2 4-8k flipping flower rooms + 1 2-4k Veg room - Central vs Minisplit

[LSWM]

I am moving into a new location. This new location is ~1000 sq ft house. It has 3 living areas, as well as a bathroom and a kitchen.

Sizing of AC is not the question at hand, design is. Do I use central AC or Minisplit? Should I setup multiple zones for the central, or simply use a minisplit/window banger in a lung room and control temps/humidity via inline fans? I have an HVAC friend willing to help should I need it, but that will add to cost as well. My father was offering to help install a central AC but I am skeptical of his skills in HVAC.

The 2 areas I plan to flower in are of differing sizes. 1 is 15x15 the other 15x10. These are estimates until next week when I get to survey the location.

This is family property, and the house will more than likely be demoed when I move out, therefore, fixing things after the fact as well as stealth on the inside of the home is not an issue. I am mostly concerned with functionality and cost savings.

It seems to me the cheapest initial setup, and easiest would be a minisplit in the lung room and separately controlled inline fans for each flower room, but a central AC is actually cheaper and more efficient than the minisplits I've seen, so the question still remains.

There is attic space above, but the walls are straight plaster. House was built in 1930.

Key for floorplan below is right below. (This is the entire house, I halfway plan on living in the kitchen, which has a small dining area.)

Grey = Lung Room
Blue = Kitchen and Bath
Green = Growspace (Veg is the smaller one, Flower the two larger)

 

[LSWM]

I'm thinking between 2.5-4 tons of cooling depending on final lighting decision. This is in So Cal where temps can easily hit 95-105 in peak of summer.

 

[twist1uc]

Albeit it's a costly option, but have you considered water cooling? You can split it up, and utilize multiple air handlers.
I have a 5 ton water chiller, followed my a 1 ton handler for the veg room, and a 4 ton handler for each of the two bloom rooms.

The handlers are independently controlled by their own thermostat in their room.

 

[LSWM]

Albeit it's a costly option, but have you considered water cooling? You can split it up, and utilize multiple air handlers.
I have a 5 ton water chiller, followed my a 1 ton handler for the veg room, and a 4 ton handler for each of the two bloom rooms.

The handlers are independently controlled by their own thermostat in their room.

I have thought extensively about it. Can you point me to commercial water to air heat exchanges? I'm having trouble finding solid BTU info on anything.

Problem I see here is that I would need 3 separate units, where I could get a large minisplit or window banger and use inline fans to cool the rooms, and only need 1 unit.

I would also be able to change the temp of the water to dial humidity as well, correct? Could I do this independently in each room, or would separate chillers be needed?

 

[LSWM]

Doing a little more searching I found these guys: multiaqua

I can't really find pricing, but I did find an expired Ebay sale for $7000 for their 5 ton chiller. Quite a bit outside of my price range. Having a constant supply of chilled water would be ideal, as I plan to have a hydroponic vegetable greenhouse at the site, no to mention I could simply add another air handler and bam, climate controlled greenhouse as well.

 

[LSWM]

And if I went that route, I'm sure there are other energy savings to be had if I were to bury water tanks and what not? I need to get myself a book on this subject, lol.

 

[theother]

Can you run a lung room? If so I think you'll get the best env stability out of that. Splits are awesome, and you can tweak them perfect, but if I was gonna do it all over again any time I could have a noisy compressor I would go with central with a lung room. I guess actually if I couldn't have the noise, I would go with a lung room and splits.

Are you gonna run air cooled lights? Bottled gas or a generator?

If I had a lung room that's where I would store water, nutes, anything else temp sensitive. That appeals to me, because just having a cooled bloom room leaves something to be desired when you fill a res. Are you gonna run hydro or dirt?

 

[packerfan79]

A dual stage evaporative cooler might be and interesting thought. I've been checking into them. They provide good cooling, while keeping humidity at a lower levels than a standard swamp cooler. Master cool m.akes one I found it for 2400 much cheaper to run than AC. This may be the best unexplored option for cooling in a hot dry climate

 

[LSWM]

^ first post shows pictures of the spot. Current plan is to run a large lung room.

Hydro for sure. Current plans will be simply multifeed dtw coco, which may end up ppks or even rdwc if I feel experimental. More than likely a burner for co2 and definitely not aircooling lights. More than likely barebupb, but if the ceilings will support it I may go with a few ePapillions or some DE bulbs on adjustawings.

 

[theother]

^ first post shows pictures of the spot. Current plan is to run a large lung room.

Hydro for sure. Current plans will be simply multifeed dtw coco, which may end up ppks or even rdwc if I feel experimental. More than likely a burner for co2 and definitely not aircooling lights. More than likely barebupb, but if the ceilings will support it I may go with a few ePapillions or some DE bulbs on adjustawings.

Do you know the ceiling heights? De is sick

 

[LSWM]

A dual stage evaporative cooler might be and interesting thought. I've been checking into them. They provide good cooling, while keeping humidity at a lower levels than a standard swamp cooler. Master cool m.akes one I found it for 2400 much cheaper to run than AC. This may be the best unexplored option for cooling in a hot dry climate

I plan to run sealed and from my experience full rooms of plants will need dehumidification. An a/c or water chilled air handler accomplishes this.

 

[twist1uc]

http://www.multiaqua.com/

Since the air handler is in the room, it will act as a dehuey as well.

Yes, you will ned three separate units.

I ended getting my system for $8500 shipped to my door. That also included a compressor heater because of the cold climate area (heater was about $150).

 

[LSWM]

Do you know the ceiling heights? De is sick

I won't know until this weekend but I'm guessing I will be limited to ~8ft. I may be able to tear the ceiling out and gain attic space, however both rooms are on the corner of the building so attic space will be limitednear the edges .

 

[twist1uc]

http://www.multiaqua.com/howto_book.htm

 

[LSWM]

http://www.multiaqua.com/

Since the air handler is in the room, it will act as a dehuey as well.

Yes, you will ned three separate units.

I ended getting my system for $8500 shipped to my door. That also included a compressor heater because of the cold climate area (heater was about $150).

Could I run a smaller water chiller and store chilled water in the home? Having a 2 ton chiller, and two 4 ton air handlers with a ~100gal res sounds totally doable to me. Any info?

 

[LSWM]

http://www.multiaqua.com/howto_book.htm

Thanks!

 

[twist1uc]

Could I run a smaller water chiller and store chilled water in the home? Having a 2 ton chiller, and two 4 ton air handlers with a ~100gal res sounds totally doable to me. Any info?

Not sure, but I don't think it will keep up. Maybe @ Ttystikk will chime in? He knows a bit more than I do regarding this. He actually talked me into it. LOL.

 

[LSWM]

Not sure, but I don't think it will keep up. Maybe @ Ttystikk will chime in? He knows a bit more than I do regarding this. He actually talked me into it. LOL.

See that's the question, is if I can store chilled water during non-peak usage for usage during peak times. I imagine I wouldn't need 4 tons of cooling during night hours, but will certainly need it during day hours.

Also, from what I understand, oversizing the compressor for peak loads means it cycles on and off during non-peak hours, something I would like to avoid if possible.

 

[twist1uc]

If your rooms were on some type of flip schedule, wouldn't there always be a peak time?

 

[LSWM]

If your rooms were on some type of flip schedule, wouldn't there always be a peak time?

Not when the temperature outside, and radiant heat from the sun, changes outdoor temperatures 30 degrees (or more) between day and night.

EDIT: But I guess I would have to figure out if the BTUs required to cool the house during the day (without lights on) was significant enough to justify any changes in sizing, since I'll be needing ~4tons to cool 8kw in lights.