How to rig my window unit A/C to power On/Off

I've installed a window unit air conditioner in my shed that I am using as a grow room. I only want it to come on when the shed reaches a certain temperature. I don't want it running all the time. Any one have any suggestions how to do that?

The unit I purchased has a thermostat where you can set the temperature, but the fan on the unit runs at all times which is not what I want.

Do I connect some other type of thermostat to the power source?

I can do my own basic wiring. I just need someone to point me in the right direction.

Thanks

I also would like to know.

May not be much help to your situation, but I use a chhc-1 controller for dehumidifier, ac, heat, co2. My air conditioners were digital so you had to manually press the power button when you wanted to turn it on, which does nobody any good. So I just sent them out to an electrical shop and got them to hot wire them, so you plug them in and they turn on full blast. Works for me, as the controller turns it on and off.
You can just get a simple plug in thermostat and put it in your room and plug the ac into it

Is it a digital control or manual control? Basically, if you unplug it then plug it back in does it stay turned on or reset its temp?
If it will stay on use one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/WIN100-Heating-Cooling-Programmable-Thermostat/dp/B000E7NYY8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

If it's digital and resets itself you would need to take it apart and bypass the digital thermostat built into it. If you provide enough pictures of the internals i may be able to tell you how to do it, but it isn't something simple.

use a climate controller...i have one from hydrofarm that i have doing what you are trying to accomplish..works great...

I would think if it's a normal window air conditioner it should have built in thermostat that does exactly like you are describing. I don't undertsand why you are having a problem, I've never seen an air conditioner that is either on or off.

Well you can buy another thermostat or use the one you bought and a relay, use the thermostat to turn on the relay which turns on and off the fan. You can do it, it shouldn't be that hard ,my friend.

My friend turned me on to the Cooling Thermostat TMP-1. You plug your AC into it and when the temperature you set is reached it kicks on the AC. http://www.horticulturesource.com/c-...fc271d2461528b BINGO! You just have to make sure that your AC goes back to the same temp and mode when unplugged and then plugged back in.

KnowledgeSeeker said:

My friend turned me on to the Cooling Thermostat TMP-1. You plug your AC into it and when the temperature you set is reached it kicks on the AC. http://www.horticulturesource.com/c-...fc271d2461528b BINGO! You just have to make sure that your AC goes back to the same temp and mode when unplugged and then plugged back in.

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r6ironman said:

Do I connect some other type of thermostat to the power source?
I can do my own basic wiring. I just need someone to point me in the right direction.
Thanks

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the unit in his link would be the ticket but you could get a relay and cheap thermostat for 1/2 the cost and build your own. I use a relay for work that can handle 15 amps of 115ac and can be triggered w/ 115ac or 12 or24 volts dc or ac.costs about $12 ($20 for a 20amp) I will find a part # and post back in a day or 2

edit- just checked Squirrelfooker's link and it would be about the same cost as DIY

Does it have an "energy saving mode"? If so put it on that and problem solved

la9 said:

I would think if it's a normal window air conditioner it should have built in thermostat that does exactly like you are describing. I don't undertsand why you are having a problem, I've never seen an air conditioner that is either on or off.

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Same deal over here so let me explain. The stupid new digital a/c units run the noisy fan all the time even when the temp is right and if you try to just plug them into an external relay, controller, thermostat they don't work because when the power is cut off and back on externally they don't remember the temp you had set or just don't come back on at all.

The solution is bypassing the built in thermostat with a bit of rewiring or using an old manual unit with knobs instead of digital controls.
Or I'm sure there are models that work the way we would like out of the box but you'd need to know exactly which one to get most don't work the way you'd want.

The fan running all the time is necessary in a normal installation so the unit reads the room air temperature properly and not just the temperature of the air inside the a/c unit which can be quite different from room temp.