two gardens one ac?

Im preparing to run 32kw next year. New building. I was going to do 16 on days and 16 at night so i can cut down on startup costs by getting a 5 ton minisplit with dual zones. I run 11/13 btw so it'll have an hour to cool off every 11. I imagine Itll be rough on ac but will it work?

I dont think there is a 5 ton mini split...when I was hunting for my AC the biggest I came across was a 4 ton but anyways a dual zone 5 ton would give you 2.5 tons per zone which isnt enough for 16kw. You could go with a regular 5 ton split unit and use a motorized damper off the air handler. Even then 5 tons would be the bare minimum for the job. At 4000 btu per 1000 watts your at 64 000 btu...5 tons is 60 000 btu.

I live in cold climate most of year. 60 will work just fine. Or just unplug a few in summer. What I'm asking is I should be able to hook up 4 30kbtu blowers to single outside unit..?

jayjay777 said:

I live in cold climate most of year. 60 will work just fine. Or just unplug a few in summer. What I'm asking is I should be able to hook up 4 30kbtu blowers to single outside unit..?

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Daikin and Fujitsu only offer multi-splits up to 48,000 BTU. Two 3 ton traditional split systems might be your most cost effective and efficient method of cooling your space. Dampers on supply and return trunks to switch between rooms.

I actually found a 5 ton movincool model 63 pro for $2000. It retails for $10,500. I wanna get it but it won't solve my issue. Trying to find another for cheap. Any experience?

I have seen it done many, many times over the years. You can add 2 fans for air rotation between the rooms so they cool/heat each other simultaneously.
It works fine

jayjay777 said:

I actually found a 5 ton movincool model 63 pro for $2000. It retails for $10,500. I wanna get it but it won't solve my issue. Trying to find another for cheap. Any experience?

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3 phase 460v needed to run. I've never seen a portable hvac that could perform anywhere close to it's rated capacity.

Merkin Donor said:

3 phase 460v needed to run. I've never seen a portable hvac that could perform anywhere close to it's rated capacity.

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Well it' looks like it's in really really good shape. It would save me a lot of money doing it that way for now...

Also. I'm doing new service. So I have to choose between 208-230/220-440 or 240/480...

420 Boy said:

I have seen it done many, many times over the years. You can add 2 fans for air rotation between the rooms so they cool/heat each other simultaneously.
It works fine

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I imagine it would work just fine. But would have a constant temp, meaning almost no temp drop at night?

And if both canopys rooms are roughly 5000 Sq ft. All I would need is two 12" fans right?

I faced a very similar problem, which I solved with water cooling. The water gets cold and circulates throughout the entire op, 24/7. Water cooled air handlers in each space kick when the controller tells them to and voila! 5 Tons of cooling in two spaces on the flip.

I seriously doubt a 5 Ton minisplit will effectively handle 16kW of lighting, fwiw.

Where I live it snows 6 months outta the year. I've found that in a basement I need 2500 btu per light of ac in winter, 3250 in spring/fall and 4000 in summer. That's bare bulbs. I imagine some places require twice that, but not up north. And worse cases I can just dial down a few Ballasts in a heat spell ya know....

jayjay777 said:

I imagine it would work just fine. But would have a constant temp, meaning almost no temp drop at night?

And if both canopys rooms are roughly 5000 Sq ft. All I would need is two 12" fans right?

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Sorry for late response.
For the air exchange your 2x 12" should be fine. We did it because we live in a cold climate so in winter this would help us keep the temp UP in the sleeping room without spending electricity to heat the room. And in summer it would help a bit to cooldown the room. Temps would still be very different in the two rooms
Few people who have more knowledge than me claimed that it helps by moving the CO2 that plants produce while sleeping into the room that is "awake" which is a big plus.

