Grow Room A/C

[CannabisJohn]

Well it appears that my thread disappeared from the forum during the server change. So here goes a new one. Ask away about your grow room a/c questions.

 

[blazer]

Good to see this thread up again keep up the good work bro!

 

[El Cerebro]

Sucks, there was a ton of great q&a in there. I'll ask the next one.

There was a small side-discussion on using 'boxed-in" window units with active ventilation to avoid heat buildup in a lung space (attic pitfalls included). This is especially an issue when you can't have a condensor running outside. Maybe also applies to split units where hidden mount is necessary, but with higher cost and installation/hassle factor. A baseline cfm per unit btu ratio was also discussed.

Now assuming a sealed room with the AC condensor side isolated and cycling outdoor air (or intake from uninsulated attic space), how will rh of the coolant-air be affected and how can we best avoid moisture buildup and collect condensation if necessary? Can this be mediated somewhat by moving larger volumes of air and insulating the 'box'. Could this air potentially also be variably cycled through living space for heating in a dry region, or will it contain way too much moisture? Relative to square footage of course? Obviously heat would have to be sent outside during summer months.

 

[CannabisJohn]

Sucks, there was a ton of great q&a in there. I'll ask the next one.

There was a small side-discussion on using 'boxed-in" window units with active ventilation to avoid heat buildup in a lung space (attic pitfalls included). This is especially an issue when you can't have a condensor running outside. Maybe also applies to split units where hidden mount is necessary, but with higher cost and installation/hassle factor. A baseline cfm per unit btu ratio was also discussed.

Now assuming a sealed room with the AC condensor side isolated and cycling outdoor air (or intake from uninsulated attic space), how will rh of the coolant-air be affected and how can we best avoid moisture buildup and collect condensation if necessary? Can this be mediated somewhat by moving larger volumes of air and insulating the 'box'. Could this air potentially also be variably cycled through living space for heating in a dry region, or will it contain way too much moisture? Relative to square footage of course? Obviously heat would have to be sent outside during summer months.

The condenser air should actually dry the air. Basically if you cool the air you get humidity and if you heat air it removes humidity. I'm speaking of relative humidity.

 

[CannabisJohn]

Thanks for the kind words gentlemen. Yep I put a lot of time in that thread.

 

[fishwhistle]

thank god,I thought you got pissed and left LOL..
Damn there was a shit ton of info in that thread too,it took a half a day to read through it

 

[SolMannaFest]

Pardon my remedial question...but is the condenser the large bulky section that sticks out of the window, for a window unit?

Bless...
MannaFest

 

[El Cerebro]

Pardon my remedial question...but is the condenser the large bulky section that sticks out of the window, for a window unit?

Yeah, or the outside half of a split unit. John, not sure why but I was erroneously thinking from the perspective of a portable, most of which of course are unsealed and blow humid air a la exhausting across a pool of what drained from the cooling coils (part of why they suck, literally). I'm thinking that exhausting the boxed unit into an attic in cold weather would cause moisture probs anyway just from the warm air getting trapped?

Here's another question, maybe you no like. How about basic re/hot-wiring these fancy digital windowbangers without auto-restart? I just want my controller to do the work, with a reasonable deadband range of course to not wear it out, and have the banger just doing the on/off thing. What's wrong with this if I'm careful/well-read enough to do it without burning the place down? Do diy hacks like this just make you cringe and refer me to the mmj-lectrician's union? (sorry can't find appropriate animated gif with this temporary editor skin)

 

[desertmedgrower]

John, Ty so much for restarting this thread and your contributions towards the community.

Quick questions for you sir:

Desert environment, 120 degree summers, on the top floor of a newer house (2x6 good insulation) with central air for rest of house set at 77 during this time, and with exterior walls on two sides. Will a 24k BTU minisplit handle 4 1kw lights + the heat of the summer?

Also what is the big difference between say a Shinco minisplit and a Klimaire minisplit?

Thanks a ton in advance!

 

[CannabisJohn]

John, Ty so much for restarting this thread and your contributions towards the community.

Quick questions for you sir:

Desert environment, 120 degree summers, on the top floor of a newer house (2x6 good insulation) with central air for rest of house set at 77 during this time, and with exterior walls on two sides. Will a 24k BTU minisplit handle 4 1kw lights + the heat of the summer?

Also what is the big difference between say a Shinco minisplit and a Klimaire minisplit?

Thanks a ton in advance!

Should be fine. STAY AWAY FROM SHINCO. They are a POS.

