Central AC question

[cheech]

Hi. i have my grow in the basement. the temps were at an all time high of 88 F. i thought it would be a better idea to disconnect the duct work from the upstairs ducts, and route them into my two grow rooms and run central ac rather than buying a portable ac unit.

My problem is that the air coming out of the ducts is still in the high 70's. any clues as to what the problem might be? I have all the upstairs windows open for my own comfort, and was hoping to use the central ac just for my basement. i will not use the central ac for myself, i never do.

their is an intake grill upstairs that is sucking air into the hvac equipment. could the problem be that it is sucking warm air from upstairs rather then cold air in the house?

thanks for any ideas.

 

[noone88]

What were the temps of the "cold" air before you redid your duct work? Did you trip your compressor breaker outside?

Central air is very similar to excelair.ca systems, but instead of ducting the air throughout the house, it goes right back into the room, in a closed loop (takes in air from the grow room, cools and dehumidifies, then returns it back to the grow room). Whether the ac is taking in cold or hot air isn't that big of an issue, the compressor unit will cool the air, whether its warm or hot.

I've seen a lot of people redo a residential central air when doing large home ops.

- check your breaker, it's common for older houses with old electricity panels to trip the compressor breaker.
- If the compressor does turn on, but the air is not cold, maybe it needs serviced/freon. Depends on the age of the unit. You can have any service guy come in. However, he'll probably want to go inside and take the temp of the "cold" air to make sure it's working (it should be low 60's)

 

[cheech]

the outside compressor is working. if it needs freon, i guess i'll have to buy a portable ac unit. i'm renting this house, and don't really want to pay for anything that i can't leave with. i'm sure i can put the portable ac to use when i move, but i would have rather just ran the central ac.

 

[heater]

Typical residential a/c units will have a 18-20° split.
Split = difference in return and supply air as measured at the airhandler.
Higher temps and relative humidity being drawn in will effect the supply temp. Higher humidity will diminish the sensible btu output (actually drop temp.) and use more btu's on latent removal (removing the moisture)

Don't just block the return upstairs (your system needs it) you would need to pull all your air from area being cooled.
There could be several things wrong, low freon,dirty outside condenser coil. If you can see your outside coil is dirty shut off the electrical power and reverse flush with water being careful not to bend fins on the coil. You may have to take the top off to do this.

 

[cheech]

thanks for the advise guys