Now, as far as your 5 tons goes... It depends on your setup. I've always made my calculations at 3500BTUs per 1kw light. So 16kw x 3500Btu = 56000BTU AC
So roughly your 5tons ac is good. But keep in mind that if your ballasts are in the same room, then it's another story because they are emitting a lot of heat.

hope this helps

jayjay777 said:

Where I live it snows 6 months outta the year. I've found that in a basement I need 2500 btu per light of ac in winter, 3250 in spring/fall and 4000 in summer. That's bare bulbs. I imagine some places require twice that, but not up north. And worse cases I can just dial down a few Ballasts in a heat spell ya know....

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In winter you could technically cool your room just with your air in. Just put a temp sensor on your fan.

Imma try it. I'll let u know. Thanks

420 Boy said:

Sorry for late response.
For the air exchange your 2x 12" should be fine. We did it because we live in a cold climate so in winter this would help us keep the temp UP in the sleeping room without spending electricity to heat the room. And in summer it would help a bit to cooldown the room. Temps would still be very different in the two rooms
Few people who have more knowledge than me claimed that it helps by moving the CO2 that plants produce while sleeping into the room that is "awake" which is a big plus.

Now, as far as your 5 tons goes... It depends on your setup. I've always made my calculations at 3500BTUs per 1kw light. So 16kw x 3500Btu = 56000BTU AC
So roughly your 5tons ac is good. But keep in mind that if your ballasts are in the same room, then it's another story because they are emitting a lot of heat.

hope this helps

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Hey bud,

So the 3500 btu per light is for uncooled lights?
Right?

What would you suggest if the lights were air cooled?

Wouldn't be worth while ( electricity saving ) air cooling your lights instead of having a bigger air conditioner.

https://www.flightpedia.org/convert/3500-btuth-to-kilowatt-hours.html

Indefinately
"Let there be Green in 2016"

Indefinately said:

Hey bud,

So the 3500 btu per light is for uncooled lights?
Right?

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Yes it is. That taking in consideration that your ballasts are outside of your grow room

Indefinately said:

What would you suggest if the lights were air cooled?

Wouldn't be worth while ( electricity saving ) air cooling your lights instead of having a bigger air conditioner.

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To be honest, I've never worked with the air cooled reflectors. Most people say they help a lot. Others not so much. As for electricity saving you would just have to try it out and calculate calculate and then calculate some more.
IMO, don't bother. Considering the size of your grow and the fact that most recommendation are that you put a 6" fan for every 2 1000W it adds up to a lot of fans.


If the AC cost is your problem, you might want to research water cooled air handlers. Something like this:

They are harder to find but are cheaper than ACs and are used in the professional cold storages/commercial fridges/freezers and so on. Technically it is a water cooled ac but cheaper and more reliable. If you pay for your water $ (for some of us it's free) put an old horizontal fridge under your air handler.
Drill 2 holes on the top (one in, one out), fill it with water, connect your hoses and let it act as a recirculating water cooling system If you don't pay for water, just put your water in/out and roll..


To summarize:

I think you shouldn't bother with the air cooled reflectors because of the size of your grow. Just keep it plain simple and stick to things you know work.

There's a short but informative post on the matter:
https://www.rollitup.org/t/do-air-cooled-reflectors-work.418504/

hope this helps, good luck

How many BTU per 1000 watts would you Reccomend if the lights had cool tubes?

I would assume you could easily half the 3500 BTU without air cooled lights?

Is it not the most logical upgrade for a grows with 16,000 watts?

Unless you actually require the lights as a heating source due to the climate being too cold.

Indefinately
" Let there be Green in 2016 "

Indefinately said:

How many BTU per 1000 watts would you Recomend if the lights had cool tubes?
I would assume you could easily half the 3500 BTU without air cooled lights?

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Just post another topic and ask because I sincerely can't recommend anything. Sorry

Indefinately said:

Is it not the most logical upgrade for a grows with 16,000 watts?

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Most logical would be a bigger AC because whenever you like it or not, cool tube makes you loose a little light.
On the other hand it seems like you already got it figured out

but i'll ask someone and let you know