Portable AC Unit Comparison

greenplanetguru said:

HI,


This is SUCH a worthy topic of discussion... I grew for years before I finally had my temps dialed in thanks to AC and keeping the temps down is one of the most important factors in growing killer herb imho...

Happy Growing!

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Agreed! That's why I brought it up. I'm surprised how few answers have been contributed to the discussion. You'd think that since most people here are probably growing, it'd be a subject that would have good, detailed input bursting out the seams. I'm not giving up yet, but so far it's been a little slow going.

Btw, the unit I'm looking at has a self evaporative feature on it which eliminates the need to drain the condensation completely.

Mcgician said:

Huh? What heat? Window units exhaust their heat out the back of the unit.

As far as getting your window unit to turn on when you want to, it's a simple as installing a thermostat, humidistat, or a combination in the room and plugging the AC's outlet into that. That is, if it doesn't have one already.

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I guess I should have said that I have a window A/C in my basement I built a box around it , and my question about the electronic timers how can you get them to turn on or will you just have to be there when the lights turn on ??

notpatient said:

I guess I should have said that I have a window A/C in my basement I built a box around it , and my question about the electronic timers how can you get them to turn on or will you just have to be there when the lights turn on ??

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Timer's turn themselves on.

oh god Im sure this is making me sound like a grow-dummy I purchased a portable air conditioner a few years ago and it had a what I would describe as push button control whats the timer went off power went off and when the timer came on the AC unit would show that thee was power but wouldn't turn on to the last setting that I had it at before the timer went off I hope this makes more sense

notpatient said:

oh god Im sure this is making me sound like a grow-dummy I purchased a portable air conditioner a few years ago and it had a what I would describe as push button control whats the timer went off power went off and when the timer came on the AC unit would show that thee was power but wouldn't turn on to the last setting that I had it at before the timer went off I hope this makes more sense

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That's strange!
Was there maybe also a thermostat setting that needed adjusted lower.
I would say your gonna need a different model A/C or screw the timer and just
let the thermostat control the A/C.(Little more expensive on energy)

yea it was a sears model bout 5 years ago, right now Im in a 6x10 room 2x1000 one 6000 BTU window air conditioner 10in can fan max and I cant get my heat under 80 degree's I got more than a few bends in my ducting and it mostly 6 in I will def. take a look a some newer model AC units

I wouldn't worry about 80* temps/
Sounds like a pretty good setup.
Are you air-cooling those lights with the can fan or exhausting your room or both?
Is your ducting insulated?
You said mostly 6in" ducting. A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link!
The less bends the better!

yep air cooled hoods, and the fan is for the hoods but there is a nice vacuum effect in the house,
Ive always seen better results with lower temps personally I like 72-74 keeps the water temps cold and emulates the best parts of fall -I believe

If you run air from a different room into your hoods via another piece of ducting through the wall or ceiling.
You should be able to drop your temps a few degrees.
Keep in mind your fan should push air over your lights instead of pull.

notpatient said:

what do you do about the timers on portable A/C units how can you get them to turn on at the right time ? Im using 6000 btu window air conditioner just because it has a mechanical controls (knobs) Ive always wanted to get a portable cuz with the window you have to run other inlines to get rid of the heat that they cause and they get hot as fawk

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I have a portable that I have to turn on every day, it turns off because of the timer. If I'm going to be gone I have to leave the A/c running 24/7.

I did read on her or someplace a guy took his port a/c (digital controls) to some electronics guy or something who did a little custom work to the A/c basically gave it manual controls so it can run on timers instead of the digital controls

I got online to that air and water website, and they have an online chat function which turned out to be very helpful. Got my questions answered, and was able to do so without suspicious questions. I will definitely be doing business with them. Btw, they offer an extra 7% discount if you order today. Saves me $35.

Great thread guys. I am having some heat issues as well. My grow is in my attic (I know, I'm crazy), but I basicly built a room up there. It's insulated and air tight. I have my main house a/c connected to the room and the heat has not been a problem......until I started my flower room up. With my 600watt HPS running at night, the temps have a hard time staying below 85. I've always known I would have to get a portable unit at some point because of our hot summers here. I think I know what to look for now. Thanks for the advice.

natrone23 said:

I have a portable that I have to turn on every day, it turns off because of the timer. If I'm going to be gone I have to leave the A/c running 24/7.

I did read on her or someplace a guy took his port a/c (digital controls) to some electronics guy or something who did a little custom work to the A/c basically gave it manual controls so it can run on timers instead of the digital controls

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Im now waiting for someone that will step up and say which brand and model start up on there own

is anyone there?

notpatient said:

is anyone there?

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My experiences:

Amcor ALD12000M: works on a 15 amp breaker. Has manual controls, so it works well a temperature controller. You'll need to setup some kind of drain system for the water that collects in the system. Don't use with CO2.

For a CO2 environment, you need a dual-hose portable AC unit.

The Sunpentown WA-1340DE will NOT run on a 15 amp breaker even though it's rated for 12 amps (15amps x .9 = 13.5 as a safe rule of thumb). It has an auto-restart, but without a controller that handles 15 amps, there's not much you can do. It has a clock/timer feature and will turn off and on as scheduled. When desired temperature is reached, the compressor will turn off but the fan will still run. Dual hose units are not efficient compared to single hose.

natrone23 said:

I have a portable that I have to turn on every day, it turns off because of the timer. If I'm going to be gone I have to leave the A/c running 24/7.

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My friend turned me on to the Cooling Thermostat TMP-1. You plug your Portable AC into it and when the temperature you set is reached it kicks on the AC. http://www.horticulturesource.com/c-a-p-custom-automated-products-cooling-thermostat-temperature-controller-50-115-f-with-3-temperature-probe-p5719/?osCsid=896984bccc77a0e44afc271d2461528b 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.

notpatient said:

Im now waiting for someone that will step up and say which brand and model start up on there own

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Posted Review of my Portable AC unit here:

Portable AC Review

Hope this helps everyone.

KnowledgeSeeker said:

My friend turned me on to the Cooling Thermostat TMP-1. You plug your Portable AC into it and when the temperature you set is reached it kicks on the AC. http://www.horticulturesource.com/c-a-p-custom-automated-products-cooling-thermostat-temperature-controller-50-115-f-with-3-temperature-probe-p5719/?osCsid=896984bccc77a0e44afc271d2461528b 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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Welp now I know what Im buying this friday from my local grow shop

Cheap and to the point!

Thanks Knowledge!