And the temperatures rise again....

[BORNaSMOKER]

Let's have a little chat about how people are keeping cool this summer. I am looking for a new AC right now but I would love to hear everyone else's opinions and methods big or small.

If your using AC a bit of advice/description on a new one would be nice!

 

[mellow yellow]

Temps up again mate, just upgraded my fan temps low 80`s. Not got a/c but always interested so i will be checking back.

 

[lost in a sea]

i was going to start a thread about a/c's the other day..

i bought this recently,,

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Cool...r-De-Humidifier-Air-Purifier-Flow-System-COOL!

its a good price for a 12000 BTU portable unit...

has to be widow or wall ducted,, but in winter i can put it inside the box and vent the warm air out of the box and just into the room to recycle the warmth,, was made by samsung as well (then just rebranded to not hurt their image as mobile/tv salesmen),, so it will last a few years...

the humidity is the best things about these,, on a/c mode it will take 20 litres of water out of the air...

humidity is the worst thing about growing here in the uk,, in summer time its usually 60-90%,,, which makes things even worse growing in confined spaces, with plants transpiring...

 

[VerdantGreen]

i personally try to avoid a/c

my cabs are in the attic and the ambients up there hit 100 easily. luckily i duct air up from the house and so far 86 has been my highest this year. im happy if i can keep it below 90. when using hps i had to run my lights at night but with the LED's im using atm i can run them during the day and hopefully i can continue.
just simple things like opening the windows on the side of the house that is in shadow and closing the blinds/curtains on the sunny side will help keep those ambient temps down.
never had any humidity related problems in my cabs yet - even with my super dense canopies, i try and keep it up by leaving water in the trays - it slows mites' breeding down.
anyway the summer's over now we can all stoop worrying lol

 

[El Toker]

I have a portable air-con that kicks in as a last resort. However, good insulation, air cooled supernova reflectors, three very good in-line fans and timing the lights off period so that it happens during the hotest hours of the day usually let's me keep things at about 22 c (14-22 lights off) even at the height of the summer.

 

[smellyden]

I have to swtich to CFL during the summer, as its just too hard to to control them running the HPS. I have four 300 watt cfl in my 1.2m2 tent, surprising enough I dont seem to suffer much yield loss.

 

[Buffoonman]

It may sound obvious but having the lights on at night solves a lot of heat issues it will seldom get above 15 degrees at night. When we had the record ever temperature the other year I still had a budbox with a 600w hps going with a 125 mm extactor fan without any problems. I have found increased temperatures even up to 100 degrees speeds up growth though anything above this causes probs. Maybee use envirolites for veg through the day during the hottest times. If you do go for A/C don't buy the very cheapest ones as they are little better than a fan.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Don't forget the simple things, they make a HUGE difference in the amount of heat you're generating.

1# Is your lamp shining directly on your lamp-cord? If it's getting hot, the cable will resist the electricity more, meaning more electricity has to be pushed through, meaning the cable will get hotter..... do you see the pattern yet?
Make sure your cables are cool

2# Put a fan on your ballast! Couple pennies of electricity powering a fan.... cools your ballast and increases its efficiency, lowering your electricity bill. By using less electricity, the ballast generates less heat. Double Win.
Make sure your ballast is cool


As for A/C suggestions? The 5K btu zenith units from Home Depot were $99 last year. I run a 1K HPS in an 8x10 room and the dial is sitting at '5' right now.

Keep your filters clean!

Stay Safe!

 

[EddieShoestring]

tx for those electrical tips , Hydro-soil

I try to avoid ACs as well by running at night, using oversized exhaust fans and a decent sized active intake from outdoors. It has been working so far. During the hot spell there was 3K on with a 12 " Lineo on a controller running at half speed and the temps occasionally got to the high 20s-thats ok now and again. Am hoping that this set up will cope with a full on UK summer (which as someone has pointed out we've probably already had).
cheers
eddieS

 

[bren]

i run at night in the bedroom venting in to my loft space and just open a window to draw cool air in at night been fine so far

 

[jayd]

i run at night in the bedroom venting in to my loft space and just open a window to draw cool air in at night been fine so far

same for me. got a 1.2m x 1.2m x 2m budbox 600 watt digital lamp. 125mm rvk exhausting and 100mm rvk intake fan

 

[fizzy187]

Hey guys,how y'all doing?

I have a little problem, since the beginning of this blazing heat ive been running at 30'C - 33'C! Any ideas what i can do to drop the heat? im venting out the room and using passive intakes closely matched to extract (which is 5" on a 5" scrubber).

I have what you can call clip on fans for the canopy temps but these fans seem fucking powerless so was wondering if there are better clip on fans i could invest in? and also how does an AC unit help me?

Most AC units have to be vented out a ducting so, if i put it in my dr240w tent and vent out into the room the tent is in, would that be okay? or do i have to place it in the room itself and vent out of the room (preferably to the bathroom where the tent is vented).
Problem in doing that is i dont want to puncture the wall for another hole....

I've been lookin at a price range of £100-£130 and 9000 BTU - 12000 BTU, what d'ya reckon and on elec wise does it really matter which AC to select in that range or do i have to find a really efficient one (is that possible)

I really do believe an AC is my last resort now since im approaching 12/12 and il be flowering with 2000w (1200wHPS+800wMH) as opposed to my current 400wMH for veg (one in four lights on)...

Cheers and thanks for ya time!

 

[VerdantGreen]

fizzy, stating the obvious here, but you wont get the temps in the tent down any lower than your ambient temp in the room - so if the room is hot in the summer your tent will be, at best, a little hotter than that. so either A/C or ducting colder air into the tent from somewhere else is what you are looking at.

VG

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Flower at night, like Eddie S says, always, you get much cooler ambient temps, but, more importantly, naturally higher CO2 levels. In rural areas it can be double or more CO2 ppm outside at night when the wild plants exhale CO2, rather than during the daytime when you are competing with them.

Also, raising and halving the number of lights in the last 2 weeks will not really affect the yield, but will bring down the budzone temps, reducing the risk of moulds etc, increase the aromas, smell, taste because cooking them in the last few weeks really does harm them. All you are doing is fattening what already exists, in Autumn naturally the light lessens, why screw up a summer crop and waste Electric.

Ducting your air directly from the lamp shade is taking it from the hottest point, so it should run cooler, if desperate you can run glass covers in the hoods, sealing them and run a ducted in and out hood.

 

[V1AAA]

i use to run some stretchy hazes, and in the summer i could load up my trays with alot of plants, and veg for a few days, then flower

11 hours of light minimizes your risk of high temps, especially for long periods of time.

the plants use to finish at least 5 foot up, sometimes 6ft.

i never had fun with aircon. if it wasnt 1 thing it was something esle. and they burn shit loads of leccy

 

[speedemon]

I just upgraded my fans to a 6" l1 ruk intake and 2 x Etaline 8" fans and 6" rhino filter with my 2 magnum xxxl reflectors