickly did you lose co2?

i've used a window AC with a sealed room and co2 before, but this new spot i'm working at is in a crowded, kinda seedy neighborhood . it would look very weird running an AC at nighttime in the winter. hence the stealthy portable.

I read another post on here that said the dual-hose AC wasn't a huge problem, the person used a digital monitor to measure the loss. i will try to find it.

 

[mrwags]

this thread is convincing me to buy a portable AC and seal my grow room.


so let me get this straight.... a portable unit will affect co2 levels, but not drastically. placing the AC intake close to the ceiling would also help prevent co2 loss.

it is efficient to use a portable AC combined with co2, but not ideal.

correct?

I have a single hosed unit and it will suck out co2 as posted. There are several DIY thread and this poster even has pics that shows how to convert a single to dual. The man that said he saw the numbers drop on his controller,How much if we might ask?

I'm currently running a DIY'ED stanley blower and suck in cold air from the outside and I'm running c02 and the girls are right on schedule with no a/c running temp can be kept 80-85 where you want it anyway and I have multiple lights.

Just A Thought For The Winter,if it's cold outside USE IT.


My Penny
Mr.Wags

 

[Shcrews]

here i found the post from a similar thread

I was just looking through some notes i took when i installed by co2 burner. I have a sealed room, dual-hose porto ac, and fan-cooled sealed lights. Here was the breakdown (no plants were in the room):

i put the ppms up and then looked to see how fast they dropped in different scenarios.

room alone (ac off, light fan off): drops 10ppm/min

ac on only, light fan off: drops 40ppm/min (so ac adds 30ppm/min)

ac and light fan on: drops 60ppm/min (light fan adds 20ppm/min)
(EDIT: this was when i was venting the co2 generator, which i don't do anymore, so my total loss is now 40ppm)

of course, the plants eat a lot, but i was just measuring room loss. This was before i used a heat exchanger to cool the co2 so that the ac cycles on less. I haven't measured since, but thought you all might like these numbers for a rough reference. Better seals all around would get rid of room loss and light fan loss, and i have been trying to get both sealed better, but it ain't easy and LP is cheap.

THCV

for everyone:
is 30ppm per minute a lot? seems that the air-cooled lights were sucking out almost as much. co2 is cheap, is 30ppm per minute loss really that much? how many PPMs would a similarly sized window AC remove?

I'm currently running a DIY'ED stanley blower and suck in cold air from the outside and I'm running c02 and the girls are right on schedule with no a/c running temp can be kept 80-85 where you want it anyway and I have multiple lights.

Just A Thought For The Winter,if it's cold outside USE IT

how do you maintain constant co2 level of 1500ppm if you're bringing in outside air? i thought a co2 room should be sealed...

 

[mg75]

Wouldn't a chiller solve the problem of a sealed CO2 supplemented room?

http://shop.standardequipmentco.com/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=KA15

 

[mrwags]

Yes it is sealed. I have an intake hose (4inch) that is set up to turn on at 95 and off at 80 and have a trap on the end of it that seals the tube once the fan is shut off now consider I'm bringing in air that's at times 20 degree's or less it does not need to run very much at all. Yes I might use a little more gas but not having to us a a/c will make's up for it. Besides I have a single tube a/c and until it's modded is ineffective in the room.


Mr.Wags

 

[Shcrews]

how do you seal the intake when it is not bringing in air? do u have any pics? how many lights are you cooling? are they air cooled? what size room?

sorry for all the questions but you got me thinking..

 

[Randybobandy]

KWIKOOL.COM
I got 1.

The only portable air conditioner.
All others fall under the catagory of spot coolers beacuase
they do not have I/O Integral Condenser.


From their web page.
"Many spot coolers claim to be portable air conditioners, but in fact they are not. To be an air conditioner, the condenser's inlet MUST be isolated from the conditioned space. In other words, if the unit only has one condenser duct (an outlet) then it is a spot cooler.....not air conditioning!!

KwiKool's unique I/O Integral Condenser™ system brings in air from an outside source to cool its condenser and then returns the hot air to an outside source, totally isolating the condenser section from the conditioned space. Other spot coolers cool their condensers by utilizing cold air from the room. This creates a negative pressure (vacuum) in the room which sucks in dust, dirt,humidity and hot air from under doors, cracks in the ceiling tile.......anywhere! This is a very poor environment for any type of equipment. Because these types of units use room air to cool their condensers, their effective capacity is greatly reduced."

 

[portableac7]

The 14,000 BTU split evaporative portable air conditioner is the perfect choice. It promises more powerful, noiseless, and without need to drain the water....

 

[Drunkengrower]

i need help on this topic. i use a 10X5 tent with 2 inline 1k's. i hhave a sentinel controller that used to turn on and intake and exhaust fan. now its getting hotter out the fans ar not doing it. my dehumidifier also causes heat. i dont think a split a/c would work because i cant have the unit outside. can i leave it inside? say in another room? how about a portable a/c unit that is modified with a duct going into the tent and the unit outside the tent. i need to figure somthing out to keep my co2 in the room. any advise??

 

[BubbaBear]

http://www.compactappliance.com/SWA...ml?cgid=Air_Quality-Portable_Air_Conditioners

this is the cure, but fuck that price