thekrackla
Member
With this idea where are u gonna put a 550gal res? If u can hide that u can get a portable ac or split as already mentioned hidden. Also invest in better insulation( just an idea).
Chiller In Lieu Of Air Conditioning?
- Thread starter Bob Smith
- Start date
I think what he is getting at is that AC exhausts hot air outside your otherwise sealed room, taking CO2 with it. With water cooling, you have 0% CO2 loss in theory. I am currently running a dual hose AC, but I am considering trying a water cooled setup. My biggest complaint about the AC are noise(because it is attached the the window, it lacks discretion. People might wonder why you run AC in December if they can hear it from outside your house), and efficiency. The chiller does use less power, but more importantly, my ac doesn't work with a timer, so it is always running. It has a thermostat but it is still wasteful.
Get a mini-split or a window AC which doesn't suck out CO2.
I have a portable dual hose for my room as well (don't know how to hook up a mini-split and couldn't have one done, for obvious security reasons) but I have a Sentinel CHHC-1 which controls my natural gas CO2 generator - trust me, I'm never hurting for CO2.
I've done more research and talked to more people than you'd believe about water cooling, and the biggest thing that people forget about is the dehumidification.
Also, my AC is controlled by my Sentinel, so when it's not on it's totally off.
my AC is a dual hose Royal Sovereign and the problem is that it has a on/off button on it(aka soft start) so giving it power via a timer or a controller does not start it. After it is powered you have to press the on button. I guess I need to take off the control panel and hard wire the button, or get a different brand of AC.
TheRuiner
Well-Known Member
Bob Smith, that's what I was talking about, running a room with a completely sealed environment, I wasn't implying that you weren't doing it like a pro already. I agree that the biggest draw-back here is the startup cost and then making sure to cross all your t's and dot all your i's.... I'm going to go for it though I think, my electricity bill last few months has been as high as 370 bucks which is outrageously high, even for me. Running a 8,000 btu AC 24/7 for months on end is costing me a arm and a left. Bill shouldn't be over 250 dollars! Makes me wonder what else might be going on that I'm not considering...
Anyway, if I can manage to get all the equipment (or at least the chiller) as a present then I'm going to invest in the iceboxes, pumps, tubing, even a mini gen co2 burner... I'll only be cooling a 400 watt light and the mini co2 generator, which should be easily achievable even with 85-90 degree ambient temps.... I'm anxious to see how cheap and efficiently I can cool a 3x3x6 space in the dead of summer..
Anyway, if I can manage to get all the equipment (or at least the chiller) as a present then I'm going to invest in the iceboxes, pumps, tubing, even a mini gen co2 burner... I'll only be cooling a 400 watt light and the mini co2 generator, which should be easily achievable even with 85-90 degree ambient temps.... I'm anxious to see how cheap and efficiently I can cool a 3x3x6 space in the dead of summer..
Marleyville
Member
Hey everybody. I thought I'd share my experience with my watercooling. I've read different opinions on peoples watercooling and will say I'm very impressed with my watercooled setup. With a push of my 2 h chillking temp buttons I can turn my grow rooms temp as low as I want it. I have sunsystem 2 air-cooled hoods with inline fans and ice boxes. I run a can fan 450 something cfm inline per 2 hoods and 2 iceboxes for my 600s. My whole op had condensation issues until my 70 pint frigidaire got my humidity to constant 45% humidity. I run a sealed room at 1500 ppm with hydrogen pro watercooled co2 generator which is nothing less than sweet. The heart of a quality watercooled setup is your waterchiller and water pump. I whent with a 2h chillking waterchiller and 1/2 h flotec water pump. These items were speced out by hydroinnovations and have worked awsome. I've had issues that I've needed to talk with them about and Lucas from hydroinnovations and Ryan from watercooled gardens have been great. I set up a manifold that allowed me to run nine watercooled devices. Fiy hydroinnovations gear is great but expensive. A lot of their heat exchanger stuff can be diyed for a lot less. Their 150$ res chillers can be ordered online for about 50$ under stainless wort chillers. This is the only watercooled setup that I've owned but I'd say it's awsome. I'd recommend watercooling to anybody wanting a pro cooling setup
Happy growing
Happy growing
TheRuiner
Well-Known Member
Do you have a journal or any other documented info on this man, Why in the world did you go with a 2hp chiller for one 600 watt light??? Did I read that correctly? A 1/2 chiller should have eliminated enough BTU's for your setup.
Lol, glad I wasn't the only one - when I first read it I thought he only had one light as well, but rereading it he speaks of multiple lights, ice boxes, etc.
If he's got a 2HP chiller, I'm guessing he's got about 8 600s running right now.
And TheRuiner, if there's ANY way that you could run your minigen drain to waste, I'd go that route - below is a video of my new CO2 generator (they stopped making the Hydrogen Pro in a natural gas model, so I had to buy the identical, unbranded Marey Tankless Hot Water Heater).
Anyways, long story short, that fucking water comes out HOT and I don't think it's worth the energy/hassle to try to chill it - I just have mine run right outside to my vegetable garden - two birds with one stone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWTX5CqEALw
If he's got a 2HP chiller, I'm guessing he's got about 8 600s running right now.
And TheRuiner, if there's ANY way that you could run your minigen drain to waste, I'd go that route - below is a video of my new CO2 generator (they stopped making the Hydrogen Pro in a natural gas model, so I had to buy the identical, unbranded Marey Tankless Hot Water Heater).
Anyways, long story short, that fucking water comes out HOT and I don't think it's worth the energy/hassle to try to chill it - I just have mine run right outside to my vegetable garden - two birds with one stone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWTX5CqEALw
Marleyville
Member
Ya, my setup is many more than just 1 light. I've got my own grow journal over at another site. IC mag. Eveything is still working quite well. Also always a good idea to oversize for more efficiency, as far as what h waterchiller you should get,
Happy growing
Happy growing
Marleyville
Member
Wow, I just read my post again there and how didnyou come up with me having just 1 light.
Happy growing
Happy growing
TheRuiner
Well-Known Member
Not sure!
My bad. Bob Smith, at what rate does one of these things use water? I don't want to be draining to waste to much water.... plus if I do that I have to come up with a way to re-fill my res as it gets used up.
Not a helluva lot, somewhere in the 20-30 gallon range per day.
Mine is drain to waste off of my hose in my garage, so I'm not sure exactly how much water it's using - pretty easy to hook up a solenoid to do it and run it off your water source.
Check out my video above for how it's done (post #49).
Mine is drain to waste off of my hose in my garage, so I'm not sure exactly how much water it's using - pretty easy to hook up a solenoid to do it and run it off your water source.
Check out my video above for how it's done (post #49).
blunttrauma253
Member
Any updates to this? I'm setting up a 17x5x8 room with
3 lights. Most all the gear is in place and start reading more about water cooling. Looks like I will need a bigger chiller.
3 lights. Most all the gear is in place and start reading more about water cooling. Looks like I will need a bigger chiller.