flip flop room A/C

[HookedonPonics]

Im embarking on a new task, new rooms and ultimately more unanswered questions and problems, im in the process of setting up two fully insulated sealed rooms (8k each bare bulbs) ran on a flip flop, i recently got a good deal on a 5 ton frost box commercial split a/c and know its capable of cooling all the bulbs even if they were all lit at the same time let alone on a flip flop so enough cooling capacity is not the issue, but my question is what is the best way to cool both rooms with the same unit? my ideas were either a sealed lung room with 2 thermostats connected to inlines pulling as needed into each room or if there was a way to duct the cool end of the split directly to the two rooms? any help is appreciated yall, cannabisjohn i know your lurking somewhere hope to hear something good from you :banana1sv6:

 

[organicfreak]

look into watercooling easy to set up zones...
but they do make zone dampers that are controlled by there own tstat you could run ducting off your ac and have these dampers /tstat controll everything...

 

[bobby]

same goal here.

I'm in the exact same boat as you and need to find a solution to cooling 2 rooms with 1 5 ton. When you start getting into the details, there are actually quite a few. For example.

1. What size ducting for the supply and returns for each room?
2. What exactly happens when the "off" room needs cooling?
3. When the "off" room opens it's dampers, doesn't the "on" room loose 50% of it's cooling capacity? How is this managed? Do the dampers only open up a certain percentage? The "off" room probably only needs 1 ton of cooling or so to kill the heat from the dehumidifier....how can we send only 1 ton over to the "off" room?
4. Can anyone provide a list of equipment needed to set this up? The dampers, multi zone controller brand and type, tstats for the dampers and tstats for the air handler?

There are probably a few other questions i've missed here, but there seems to be many important details to create the best system.

 

[cmantis]

Bump as I am looking to do a flip flop / lung room setup that is water cooled.

 

[webstar5]

bump. great question.

 

[fishwhistle]

Post this up in johns A/C thread so he will see it!

 

[bobbybrown]

I have the solution to this and have used it multiple times over already.

If you want to cool 2 rooms with 1 Split AC, you use a zoning kit to create 2 zones. The trick to this is that you must put a return duct in each room with damper. So if you have 2 rooms with 1 5 ton AC, you build 2 plenum boxes. 1 for the supply and 1 for the return. From the supply side plenum want a 16" duct with damper, going in to each room. From the return side plenum, you want a 18" duct with damper, going in to each room. If you are limited on space or money for ducting, you can get away with 14" supply and return ducts.

You'll need the following with your 5 TON:

1. Honeywell Zone controller kit, probably $140
2. Honeywell Dampers, probably $130 each, so $520 for 4. You want the type that is normally open and power closed. So if you electricity fails, your dampers will fail open and your rooms will atleast get cooling. Also make sure your thermostats are hardwired for power and have a battery backup.
3. A thermostat in each room
4. Relays to control the dampers

Let me know if you have any further questions.

 

[CannabisJohn]

I have the solution to this and have used it multiple times over already.

If you want to cool 2 rooms with 1 Split AC, you use a zoning kit to create 2 zones. The trick to this is that you must put a return duct in each room with damper. So if you have 2 rooms with 1 5 ton AC, you build 2 plenum boxes. 1 for the supply and 1 for the return. From the supply side plenum want a 16" duct with damper, going in to each room. From the return side plenum, you want a 18" duct with damper, going in to each room. If you are limited on space or money for ducting, you can get away with 14" supply and return ducts.

You'll need the following with your 5 TON:

1. Honeywell Zone controller kit, probably $140
2. Honeywell Dampers, probably $130 each, so $520 for 4. You want the type that is normally open and power closed. So if you electricity fails, your dampers will fail open and your rooms will atleast get cooling. Also make sure your thermostats are hardwired for power and have a battery backup.
3. A thermostat in each room
4. Relays to control the dampers

Let me know if you have any further questions.

If you buy the Honeywell panel you should not need additional relays.