ok ok.. i need AC.. a few ?s

well my story goes like this....

i started growing in my current grow room about 6 months ago.. the temps were in the mid 80s at their highest point.. ((this is after purchasing/installing an exhaust blower that far exceeds my grow space's dimensions.)) i felt like it would still be too hot, but the plants didnt seem to mind it one bit (im sure they would have been even better with mid 70s )

then summer came.. and along with it, HEAT...
so now im running at about 93 at the highest point...
the plants are still growing.. but its like they are scared to get close to the light.. they are definately holding back... im about 10 days from harvesting my first set of girls that are on a perpetual harvest ( every 2 weeks ) so im gonna have some extra money to throw back into the op.. so im going to get an AC...
now a window unit is out of the question..
so i decide to go with a portable unit...

here are my questions (im sure i have many more where this come from, regarding AC)

if i go with the smallest available unit (that i can find) 7,000 BtUs .. it is still rated to fit a room MUCH larger than the room i intend to use it for.. will this be a problem


i mean, my room is only 3' x 4' x 6' ... i dont want the temps to drop to the 60s... i realize there is a thermostat and a timer on it, but if the room is so small, wont the temp quickly drop when the AC is on and then when the AC is off it will quickly rise again? ((dont forget the exhaust blower, that will suck out any cool air thats currently in the room))
that would cause alot of starts, and stops (starting an ac probably takes up as much electricity as running it for an hour)

the portable AC also has an exhaust hose... does this mean i can just turn off the exhaust blower i have? ( i will still want fresh air coming in)


i have a million questions in my head about this, i hope someone has already experienced the same problem and has some answers..

As long as your room is well insulated a small air con will work fine, reguardless of space. Consider shutting off your exhaust periodically when the AC is recirculating air for efficiency. This would be a decent time to consider some co2 to run while you have the exhaust off with the AC keeping the room cool.

yeah,, ill probably set the exhaust fan's timer to 15 min per hour.. that way it will still replenish the air but it wont be constantly sucking out all of it..

as far as how often it will run to stay in the target temp range.. i guess that may have to be answered after i buy the thing and have it runnin for a while...

unless anybody else has purchased on of these Portable AC units...



anybody have something like this in their grow?

ahhhhhhp, hold up...wait. I tried this in my room once. I don't know how you have it set up but my grow room was a bedroom so I put the ac unit in there and the hose out the window. I came back one night and the whole neighborhood smelt like dank cuz the exaust from the AC unit was taking smelly air in > cooling it > then spitting the smelly hot air out the window. Not very stealthy if you ask me. I returned the unit a month later.

I have a portable AC unit. They work, but window units work better, provide more cooling per dollar of electricity. Once mine dies, I'll replace it with a window unit. On the other hand, when it's *really* hot, I can move that portable one pretty close to my bed, and that feels soooo nice. Heh.

I have a Homebox grow tent in my bedroom with a 600w HID which gets pretty hot. Temps have been pretty decent here in North OC(80-90 degrees). I also run a 5000BTU window AC 24/7, which keeps temps down ok. My box doesn't get much hotter than 83 degrees. On really hot days it hits 90. I've been running my box for a month now and one thing is for sure, I'll be buying a more powerful AC next summer. 5000 BUT's just doesn't cut it on hot days. Another thing, I have the ballast for the HID outside of my box and that sucker gets pretty hot too. Eventually I'll have to rig an exhaust for that thing as well. Needless to say, I've gotten used to the constant whirring noises of all my fans.

Maker is so right!!!!! I had one of those big stand up portables. They are super efficient and conviencent. However unlike window units, which recirculate the air in a closed circuit (assuming the vent is closed) and have a passive radiator outside to dissapate heat; the stand up portable units use a fan to boost air through the radiator, and this hot air goes through a tube to a remote location outside. This exhaust will MAKE THE TOWN SMELL LIKE DANK, so watch out.

I dont know if these push enough cfms to handle a carbon filter, a window unit is really what you want. Way cheaper too.

nah.. the exhaust would be exhausting into another room.. not directly outdoors

Allright, but understand that an air conditioner is a heat pump. It dosnt just cool the air, it just moves the heat to the other side of the wall, so it will get really hot were this thing exhausts, the heat comming from it is practically dryer medium.