 

[CannabisJohn]

Yeah, or the outside half of a split unit. John, not sure why but I was erroneously thinking from the perspective of a portable, most of which of course are unsealed and blow humid air a la exhausting across a pool of what drained from the cooling coils (part of why they suck, literally). I'm thinking that exhausting the boxed unit into an attic in cold weather would cause moisture probs anyway just from the warm air getting trapped?

Here's another question, maybe you no like. How about basic re/hot-wiring these fancy digital windowbangers without auto-restart? I just want my controller to do the work, with a reasonable deadband range of course to not wear it out, and have the banger just doing the on/off thing. What's wrong with this if I'm careful/well-read enough to do it without burning the place down? Do diy hacks like this just make you cringe and refer me to the mmj-lectrician's union? (sorry can't find appropriate animated gif with this temporary editor skin)

Never done it. I would not feel comfortable giving you any advice on this w/o having done it myself. I have done an auto restart unit with a remote stat but that's it. Sorry

 

[El Cerebro]

So Klimaire =ok brand?

 

[CannabisJohn]

So Klimaire =ok brand?

Never installed or serviced one.

 

[desertmedgrower]

what brands of split a/c can you recommend?

 

[El Cerebro]

I remember that part, fujitsu and mitsubishi, right?

What was the formula for ventilating the condensor duct/box? Wasn't it 500cfm per..?btus

 

[ttystikk]

FWIW, I got a reply on another thread about how they lost some of the threads during the changeover, in spite of bustin' their butts trying to save them all. He said that the main reason for staying closed an extra day was in fact to try and save as many threads as possible, sounds grueling...

Good to see you here continuing your work, C.John!

I have been offering advice to people about cooling their sealed rooms, specifically; that if one can get away from directly chilling their bulbs with a compressor, they're going to be miles ahead in the power consumption department.

I say this based on my own personal experience, where I chill a sizeable room with 8000W of lights in it with just two Ice Boxes- and they run less than half the time! The secret is that all those hoods are ochos and I have 8" ducting running through them. The system pulls air from the house through the hoods, through an 8" maxfan and then pushes it out the window, taking most of the heat of the bulbs with it. Even summer air will suffice to help shed this heat, especially since the maxfan works at negative pressure ('pulling' through the hoods) which seems to help cool things.

Clearly, it works well. What I'm interested in learning is how much power or chiller capacity it saves? How might I get at least a ballpark idea?

 

[CannabisJohn]

I remember that part, fujitsu and mitsubishi, right?

What was the formula for ventilating the condensor duct/box? Wasn't it 500cfm per..?btus

LG also (have that in my room). I would recommend Friedrich if you don't want a remote room sensor/ thermostat. Harder than hell to make work right. Ask Papa. I use 500 cfms/ton to vent condenser.

 

[CannabisJohn]

FWIW, I got a reply on another thread about how they lost some of the threads during the changeover, in spite of bustin' their butts trying to save them all. He said that the main reason for staying closed an extra day was in fact to try and save as many threads as possible, sounds grueling...

Good to see you here continuing your work, C.John!

I have been offering advice to people about cooling their sealed rooms, specifically; that if one can get away from directly chilling their bulbs with a compressor, they're going to be miles ahead in the power consumption department.

I say this based on my own personal experience, where I chill a sizeable room with 8000W of lights in it with just two Ice Boxes- and they run less than half the time! The secret is that all those hoods are ochos and I have 8" ducting running through them. The system pulls air from the house through the hoods, through an 8" maxfan and then pushes it out the window, taking most of the heat of the bulbs with it. Even summer air will suffice to help shed this heat, especially since the maxfan works at negative pressure ('pulling' through the hoods) which seems to help cool things.

Clearly, it works well. What I'm interested in learning is how much power or chiller capacity it saves? How might I get at least a ballpark idea?

Would have to get full load amp draw and figure kw/hr usage with amt of time unit runs per hour. With this you could get a close est of kw/ton. Then do the math on a 3 ton good quality inverter mini split. I have a feeling if the math is done right your savings may be less than what you imagine because your unit runs at full load when ever it runs and an inverter mini can match the load very precisely.

 

[Schwoop]

What up CJ? Miss ya Bro! Good to see ya around! Props on all the AC knowledge you drop Dawg! Much Respect!

 

[El Cerebro]

John, I remember skimming your discussion on inverter minisplits, but unfortunately didn't re-read before, well, you know. What are the cons to going inverter besides higher initial cost? The Klimaire brand has some relatively low-priced inverter models, reason I was looking into them. Curious if any window models with this tech, off to look..