Grow Room A/C

[pdxfire]

Awesome thread. Thank you. I have a 10x30 basement room w/ 12 600w bare bulbs w/ ballasts mounted elsewhere and nothing else. my 3ton idealair can't take it below 85 and the ladies are unhappy. should i be unhappy w/ the unit and/or buy 2 ton? please thank you sir.

 

[CannabisJohn]

Hi guys, I'm in need of some cooling expertise for my next project. Going to build a sealed room setup. 12,000w air cooled, ballasts outside the room, CO2 with tanks to start with, roughly 400 sq ft. This is going down in the mountains where temps during winter range from 10s (rarely but it happens) to 50s, 60s. What are my options here? Installing condensing unit outside not a problem, but wondering if there is a more efficient route...

RG

Need 4 ton unit. Mr Slim units can cool to 14F outside air. Residential units can only cool properly down to 50F. Best advice is to make sure your unit can cool properly for ur outside temps.

 

[CannabisJohn]

Awesome thread. Thank you. I have a 10x30 basement room w/ 12 600w bare bulbs w/ ballasts mounted elsewhere and nothing else. my 3ton idealair can't take it below 85 and the ladies are unhappy. should i be unhappy w/ the unit and/or buy 2 ton? please thank you sir.

If ur bulbs aren't air cooled then IMO you don't have enough a/c. With that said I'm not a fan of Ideal Air. But don't blame the unit. Get more a/c. Also can the Ideal Air properly cool at night when it's cooler outside? I know a lot of units can't cool properly if outside drops below 50F. I'm just checking. I'm not sure what ur conditions are and when your a/c runs most.

 

[pdxfire]

Great. Appreciate the input. These units are spose to operate down to around 15 degrees. i'll buy some more by a different company. confidently now.

 

[RobGee]

Thanks CJ for dropping so much AC knowledge. 4 tons=48k btus right? Im thinking with aircooling the lights I would be able to get my heat output down below 30k....would this allow me to go with a 3 ton unit (amperage is an issue)? IYE is Mitsubishi the most reliable units?
I know enough about cooling to know to ask someone smarter than myself
Is there anyway to use the cool outside air and still maintain a sealed environment?

RG

 

[CannabisJohn]

Thanks CJ for dropping so much AC knowledge. 4 tons=48k btus right? Im thinking with aircooling the lights I would be able to get my heat output down below 30k....would this allow me to go with a 3 ton unit (amperage is an issue)? IYE is Mitsubishi the most reliable units?
I know enough about cooling to know to ask someone smarter than myself
Is there anyway to use the cool outside air and still maintain a sealed environment?

RG

Yes 4 tons is 48k. That is how much a/c you need if you air cool. If not air cooling then I recommend 6 tons. You could use the outside air to cool your lights and still maintain a sealed room. Be very careful doing that because your outside air will cause condensation on your hot lights. You need to pre-warm the outside air some how. If you can you may bring it in to an area outside the room but inside the building. Then draw your air for your lights from that area. Again make sure air temp is above at least 50F. Watch for condensation.

 

[RobGee]

Right on, thanks CJ!

RG

 

[pizzlestubs1]

Hey so I'm having a very frustrating situation right now in my Grow. It's my first run through the new setup and I can't keep the temps down at all.

Setup
-Mitsu 36,000 btu MR slim mini split
-10k bare bulbs not vented or cooled in anyway.
-Autopilot 8 burner co2 gen
-sealed fully room
-100 pin dehumid
-10 wall mounted fans
-1 hp ecoplus water chiller compressor inside the room

The temp split is 20 degrees
It's full charged leak free nitrogen tested
50 ft lines
compressors outside
roughly 5 lbs of r410
Pet chart sized it up
Turned on full blast strongest setting.

I cannot get my temp down to anything under 90 degrees so right now I'm running my lumatecks on 600 watts instead of 1k to keep the room at 84. Is my A/C not sized correctly or is there anything you can really suggest. I went off the standard 3,500 btu for every 1k and came out to 35,000 btu so a 36 BTU should handle it.

 

[sixstring]

im pretty sure @CannabisJohn recomends 6000btu per 1k bare bulb and 5000btu per for air cooled.so you will need 5 tons a/c for 10kw bare bulbs to run safely.12,000btu per ton of a/c. CJ will eventually see this and comment.but im thinking you need another 36000 btu minisplit and move that chiller out if possible.gl

 

[fishwhistle]

Add another 24k unit at the other end of the room,you need more a/c for 10k of lights.I think john uses 4k for vented and 6k for barebulb(you),it sounds like alot but it works perfect.

