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Ac disaster. Rebuild. Equip/set up questions

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Earlmarne

Member
Came home to 125 degree room and everything dead. Got cuttings of my hb females so as long as they root I got something. Lost my hb males and my raspberry boogie seedlings. Pretty freakin bummed.
1st off, it’s getting down to single digits at night. Is this what’s killing my ac units? I am going to order a mrcool mini split. Will the minisplit get fucked up in cold weather?
What do others do to use ac/ keep room sealed in cold weather?
So, I run a scrog with 4 ppks under it. 5 by 11 ft with 2 de 1k lamps and a dual 315 in between. I get overwhelmed at harvest so Ive always toyed with the idea of going perpetual. This would demand me building separate frames for netting for each plant site so I can load in new containers during a cycle. Easy enough I guess.
Where I worry is things like RH. Where do other folks keep thei Rh when running perpetual? I dont like being below 50, preferably 70 until i got dense flowers. Not sure Im sold on the perpetual gig yet due to not understanding how to have an ideal environment for all cycles or close to it.
I would love to have a discussion on the topic with you more seasoned growers
 
S

soil margin

Active member
Veteran
I'm not an expert on AC units but I'm pretty sure they can get damaged if left exposed to freezing temps. Bad for the compressor.

Seems like your answer is right in front of you though. If you've got single digit temps at night, why not just run your lights at night and pull in some of that air to cool your room instead of using an AC? Can you set something up where you pull in fresh air from outside and mix it with some room temp air before blowing it on the plants?
 
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Earlmarne

Member
soil margin said:
I'm not an expert on AC units but I'm pretty sure they can get damaged if left exposed to freezing temps. Bad for the compressor.

Seems like your answer is right in front of you though. If you've got single digit temps at night, why not just run your lights at night and pull in some of that air to cool your room instead of using an AC? Can you set something up where you pull in fresh air from outside and mix it with some room temp air before blowing it on the plants?
Click to expand...
Heck yeah bro, Im all set to pull in air. I am doing so now but would like to implement co2 and stay sealed.
Sounds about right with the ac situation. I wonder how a guy could stay sealed this time of year?
 
Ibechillin

Ibechillin

Masochist Educator
Sucks to hear Earlmane, look into wiring up a high temp shutoff for you lights for future ease of mind.
 
H

Handlebar

New member
Need to go with a high rated SEER heat pump unit, these function 100% efficiant at 0degrees. what is the size of the unit and what the size of the area your trying to cool. (Sqft and watts) A bigger unit will be ease the unit being on all the time when its cold.
 
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Earlmarne

Member
Handlebar said:
Need to go with a high rated SEER heat pump unit, these function 100% efficiant at 0degrees. what is the size of the unit and what the size of the area your trying to cool. (Sqft and watts) A bigger unit will be ease the unit being on all the time when its cold.
Click to expand...
My room is 7 by 11 with 8 ft ceilings.
Makes sense what you say about seer units. Thats good news. I can get an 18k but That gets me too close to maxing out my 60 amp panel I think
 
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Earlmarne

Member
Handlebar said:
Need to go with a high rated SEER heat pump unit, these function 100% efficiant at 0degrees. what is the size of the unit and what the size of the area your trying to cool. (Sqft and watts) A bigger unit will be ease the unit being on all the time when its cold.
Click to expand...

The heat pump I thought was an option to blow heat?
 
P

packerfan79

Active member
Veteran
I believe they make minis, or kits for them that allow usage in lower temperatures. You could put the condenser in a garage and vent the garage, with a gable vent. Many options just takes planning and work.

Sorry to hear about the loss of genetics, that always hurts. I have lost a one of a kind cut held by only me. Freaking dogs destroyed it when I put it outside. I figured I would take cuts in a few weeks when it got bigger. Nope, dogs took it down in 20 minutes.
 
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Earlmarne

Member
packerfan79 said:
I believe they make minis, or kits for them that allow usage in lower temperatures. You could put the condenser in a garage and vent the garage, with a gable vent. Many options just takes planning and work.

Sorry to hear about the loss of genetics, that always hurts. I have lost a one of a kind cut held by only me. Freaking dogs destroyed it when I put it outside. I figured I would take cuts in a few weeks when it got bigger. Nope, dogs took it down in 20 minutes.
Click to expand...
I got my shop up on a hill far away from my house. Vented the ac into a chicken coup. Figured that was out of the elements enough.
Great lessons learned on backing up cuts for sure.
I have an un used lung room i could put my outside unit in but thats been my drying room. Ill be calling some ac places next week. Id really like to keep that sucker outside.
More I contimplate running purpetual the less I like it right now
 
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packerfan79

Active member
Veteran
Earlmarne said:
I got my shop up on a hill far away from my house. Vented the ac into a chicken coup. Figured that was out of the elements enough.
Great lessons learned on backing up cuts for sure.
I have an un used lung room i could put my outside unit in but thats been my drying room. Ill be calling some ac places next week. Id really like to keep that sucker outside.
More I contimplate running purpetual the less I like it right now
Click to expand...

Perpetual always made me nervous, best I could do is have a veg area to cut down on the down time.

I have never had an unexposed area to put a compressor in. I ran portables and window shakers till I got sick of falling crops and ac's. Then I doubled the size of my garden and only grew in the fall and winter when the cooling is free. It worked, but it was a pain in the ass to get back into it, after 5-6 months of not doing much garden work. Just some mothers in my closet under t5s. It kinda sucked knowing I had all that equipment sitting idle.
 
Chunkypigs

Chunkypigs

passing the gas
Veteran
Earlmarne said:
Heck yeah bro, Im all set to pull in air. I am doing so now but would like to implement co2 and stay sealed.
Sounds about right with the ac situation. I wonder how a guy could stay sealed this time of year?
Click to expand...

Using a chilled water setup allows you to cool free in winter when outside temps are below 36 degrees using what's called a dry cooler, basically a radiator and fan that releases heat without the need for the compressor on you chilling unit to run.

The set up is close to double what AC will cost but uses less power and the same equipment can cool twice the number of lights if you flip 2 rooms.

Surna breaks down the different cooling options in this paper, https://surna.com/content/uploads/2018/01/whitepaper_updated_3-7-18.pdf

Prices and equipment are here for water cooled systems. https://surna.com/i-am-a/gardener-retailer/

Their website has some great HVAC info if you troll their blog and website.
 
tleaf jr.

tleaf jr.

Came up off 75w
Veteran
A decent heat pump will do ya some good theyre good to -5. Cold weather can cause liquid refrigerant to enter your compressor ( slugging). Compressors are air pumps not liquid pumps. :tiphat:
 
E

eebbnflow

Member
You most definitely want a timer board / load center with a high temperature shut off for your room. It will save you next time
 
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