Ambient temp soaring, AC experts plz hand me some knowledge

aaxxeell

Active Member
Hey guys n girls, its getting hot real quick where i live :wall:
ambient temperature is around 86F but,
with my location the general daily temperature will peak around 97-100F in full blown summer...

Currently I have been running a 4x4 tent, cooltube 600w hps, lumatek digi ballast (in tent),
45w box fan for circulation, 275cfm centrifugal fan for heat extraction (sucking the air 30 yards outside :clap: )


But unless i bite the bullett and go with an air conditioner i dont see how i will get my temps down to a reasonable level :sad:
what do u say AC experts? should i get a portable AC for the tent?, or cool the whole 8x10ft bedroom its in???




(BTW i'm asking a specific question about my grow, please dont send me a link to the sticky on calculating AC for my room i have allready read it...
i would just like someone to shed some light on how to cool a tent not a whole grow op.)
 

kotten148

Active Member
Bite the bullet dude just do it. Its worht the 100 bux you will spend on a small ac unit. I had the same problems you were have with the exact same setup pretty much. Now that i have it my temps are perfect and i have it on a timer. I bought mine at target i think for 80 bux
 

aaxxeell

Active Member
Bite the bullet dude just do it. Its worht the 100 bux you will spend on a small ac unit. I had the same problems you were have with the exact same setup pretty much. Now that i have it my temps are perfect and i have it on a timer. I bought mine at target i think for 80 bux
thanx for the quick reply kotten :smile:, Im not worried about the initial cost, im not sure how much it would cost to run though... (i dont really wanna double my elec' bill LOL)


how did u run the ducting?

exactly like mine? or did u change it to a "sealed room"

i just ask because i have never used an AC before and basically I dont know how fast the cold air would be robbed from the room by my 275 cfm extraction fan?
 

kotten148

Active Member
well i have my inline inside the tent not outside but it actaully hanging from the sealing. I used dry wall hooks that can hold 60 pounds a peice. but that shouldnt make much of a difference. i run my small ac unit on low on the it measures 1-10 on the coldness i keep it at 5. I run it the whole time my lights are on then when the lights are off i run it for 30 mins then off for 15 until my light kicks back on. I have everything set on a timer so it pretty effort less. As fare as running the ducking to the tent i makshifted a cardboard box to fix the ac exhuast that blows out the cool air. Then i put my ducting in and sealed it off with duct tap. i secured my little box thing i made with more duct tape and the sticky vencro shit so it wont come off. The ducting goes through the bottom of the tent. On the box it say that to run run it 24 hours a day all day it supposed to only be like 45 bux a month. i dont know if i believe that but i only pay 11 dollars per klwh so i should be good. i think the one i have it like 5000 BTU's or w/e. And i thought my inline would rob all the coolness but it didnt the tent still sucks in when its on but its the perfect temp in there.
 

aaxxeell

Active Member
well i have my inline inside the tent not outside but it actaully hanging from the sealing. I used dry wall hooks that can hold 60 pounds a peice. but that shouldnt make much of a difference. i run my small ac unit on low on the it measures 1-10 on the coldness i keep it at 5. I run it the whole time my lights are on then when the lights are off i run it for 30 mins then off for 15 until my light kicks back on. I have everything set on a timer so it pretty effort less. As fare as running the ducking to the tent i makshifted a cardboard box to fix the ac exhuast that blows out the cool air. Then i put my ducting in and sealed it off with duct tap. i secured my little box thing i made with more duct tape and the sticky vencro shit so it wont come off. The ducting goes through the bottom of the tent. On the box it say that to run run it 24 hours a day all day it supposed to only be like 45 bux a month. i dont know if i believe that but i only pay 11 dollars per klwh so i should be good. i think the one i have it like 5000 BTU's or w/e. And i thought my inline would rob all the coolness but it didnt the tent still sucks in when its on but its the perfect temp in there.
thanks for the specs dude, i may just have to buy a window AC...
anyone know what BTU rating i would need?
oh and to get considering i may want to upgrade to 1 or 2 1000watt hps' in the future... how many BTU's would that require in my 8x10 ft bedroom?
(just in case i wanna buy a more expensive unit so i dont have to upgrade later on :) )

cheers aaxxeell.
 

kotten148

Active Member
well i mean there are 10000 btu units ut if your just starting off. 80 bux isnt much froma small one that works. My grow tent is 5x, 5x, 8 and like i said earllier its on one of the lowest settings. if you buy a big one now you may spend more money than needed one electric bills.
 

DarkSun

Member
I use an AC outside of the room to help control temps a bit. Your best bet is to cool the whole room or have a small AC close to the air intake. But if you're buying a small one you might as well just buy a bigger one and cool the whole floor because you're spending money on an AC anyway but thats just what I would do
 

sniggers

Member
Hey guys I have a question about the AC units. The smaller ones that you let sit outside your window-sill....do they Need to have that part sitting outside, or can you use one but keep it indoors. I mean, apart from collecting the water that drips, does it vent anything toxic? I don't have a window-sill to put it on and I don't want to spend the $3-400 for a stand alone A/C.
 

aaxxeell

Active Member
if my grow room temp is determined by the weather i dont need a bigger fan...
if i get a bigger fan that will do nothing, u see my air cooled light isnt heating up my tent, WEATHER IS!
thats why i wrote a thread inquiring about AC
 
Top