Environmental Control

Im on the hunt for an environmental controller to run everything and anything in my garden any help will be rewarded with rep thanks in advance

what is "everything" in your garden? they are not designed to run a/c units really. good for fans, dehumidifiers, and Co2. unless you wanna drop $1200-$1500 on a serious controller like the iPonic 600 or AgrowTek GC-C or GC-Pro. they can handle air handlers, minisplits, and multiple environmental systems.

i want it for the lights fans humidifier and co2 but if others have more features that would be even better price range is 6 to 8 hundred maybe lil over that if u could explain why its so expensive

the only controllers that will actually do your lights as well are the AgrowTek and iPonic. you would still need a light controller box with a trigger cord. environmental controllers are used for cooling, heating, fans, and Co2. not lighting. that's what light controllers are for. can you give me a better idea of what you want to do and i can recommend a unit?

they iPonic and AgrowTek are expensive because they allow you to plug in and control lighting as well as they come with monitoring software and can even be setup so that you can monitor and change setting remotely with a computer and also get alerts on your cellphone if something happens like temps get to high/low or humidity, Co2, etc..

Keep in mind that most of the tempurature controls on these can't be used with an airconditioner. Most AC units will draw to much power and require a minimum of 3 minutes between cycles to allow the pressure to equalize. In almost every case, your better off utilizing the t-stat built into your air conditioner. and the humidistat buit into your dehuey.

budleydoright said:

Keep in mind that most of the tempurature controls on these can't be used with an airconditioner. Most AC units will draw to much power and require a minimum of 3 minutes between cycles to allow the pressure to equalize. In almost every case, your better off utilizing the t-stat built into your air conditioner. and the humidistat buit into your dehuey.

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they AgrowTek units will run a/c (air handler, minisplit, window, or portable) at 120 or 240v and dehumidifiers as well. They even allow you to split the thermostat and humidistat controls on an air handler. pretty sure the iPonic can handle them both as well. not 100% sure though.

I know there are some pro units that do it all which is why I said most. Its just these enviro controllers that plug into a 15 amp outlet and claim to do it all. Even with power expanders the sentinal shouldn't have an ac or dehuey plugged into them.

The first thing that happend to me when I plugged a window ac into a device like this is the condensation started pooling up too much. The AC was designed to have the compressor cycle on and off while the fans continued to draw air over the coils and dispensing of the condensation in the process.

That ponic looks like a pretty nice piece of kit.

budleydoright said:

That ponic looks like a pretty nice piece of kit.

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that's what i thought when i first looked at them. did some research and they are a pretty solid piece of equipment. the company that makes them makes some pretty high end greenhouse controllers.

thanks nuglets im doing a super soil grow in a 8 by 4 foot area with 2 1k lights i want to get fans for temp, a dehumidifier, and a co2 tank i want to connect them all and be able to set day and night settings

and then i guess a normal timers will do the lights but just more ideal to have it all in one unit

I think the best one for the things you need is the CAP Air-3 : http://www.horticulturesource.com/environmental-controllers-co2-generators-fans-blowers-duct-air-purification-c43/co2-generators-parts-environmental-controllers-s31/c-a-p-custom-automated-products-temperature-humidity-co2-controller-p4817/?osCsid=d3a39c8755a1ac2c544ca763f96ad82f

Thats the one I was looking at that did everything I wanted it to do

edit: There are much more elaborate versions, too. With lights and stuff


CHeck out this badass one http://www.horticulturesource.com/c-a-p-custom-automated-products-complete-greenhouse-controller-w-electronic-boards-ppm-option-temp-humidity-adj-hydro-pump-co2-timers-p4837/?osCsid=d3a39c8755a1ac2c544ca763f96ad82f

that's looks like everything you are looking for. i didn't know C.A.P. had those controllers with the lights on them. that's cool.