Swamp Cooler in a grow room?

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Disco Duck

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Those of you in more humid climates have probably never heard of them, but out here in the SW US we have things called "swamp coolers". They are also called "evaporative coolers". They are basically a fan that blows through a wet media, the evaporation cools the air. They only work well in arid climates, if the air is already humid they just become muffled fans. Here is a web site with some examples.



I have a tent in a very dry climate. Humidity in the tent is consistantly 25-32 and tems are 84-90. A swamp cooler would probably lower temps by about 10 defgrees and raise humidity by about 15%. It would do this for just about 60-75w, the power needed to run a small fan. I've had this idea of buying one for my tent, because it seems a perfect match. It would bring my temps to 75-80 and humdity to 45-55... perfect.

Is there a reason to not use a swamp cooler in a grow room? I understand that it would be useless in most regions, but in places like Denver and Pheonix... I'm in Denver and it is looking like the perfect solution. Is there any reason not to use a swamp cooler instead of AC?
 
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antimatter

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You need a constant supply of cold water throughout the year like a creek.. Im sure people run them on wells to but that is a lot of water to be using so there bigger in British Columbia then they are in other parts of the world but humidity can be an issue then so you probably need a dehumidifier running in the day cycle.
 
true grit

true grit

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Nah bro, you won't need a constant water supply. Just make sure if you get a portable one that the capacity is at least 3g or so....in any small grow that should be plenty for 12 hrs of lights on.

I use one as a humidifier in my grow room. When lights were air cooled it helped a lil with temps, but the space wasn't confined. In a tent, i bet it would work great. What size tent are you using?
 
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antimatter

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Nah bro, you won't need a constant water supply. Just make sure if you get a portable one that the capacity is at least 3g or so....in any small grow that should be plenty for 12 hrs of lights on.

I use one as a humidifier in my grow room. When lights were air cooled it helped a lil with temps, but the space wasn't confined. In a tent, i bet it would work great. What size tent are you using?

And why is that? 1000w bulbs create a lot of heat I wouldn't wanna be recirculating warm water and spending extra electricity to cool it with an aquarium chiller.

Edit: I see your talking about those evaporation coolers im talking about proper heat exhangers for grow rooms for recirculating and cooling the air.. two different things.
 
motta-tokka

motta-tokka

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Sounds awesome to me. If its a small tent that huge one is seriously overkill. Why not just a simple box style fan? 30-60 dollar solution it sounds like if you find them in the right places. That was one of my first thoughts but I could not find them any cheaper than a a/c.. Well almost as expensive...
 
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Buddy Hemphill

Guest
I had a very dry room and used a 4000btu swamp clr for moisture. Worked great.

The water doesn't flow through it exactly. There is a float valve in the bottom tray that shuts off when it is full. The pads hang down into the tray and wick the water up thru them... as a fan blows hot air across the pads cooling the air.

My space is 20x20. I had to use something this big for RH. It was like 300-350 at home depot. Worth the money in the right situation...well it was to me anyway.

I use an obscene amount of water and my bill was 38 bucks last month.
 
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kusheater1

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works only in a dry climate I use one for the garage out here in ca and they do keep temps down in the garage so temps are good in the dr120
 
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Disco Duck

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Cool! I've been thinking about this for a while, because I have 2 problems to solve. Temp too high, humidity too low. A swamp cooler lowers temp and raises humidity... and uses very little electricty. But I didn't see anyone mentioning them as an option for a grow room anywhere and thought there might be a reason why. I guess there isn't much talk about them because they don't work in most places.

I am going to get a swamp cooler. I am 5-10 defrees too hot and at 25-32 humidity. A portable swamp cooler should lower the temp by about 5-10 and raise humidity by 10-20 which is exactly what I need. All for the electricty use of a light bulb!

Now I just have to find one... you can't get a swamp cooler in Denver in August, they all sold out a month ago. I might have to order one online:-(

Grit: It is a DR120. I think a $150 portable swamp cooler will correct the tent to about perfect levels of temp and humidity, I'm going to find one and try it since nobody has a reason not too.
 
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antimatter

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Cool! I've been thinking about this for a while, because I have 2 problems to solve. Temp too high, humidity too low. A swamp cooler lowers temp and raises humidity... and uses very little electricty. But I didn't see anyone mentioning them as an option for a grow room anywhere and thought there might be a reason why. I guess there isn't much talk about them because they don't work in most places.

I am going to get a swamp cooler. I am 5-10 defrees too hot and at 25-32 humidity. A portable swamp cooler should lower the temp by about 5-10 and raise humidity by 10-20 which is exactly what I need. All for the electricty use of a light bulb!

