diy air conditioner

i found this on facebook. fill it full of ice and you get a cooling uniit for real cheap.

and with the boxes insulation compromised, how long does that ice last? Ice in supermarkets around here isn't that cheap. Would be interesting to see how the costs of making the ice yourself would workout, if you were constantly having to run the freezers compressor to make ice.

I'd personally just spend the extra and buy the airconditioner. If air conditioning is a requirement, then i would not want to leave it upto a hit and miss device. Once instant where you don't top up the ice because you're away, or you forget, or have no ice, and it could fuck your grow. At least with an actual AC unit you have the peace of mind knowing it will just keep on doing it's thing and keeping your plants happy.

this is just a cheap idea i found for those not wanting to spend large amounts on a ac and power costs qnd ducting supplies. not meant to be an end all solution.

Just paranoid said:

this is just a cheap idea i found for those not wanting to spend large amounts on a ac and power costs qnd ducting supplies. not meant to be an end all solution.

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That's what i'm asking. Initially it is a much cheaper outward expense, but how do the costings play out over time, especially given how inneficient this method is.

well here a bag of ice is about 2 dollars. i have no idea how long it would last tho. just saw this on fcebook and thought it might be useful to someone.

Would be interesting to see. It would be so damned inneficient though. If I actually required an AC for my grow, then I would save the money and just buy one. I see that as being little different to the folk who save a few quid and manually change their lights and then create a thread crying because they forgot to change it and now they have Hermie's or whatnot.

it would certainly not replace a real ac unit by any means.

One day i plan to have an air conditioned grow space. i finally got a closet with a grounded plug inside it hehe baby steps hehe

If you use a block of ice with some water instead of cubes it should last for quite a few days. My work often brings me to the rooftops of Phoenix during the summer months and if a block of ice can last 2-3 days in a water cooler surrounded by 130*f ambient then I would expect it could go at least 3 days in a grow room. Not bad for $3 with of ice. ... but this won't do anything for your humidity levels like an a/c would so it all depends on your exact needs are.

Goggle ''Swamp Coolers'' lots of variations of the design

They work best in dry climates since they work on the cooling evaporation effect

If you happen to use urea as a fert , a swamp cooler could be made use of with the cooling effect of urea + water

No this is not the same as swampcooler.

Swamp coolers reduce temps by evaporating water into vapor. If you want to make a swamp cooler more efficient try running warm water over your pads instead of cool. One way to do this is to mount a roll of copper tubing, still coiled, on the top of your cooler (or somewhere sunny if you swamp cooler is under an awning or some such)and then reroute your plumbing so the water passes through that coil before going to the pads. By bringing the water closer to boiling point more water will evaporate and less will just get pushed through the pad as water droplets. More heat is removed because it's the water changing state that absorbs the most heat from the air.

The method described by the OP reduces temps by drawing heat from the air to change ice into water. You are still relying on water to change state, but it won't raise the humidity nearly as much because you aren't making vapor your making liquid

Wouldn't this dramatically increase the humidity in the air and result in an environment prone to mold?

I used the concept with my "Amish Redneck Cooling Filter Box" (sorry cannot seem to create link but if interested its in the Design section). I generally would use 2, 2.5gallon water jugs (would have 6 frozen at the ready). Humidity was not an issue. I don't remember using more than 2 on any one day but maybe there was one. All I can say is that it worked for me. We had a rather mild July incomparison though and I did not have to fight high 90s...just a couple low ones.

Wonder if you could put some dry ice in there. By me dry ice is dirt dirt cheap

Dry ice might be a great alternative if it's dirt cheap. You would have the added benefit of increased carbon dioxide levels I would think.

+1 on humidity- Generally air conditioning increases relative humidity unless you're using a unit that is designed to treat humidity as well.

ficklejester said:

+1 on humidity- Generally air conditioning increases relative humidity unless you're using a unit that is designed to treat humidity as well.

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This is incorrect. Air Conditioners dehumidify bro.

Cannabidude said:

This is incorrect. Air Conditioners dehumidify bro.

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Its not that simple. While air conditioning does remove moisture from the air as a side effect of its operation- whats important is relative humidity as a percentage. This percentage increases as temperature decreases in an air conditioned space. see http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/soo/docu/humidity.php

Mr.jester what you are referencing is about outdoor humidity. Mother nature does not use condenser coils and evaporator s that is why in nature the pressure can drop reducing temps or the sun can be blocked also reducing temps but not affecting the absolute humidity, thus relative humidity goes up. Inside is different, all air conditioners remove heat energy from the air passing over their evaporative coil, some is sensible heat (meaning it reduces the air temp) and some is latent heat (meaning it will cause water vapor to change state and condense back into a liquid). ALL air conditioners dehumidify. In fact if you have an undersized a/c in a very humid environment about the only thing it will do is dehumidify.