Im thinking of just adding an additional 18,000 BTU mini split into each room. Thats 1 1/2 tons of AC, so basically I will have 5 1/2 tons in each 12 lighter room. I think that will be efficient enough. Yea I am sick of upgrading but I think I am going to upgrade my lights soon so I can just vent them all. I should have done this first but I had a sick deal on the equipment I had lol Guess that was my mistake. I shut off 2 lights in the room so the temp is down to 79ish degrees now but what I dont understand is that with 10 lights now the temp in the room is still around 79-82 degrees. Its kinda aggravating. :mad:
I live in SoCal so it is hot lately. Like today the temp got up to 95 degrees which sucked. I'm originally from where you are and I miss Denver weather. Only thing about the Ice Box heat exchanger is that it is loud.
Okay, so if you live in SoCal then you're likely dealing with hot, dry conditions, not unlike those who grow on the high plains of Colorado. And if you think 95 is nasty, try the 105 we saw
more than once last week. The only thing weirder? Try the 5.5" of rain we got in just 3 days afterwards! Chillers come in two basic types and sizes, from what I've been able to tell:
Type 1; small, up to 1/2 ton- these are generally used to keep water in a hydro system cool, and so they usually have the nutrient water running through them. Since they're small, they can't be as efficient as larger units, and they have little ability to cool a space as opposed to just a reservoir. It's best to set this type up outside your growroom so it doesn't add to the heat load in your growroom.
Type 2; anything bigger than 1/2 ton- these are far more efficient than their smaller brethren, and usually run about 30% more efficient than AC to boot. It gets better, too; chillers lose efficiency more slowly as ambient temps climb than AC units do. Also, since you really want to set these up with their own dedicated water cooling circuits, you will gain the ability to keep things cool even when the unit isn't runninng by just using the thermal mass of the cold water already stored in the cooling system's reservoir. Another advantage is that you can plumb the one cooling system to cool everything that needs it; multiple rooms, multiple hydro systems, maybe even a room in the house someplace where people like yourself might like to chill out a bit!
It is the second, bigger type of chiller I'm recommending you consider, and to do the two bloomrooms on the flip of one another- this way, the total heat load need never exceed the heat load of the hottest room instead of both added together. This means you can size the chiller to cool just your largest bloom room and veg area- plus any hydro systems you might need to keep chilled.
Still have doubts? My last room design featured 8kW of lights in 8 magnum xxxl 'ocho' hoods, sealed and vented. The 16x9 room was sealed, and a 2 ton chiller (Chillking window mount) installed, and 8" Iceboxes were used in conjunction with 8" Maxfans and controlled by the Sentinel environmental controller. The chiller was more than up to the job of cooling the room, the RDWC systems in it, and a veg room, the RDWC system in it, AND a clone zone with a cooling coil under the aerocloner... and not only does it pull a mere 8.5 amps@240 when it's running, but since it has a 55 gallon drum full of water as a reservoir, it still runs less than half the time! Since Colorado gets cold in the winter, the guy pulls his unit inside, leaves the window open about 6" and pulls the hot air from the chiller through his house... heating the whole place. I saw a gas bill from late winter on his dining table the other day; $75 in gas... for 3 months' usage. That's Feb, March and April... not exactly balmy months around here.