Now I just have to find one... you can't get a swamp cooler in Denver in August, they all sold out a month ago. I might have to order one online:-(

Grit: It is a DR120. I think a $150 portable swamp cooler will correct the tent to about perfect levels of temp and humidity, I'm going to find one and try it since nobody has a reason not too.

Those things look pretty wimpy and don't even give btu numbers. Id only go for the heat exchanger not an evaporation cooler but I have large room... so..
 
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Buddy Hemphill

Guest
Cool! I've been thinking about this for a while, because I have 2 problems to solve. Temp too high, humidity too low. A swamp cooler lowers temp and raises humidity... and uses very little electricty. But I didn't see anyone mentioning them as an option for a grow room anywhere and thought there might be a reason why. I guess there isn't much talk about them because they don't work in most places.

I am going to get a swamp cooler. I am 5-10 defrees too hot and at 25-32 humidity. A portable swamp cooler should lower the temp by about 5-10 and raise humidity by 10-20 which is exactly what I need. All for the electricty use of a light bulb!

Now I just have to find one... you can't get a swamp cooler in Denver in August, they all sold out a month ago. I might have to order one online:-(

Grit: It is a DR120. I think a $150 portable swamp cooler will correct the tent to about perfect levels of temp and humidity, I'm going to find one and try it since nobody has a reason not too.


IMO, get a good one. Home Depot and other retailers will ship you one to the store at no charge. Then if it fucks up you can take it back to your local spot instead of having to deal with internet warranty shit. Which can be a major PIA.
 
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Disco Duck

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Yes, I don't like ordering things on internet, I'd rather get it at a store. Home Depot carries KuulAir and a KuulAir KA-50 would be an option. It is pretty powerful for my little tent though, and uses like 200w.

I'd like to get this one, after looking into it a lot...

http://www.air-conditioner-home.com/NewAir-AF-330/

This one will drop temps in a 4x4 tent by at least 5 degrees, probably 10 or 15 if you wanted it too, and runs on just 85w.

The question I have is that is has a hepa filter and carbon filter in it. I assume neither of those are a problem in a grow room? It also has a negative ionizer that can be turned off, so not to concerned about that. Either it's a plus or I can turn it off.
 
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Disco Duck

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Like I said, you can't buy a swamp cooler in Denver after July...

So I wound up searching everywhere for something powerful enough, but still cheap enough to make sense. All along, the KuulAire KA50 was obviously the one that would truly work and actually provide 5-10 degrees of cooling. But they are $250 and I needed to find one at $150 for it still to be a great idea. I'm glad I kept searching, because I eventually found a return being resold at $150.

I ordered this exact one tonight. It will probably take a week to get here, but free shipping and no tax.



Not all swamp coolers are created equal. KuulAir are the real deal without all the bells and whisles like ionizers and hepa filters. Just a pure modern evaporative cooler that really works. This thing is about 4 times more powerful than such a small area as my 4x4 tent needs, so it should be able to win the battle with the light and actually lower the temps significantly.
 
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Itsdestro

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Good Choice

Im located a little south of you in CO, and I have been using a swamp cooler to cool and humidify with good success. Mine is big but simple.
Some key things to consider are:
-finding a balance (it will not really drop the temp more than 10 degrees and running it on high all the time can make the air too humid for it to continue evaporating and cooling.) I run mine on med. 24/7 When I tried doing this on high I found it completely saturated the air and started blowing water droplets everywhere!

- Putting cold water in it gives you cold air! ( may seem obvious but is very effective and can be overlooked.)

- many people fill them using 5 gallon buckets, but this can be tiresome and messy especially if your cooler is elevated like mine. ( I have solved this by placing a five gallon bucket on the floor with a pump and tubing pumping directly into the cooler. This way I can just fill the bucket on the ground then plug in the pump and it does all the lifting. If you have a water source in your space you cold skip the bucket and pump directly to the cooler from the sink or whatever.

- I think I am going to continue using mine into the colder months just as a humidifying element and to cool if I add more lighting (and therefore heat)

I hope this is clear and helpful.
(an added bonus to these coolers is that they can add a little moisture to your home and your dermis)
(I hope you enjoyed my parenthesisizing as well)
 
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Disco Duck

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Im located a little south of you in CO, and I have been using a swamp cooler to cool and humidify with good success. Mine is big but simple.
Some key things to consider are:
-finding a balance (it will not really drop the temp more than 10 degrees and running it on high all the time can make the air too humid for it to continue evaporating and cooling.) I run mine on med. 24/7 When I tried doing this on high I found it completely saturated the air and started blowing water droplets everywhere!

