Please help chose AC unit

Hi all!
First of all sorry for the long post, but my grow setup/situation is a little unusual I think so it requires an explanation.

My conditions:
I grow inside a small grow tent (80x80cm/2,5x2,5 feet), which is inside a spare bathroom that I repurposed for growing only. The bathroom is pretty small as well (1,2x1,8m/4x6 feet), and has a small window that could be used to exrtact the AC hot air.

Also I have only 1 socket, which will take 2400W max (I am using 200w from HLG quantum boards + 50w of fans+extraction)

I live right next to the sea so conditions can be hectic for growing weed. In the summer I stop growing because of both the heat and high humidity. RH can get to 85-90% and if I turn the dehumidifier on the temperature gets out of control. In the winter I use the dehumidifier to warm the room but I want better control.

I would like to grow all year round, that's why I started looking at AC units but to be honest I am quite lost, between BTU, kcal, watt and the rest XD

What I would like to do is be able to have a constant temperature and humidity, let's say 23ºC/74ºF with 50% RH

Ideally I would like to cool, warm and dehumidify the room with the same unit. Don't know if it is too much to ask.

Any help is appreciated!!

I bought a small AC unit for my bedroom when I was growing in an apartment. It had a "cool dry" mode on it. It acted more as a dehu/AC combo. I ended up taking some 4" ducting and taping it right over the vent and had a small box with a hole in it to vent out the window. I was running a 600w HPS in a 2x4x5 tent with good temps for a while.

Attached are some pics of the set up.

Thanks I am looking to do a similar thing but It looks in the pics like you are intracting/extracting directly to the tent? I was thinking of cooling down the room itself (its very small).
Also ideally I would be looking for a floor unit, because my window is so small an AC wouldnt fit, just the extraction.

xevvex said:

Thanks I am looking to do a similar thing but It looks in the pics like you are intracting/extracting directly to the tent? I was thinking of cooling down the room itself (its very small).
Also ideally I would be looking for a floor unit, because my window is so small an AC wouldnt fit, just the extraction.

Click to expand...

I cooled down both the room and the tent this way. It was a 12x12ish room and the AC at first was 6000BTU I believe. I ended up getting a 12000BTU for the same price a few days later.

You should be able to do the same with a portable.

Ah ok. 12x12 is a lot bigger than my space though. I wonder how many BTUs i should be aiming for

xevvex said:

Ah ok. 12x12 is a lot bigger than my space though. I wonder how many BTUs i should be aiming for

Click to expand...

How many watts of heat are you fighting? (Lights, dehu, co2 generator, anything that makes heat)

Not much - lights + ventilation add to 250w, and generate around 2 extra degrees

If I turn the dehuey on it will raise the temp 3 degrees by itself

What kind of light, true wattage?

And how hot does that room get on it's own w/o a grow when it's really hot outside.

Yes true watts. I checked with a killawatt. On the worst summer days the empty room can get to 32-33C/89-91F

Well a HPS light puts out more heat than a LED. What do you have?

I just saw the quantum board in the OP. For one thing, portables don't quite cool as well as a minisplit unit so I like to oversize them a little bit.

Your room is very small but it does get hot so I would say you probably need around 1500 BTU/hr to cool just the room.

Add in your lighting and whatnot I think a small portable would do the job. Something around 5000 - 5500 BTU/hr is a small one, probably still a bit overkill.

Yes sorry. I have 2x100w HLG quantum boards (full spectrum Samsung leds). When its lights on temp raises by 2 degrees.

Also, the portable will have ducts that will need to go out your window, make sure you have space for that with your extraction.

Ok. The reason you recommend the overkill option is so the unit doesnt work as hard?

And yes, I was looking at units that include a small rectangular window adapter

You don't really need to get temps that low using QB.

A dual hose portable is best because it takes air from outside to blow over the condenser coil and then blows it back outside. A single hose unit will take room air and blow that over the condenser coil and outside. That can take odor outside and it takes some of the cool air outside.

vertnugs said:

You don't really need to get temps that low using QB.

Click to expand...

This is a good point, due to the lack of IR spectrum a LED won't heat leaf surfaces up as mich as HID lighting therefore we must run our rooms warmer like around 83 degree F.

I don't think you will find as portable much smaller than 4500 BTU/hr.

If you have a room nearby that is cool you could use a intake fan from that room to cool the grow room. Seeing as you don't have a massive heat load to cool that might be worth trying as it would save a lot of power.

When it's cool outside an intake in the window could cool the room, just filter it and use an inkbird temperature controller.