 

[pizzlestubs1]

Thanks guys I've been repeating "Fuck" for a few min now. Having a few compressors on the roof is already sketchy where I am, I can't imagine doubling up. Mini I will ditch the Mr. slims for a 5 ton Goodman. They seem inexpensive and strong, not sure why I didn't buy them in the first place.

 

[fishwhistle]

Why buy just one when you can own two for twice the price?lol.Id add another mini at this point,two mini compressors are still smaller than a 5 ton and both wont break down at the same time,probably more efficient too,john will know.

 

[sixstring]

Why buy just one when you can own two for twice the price?lol.Id add another mini at this point,two mini compressors are still smaller than a 5 ton and both wont break down at the same time,probably more efficient too,john will know.

i would get a second unit also,as fw said just so you have something if one goes down for some reason.i ran a 3 ton goodman with 8500kw of cooltubes with decent results,now im running a 4 ton goodman with 10kw of mixed tubes and gavita 750de and my unit kicks ass.all my stuff is also in my grow room like your setup,other than i dont run a chiller.

 

[pizzlestubs1]

With the goodman do you just run a feed and return line with a compressor on the roof also? Or does the air handler get connected to the compressor with duct work?

 

[CannabisJohn]

With the goodman do you just run a feed and return line with a compressor on the roof also? Or does the air handler get connected to the compressor with duct work?

If you're asking these questions you aren't even remotely qualified to install this unit properly. I'm not trying to be a dick but you need the truth. Hire someone qualified please. Otherwise you won't get proper results.
Avoid the Goodman. Not a good product. Yes u need 2 more tons. I use 4k for air cooled and 6k for non air cooled.

 

[sixstring]

If you're asking these questions you aren't even remotely qualified to install this unit properly. I'm not trying to be a dick but you need the truth. Hire someone qualified please. Otherwise you won't get proper results.
Avoid the Goodman. Not a good product. Yes u need 2 more tons. I use 4k for air cooled and 6k for non air cooled.

hey bro,just wondering why your so down on goodman.i know i have seen you say it several times,but i have one running my house for an easy 10 years now and my 3 ton ran the flower room for over 4 years before i upgraded with zero problem.did i just get lucky twice? my buddy whos also my installer and the cheapest sob on the planet swears by these goodmans and tappans.he was a lennox installer for about 15 years before going out on his own but since then he has nothing but praise for these 2 brands lol.

 

[blazer]

From my experience goodman doesn't have the best track record sure many many people get units with no probs but when you do it for a living you stay away.from units you see more problems with they tend to us cheaper parts which end up with nuisance problems, to a company those nuisance calls cost em money(call back) so tend to go with units with most reliability.
Many contractors love goodman for there price hella cheap compared to other brands such as trane.

 

[blazer]

Also might be cause he is a installer a lot of installers don't do service work(trouble shooting & fixing em) they only Install units so a lot of times installers don't even no about issues with equipment.

 

[sixstring]

No this dude does it all, mostly hvac but he does alot of plumbing and water heater installs. Im his helper bitch all winter and have learned a ton over the last 5 years.we did a 20,000 sq ft home last year that needed 2 in gas line for all the furnaces and gas fireplaces plus 2 hot tubs.he does some trane installs but when you get right down to it most people are cheap lol.we did install lennox for my parents about 8 years ago and it was a bit more money but my dad likes quality stuff.maybe my boy likes goodman because of the job security he gets from all the service idk, but when we did my upgrade this summer I ask for top of the line shit and he talked me into this goodman based on warranty and our own track record with the smaller unit.

 

[blazer]

Goodman for years on their furnaces used a gas valve called a smart valve was junk every year they made a new and improved one till they finally got on board and went direct ignition like everybody else, lot of call backs on that, majority won't have prob just a numbers thing when looking as buisness decision what you want to install see more of the smaller companies single contractor type use more or cookie cutter housing where every penny is pinched, goodman also had a 10 yr warranty for a while not sure if still do which was awesome but they needed it,no a lot people who like goodman, my buddy started his own HVAC biz and started out with goodman had warned him, but like you said price matters but after his first year of nuisance callbacks he lost what he was making with the cheaper unit, now he doesn't use goodman unless customer demands it.