- Putting cold water in it gives you cold air! ( may seem obvious but is very effective and can be overlooked.)

- many people fill them using 5 gallon buckets, but this can be tiresome and messy especially if your cooler is elevated like mine. ( I have solved this by placing a five gallon bucket on the floor with a pump and tubing pumping directly into the cooler. This way I can just fill the bucket on the ground then plug in the pump and it does all the lifting. If you have a water source in your space you cold skip the bucket and pump directly to the cooler from the sink or whatever.

- I think I am going to continue using mine into the colder months just as a humidifying element and to cool if I add more lighting (and therefore heat)

I hope this is clear and helpful.
(an added bonus to these coolers is that they can add a little moisture to your home and your dermis)
(I hope you enjoyed my parenthesisizing as well)

Yes, thanks a lot for this. You basically confirmed what I've been thinking. I only need to cool the tent by 5-10 degrees. The one I ordered is stupidly powerful for the tent, rated to cool a 350 sq ft room. The whole reason I got one so powerful was that I am hoping to be able to provide at least 5 degrees of cooling with it set on medium. I was worried the fan might be too powerful inside the tent, so I wanted a more powerful model that I could run at a lower speed and still cool the tent. I was also worried it might be too humid at full power, so now I am really glad I got the next size up from what would seem right.

I am guessing it will also be useful during winter, just as a humidifier. I also might face it towards the wall of the tent instead of towards the plants, but I'll have to see after it gets here which way it should face. I was also considering elevating it, thinking it will work better as both a cooler and humidifier if it is higher in the tent.
 
true grit

true grit

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313
And why is that? 1000w bulbs create a lot of heat I wouldn't wanna be recirculating warm water and spending extra electricity to cool it with an aquarium chiller.

Edit: I see your talking about those evaporation coolers im talking about proper heat exhangers for grow rooms for recirculating and cooling the air.. two different things.

Yep, we're in CO, we are talking about evap coolers. Not pricey heat exhangers....hehe. And no hydro in my room, so no chillers needed. The water in the res' of the swamp cooler really just stays ambient to the room anyways bro.

Those things look pretty wimpy and don't even give btu numbers. Id only go for the heat exchanger not an evaporation cooler but I have large room... so..

Quit hating. That will be perfectly fine for the DR150 he is asking about, if anything it may be a bit much and oversized for a 4.5x4.5. And i do have a large room, i do run 1ks and you don't need what you are talking about. Proper ducted lights and a 'wimpy' evap cooler left things just fine until i decided to go bare bulb. Large rooms benefit from AC and humidity controls...but then that leads to spending even more on quality humidifiers and dehumid...lol it never stops.

DiscoDuck- that one looks good, if it only shoots humidified air out of that one slot/exchange, perhaps you can put it outside the tent and duct the humidifed air into the tent via some sort of make shift manifold....good luck bro!
 
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antimatter

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Yep, we're in CO, we are talking about evap coolers. Not pricey heat exhangers....hehe. And no hydro in my room, so no chillers needed. The water in the res' of the swamp cooler really just stays ambient to the room anyways bro.



Quit hating. That will be perfectly fine for the DR150 he is asking about, if anything it may be a bit much and oversized for a 4.5x4.5. And i do have a large room, i do run 1ks and you don't need what you are talking about. Proper ducted lights and a 'wimpy' evap cooler left things just fine until i decided to go bare bulb. Large rooms benefit from AC and humidity controls...but then that leads to spending even more on quality humidifiers and dehumid...lol it never stops.

Yhea I don't duct lights. Maybe we can hate with love :heart :character0111:
 
true grit

true grit

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lol fa sho homie, he and other just don't need to think they need the fancy stuff....but im with you- i ditched ducting and just added ac....hehe.
 
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Disco Duck

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The swamp cooler arrived... broken. The fan doesn't even come on. I have never bought anything on internet because I always KNEW it would arrive broken and just be a nightmare. This was the first and last time I ever buy anything on internet. I knew it. I knew it all along. For over a decade. Order something on interent, it will be broken and nothing but a nightmare. I had no choice, these things don't exist in denver after July. But I did have a choice, be smart and never order anything shipped too you under any circumstances.

So now I need to go through the nightmare of getting my money back for this, and cannot get a swamp cooler for my tent because none are avaialble locally. This was my one and only lifetime attempt to buy something on internet. I always knew this is how that would work, and I was right. So I guess I can't get a swamp cooler until next summer because that is the next time they will be available again. I will never be stupid enough to try and buy somethiing on internet again, I was riight all along.
 
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