Air Conning in the UK

[Harry Lime]

bin thinking about this for a while which is bad coz I don't know a thing about it.

sure it's turned warm these last few days but could an air con do a job year round?
Whats the advantage of an air conned grow room year round aside from cool temps when it finally gets a bit warm around here?

Ya gots ta have some negative pressure in there, no? so do you filter up the air con? xtract with a smaller fan as well?

I've used one of those portable things ya gets from argos. found it best using it to cool the space my intake came from. but what about these big things they use in the USA?

 

[SeaMaiden]

I have no advice for you on this. I'm in California, was born in New Orleans and have lived in the southern tier of the states, east to west, for as long as I can remember. If we didn't have fans (what I actually grew up with), we had A/Cs. But the stupid wall units or central air, not the efficient, sensible mini-split units like they use in SE Asia, Indonesia and the like.

Mini-splits can heat as well as cool, if I recollect correctly. Another benefit of air conditioning is that if it's humid you can get a good bit of moisture pulled out of the air. If you collect that moisture (there is plumbing associated with this condensation for central air conditioning/heating systems, and we have the same thing for our heat pump unit) you could get a good bit of clean water out of it, depending on humidity. We don't normally have high humidity here in the mountains, even if it is the western scarp, it's nothing like the deserts or how dry I hear the Rockies get.

Humidity can make temps stay, or at least feel higher, too, by the way. I'm going to guess that a device like a swamp cooler (evaporative cooler) wouldn't work well in the UK, either. My folks use a swamp cooler for their cabin out in the desert near Joshua Tree and they get their place down into the 60s, TOO cold for my taste, just with evaporative cooling.

So I guess the answer is that it depends on what kind of unit you wish to use, or can use given your location, etc. But like I said, I'm pretty sure there are mini-split models that can heat and cool, same unit.

 

[lost in a sea]

great post seamaiden,,

Harry lime if we were in alot of the usa or anywhere near the equator then the answer would have to be yes if your trying to grow indo through the middle of summer,,

but really we are pretty lucky that our summers are basically no shows in that respect, and the wattage of one of those outside acs on top of everything else would sting a bit..

you dont need air con year round, but if you wanted an ac unit could keep the temps stable and keep the humidity from being a pain..

 

[Harry Lime]

That's the thing, we don't generally use domestic a/c in this country so no one knows anything about it.

Sure our summers are usually no show but one year we're gonna get a proper summer again. Also we bin gettin these hot spells in March/April too.

I usually run things down for the summer just in case but it wud be nice to just grow right through without fear of temp trouble.

 

[lost in a sea]

Sure our summers are usually no show but one year we're gonna get a proper summer again. Also we bin gettin these hot spells in March/April too.

muahahaha NEVER!!!

yeah but the hot march spell this year was less than a week and it was windy enough that it didnt even heat up much..

no doubt it could happen,, maybe just do a smaller grow through the middle of summer and use ac so the wattage isnt too crazy, or chance it..

i just put em outside thesedays during the worst bits but you obviously cant do that when they are in flower..

 

[Harry Lime]

muahahaha NEVER!!!

yeah but the hot march spell this year was less than a week and it was windy enough that it didnt even heat up much..

no doubt it could happen,, maybe just do a smaller grow through the middle of summer and use ac so the wattage isnt too crazy, or chance it..

i just put em outside thesedays during the worst bits but you obviously cant do that when they are in flower..

It heated up in my gaff, Man, I din't wear anythin but a sarong for ova a week! Lights on in the 12/12 place was 88c til I hung up an air cooled.

Still, 16c outside today an it's not gettin any hotter this week. Looks like we're back to normal ol summer.

 

[speedemon]

I have aircon mate now, and there is no looking back, I will never have to moan about the temps again, I just set my temp and job done. Aircon is the future!! Its also a dehumidifier so I can control the RH at 40% constant

 

[roll it large]

I have aircon mate now, and there is no looking back, I will never have to moan about the temps again, I just set my temp and job done. Aircon is the future!! Its also a dehumidifier so I can control the RH at 40% constant

how much watts of light and what btu ac unit you using mate and how big is the room

peace

 

[Harry Gypsna]

I've been thinking about water cooling-DIY style with a few car radiators built into an box and a big res. I've got an area in my cellar, which used to be the coal area, walled all 4 sides with a narrow doorway. I thought I could add a bit of wood upto-x height in the doorway, get some pond liner, and make the coal hole into a big res , like 1000 litres or even more.
I'm sure passive(without a chiller) water cooling would have potential here in the UK with our lower temperatures.

 

[speedemon]

how much watts of light and what btu ac unit you using mate and how big is the room

peace

I have 2 magnum xxxls with 1000 watt bulbs on dimmable ballasts which I will be only running at 600 watts per light and the length of the room is 2.8 meters by about 6' high and 10' wide, but its a loft so go's to a point at the top. The unit I have is 12,000 BTU portable split intake one

 

[BIGGS]

I have aircon mate now, and there is no looking back, I will never have to moan about the temps again, I just set my temp and job done. Aircon is the future!! Its also a dehumidifier so I can control the RH at 40% constant

you got a link to the one you got bro? can you attach a separate temperature probe/gauge? so you could have it in a different room, and use it to cool the air coming in to the room instead of cooling the actual grow room, if that makes sense?

i've got a portable one but stopped using it as it costs a fortune to run, and you have to turn it on manually when you want to use it.

 

[speedemon]

you got a link to the one you got bro? can you attach a separate temperature probe/gauge? so you could have it in a different room, and use it to cool the air coming in to the room instead of cooling the actual grow room, if that makes sense?

i've got a portable one but stopped using it as it costs a fortune to run, and you have to turn it on manually when you want to use it.

Hey BIGGS my friend, hope your well Here is a link to a post that I did when I first got it, which shows the model and link etc https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=217791

It does not have a seperate probe/ gauge but I have read about electrical minded people doing this. I have it in the same room as the plants but in the corner not directly under the lights and I am using a carbon filter on the intake to filter the smell. I have seen people make a ducting type thing over where the cold air feeds out the a/c and into their tent or room but that will increase positive pressure in the room unless you have sufficient out take, but that defeats the a/c.

 

[speedemon]

I dont know if this work work but if you use a plug in type thermostat socket that I use for the oil rads, set the temp at 27c and plugged the a/c into it but ran the a/c outside the room ducting it into the room, then in theory as the timer does not reduce voltage just turns on and off causing no problems with the a/c, then it should control temps in the room via the thermostat to save costs and also so the a/c does not suck up smelly air from the room. I have not tried this as my model of a/c goes mental if left constantly on and beeps a lot and does not work. But its remote control and works well from just standing below the open hatch and pressing on/off etc. So will not have to climb up there each time, or can leave on 24hrs, but I am planning on just running with lights on, and keeping a lot of fans on 24hrs circulaing the air, as have done this in the past with great results. HTH Peace.

 

[Avinash.miles]

AC always helps ime, roll it up has the idea, room size, wattage, btu of AC, its all figuring in terms of those variable.
ur other option is to boost your air exchange, bigger exhaust fan for pulling hot air out, try to have your intake pull cool (night time?) air.