Portable air-conditioning unit in grow tent

Green_thumb_grower · Apr 8, 2026

Hello, community
I’m wondering on how best to set up a portable AC unit in the grow tent?
The grow room is getting too hot

should the unit stay outside or in side and how would I vent the cool air inside effectively
If there’s any examples of setups or information that would be very appreciated, thank you very much

Galgrows · Apr 8, 2026

I would'nt put it inside. I'd check the lamp and turn down the brightness if it has a dial. I leave my tent door open and have a fan several feet from the door on low setting. I keep my round port holes and floor vents open ALWAYS even during 12/12 flowering stage. But not everyone does it this way they do complete closed up tents. It they are autos your growing they don't care about light leaks. Fans are a good start.

Green_thumb_grower · Apr 8, 2026

Thank you for replying. I’ll keep that in mind. always willing to chop and change

I’m running 2 600-watt lights in a 2.4 X 2.4 grow tent
i’m on week six of flower I’m worried the fans won’t be enough to keep temps down.
Evaporation of turpenes that’s my main concern it can cause serious damage to the finished product taste and smellI I avoid growing in the warmer months for this reason
I have 5 fans working 2 at the bottom next to fresh air inlet
3 just above the canopy

Would you recommend adding a AC unit to help manage the heat.
How would it be set up?
It will be used 4 months to 6 months of the year

Green_thumb_grower · Apr 8, 2026

I’m trying to figure out if I need to make a hole in the grow tent so the portable AC unit vents back into the house, with a carbon filter to handle smell, or if it would work better to build a cardboard contraption outside, attaching it to the ducting so it pulls cold air in. What do you think would work better for my setup?

Green_thumb_grower · Apr 8, 2026

AC unit’s positioning, do I need to hang it up with ratchet straps, or can it sit in its normal position?

GasPlease · Apr 8, 2026

Green_thumb_grower said:
Thank you for replying. I’ll keep that in mind. always willing to chop and change

I’m running 2 600-watt lights in a 2.4 X 2.4 grow tent
i’m on week six of flower I’m worried the fans won’t be enough to keep temps down.
Evaporation of turpenes that’s my main concern it can cause serious damage to the finished product taste and smellI I avoid growing in the warmer months for this reason
I have 5 fans working 2 at the bottom next to fresh air inlet
3 just above the canopy

Would you recommend adding a AC unit to help manage the heat.
How would it be set up?
It will be used 4 months to 6 months of the year

i run a portable ac in my lung room keeping temps low. With spider farmer gear I had to buy one of their smart power strips and use their tent controller to get desired results. The basics are an exhaust fan triggered by humidity and an inlet fan triggered by temp. The inlet will pull the cool air from the lung room and cool the tent. Since the exhaust is triggered by humidity its not continously pulling the cool air out. All vents on the tent are closed and its a semi sealed environment.

GasPlease · Apr 8, 2026

Here is what i use to have complete control over a single tent so I can have multiple tents with different environments.

Lung room is kept around 70f and 45 rh% with situational tweaks being made. AC is vented into apartment and dealt with by HVAC.

Tent has a controller and it's connected to control the power strip. All the equipment is fighting each other but it's how you get accurate control .

EDIT: The cold air comes in the top and drops down right on top of the clip fan. The heater comes in the bottom and the tube exits right behind the bottom clip fan.

Green_thumb_grower · Apr 8, 2026

Thank you for sharing the information and knowledge it’s very appreciated amongst the community

Just to confirm

The long room is the room with the portable air-conditioning unit and the zipped up grow tent

You are using the cold air from the lung room to cool down the tent

you have an inlet fan with cold air going in from the top of the grow tent behind an oscillating fan

Hot air from the grow tent is vented from the bottom of the grow tent going out with carbon filter

Hot air from the back of the portable air-conditioning unit is going back into the apartment with a hvac filter

Cold air being vented in from the top of the tent from the lungroom

hot air being vented out from the bottom of grow tent out of the lungroom

GasPlease · Apr 8, 2026

Green_thumb_grower said:
Hot air from the grow tent is vented from the bottom of the grow tent going out with carbon filter

Hot air coming in from the bottom coming from heater.

Green_thumb_grower said:
Hot air from the back of the portable air-conditioning unit is going back into the apartment with a hvac filter

Dual hose unit is best and its pulling cool air from the apartment to cool the coils and its exhausting the hot air into the apartment. Depending on the season I use the apartments central heat&air to deal with it.

Green_thumb_grower said:
hot air being vented out from the bottom of grow tent out of the lungroom

Humid air being removed through carbon filter exhaust fan dumping back into lung room. This exhaust can also be dumped out into the apartment if the lung room is struggling to keep.

EDIT: The heater is there because at some point the exhaust will be trying to pull out humidity which will also pull in cold air from the lung room. Dropping the temp below the target and thats where the heater kicks in to keep things right.

Magnumsmydog · Apr 8, 2026

It is a battle for sure until you finally nail it, just keep trying different things until you get it in equilibrium, it can be frustrating fighting tent to lung room but you will get it dont give up on it

Green_thumb_grower · Apr 8, 2026

I’ve googled AI image to see what would pop up
Would you say that this is a a good example of the setup that you’re talking

GasPlease · Apr 8, 2026

Green_thumb_grower said:
View attachment 2623366
I’ve googled AI image to see what would pop up
Would you say that this is a a good example of the setup that you’re talking

Hard to say what that ac is doing from a pic and there are many ways you can get away with cooling your grow. Im offering a semi complex solution that gives you precise control. I make another post post below with pics and explain better.

GasPlease · Apr 8, 2026

My lung room is kept at 70f and 45 rh% by using dehumidifiers and a dual hose portable AC. Its seperated from the rest of the apartment by hanging blankets in the doorway to act as a thermal barrier. You can see this in the picture. These pieces of equipment are conditioning the air in the lung room not the tent.

The tent gets the cold air from the inline fan on the floor and its dumped in the tent from the top. The fan is triggered to turn on by a set temp in the spider farmer controller. Its distributed through the tent by the clip fan. And while we're here I'll add that the humidifier is the the same corner using the same fan to mix the humid air. Both in the pics.

Humidifier is on the floor in the corner and that duct in the top corner is the cold air.

The disk thing is a heater and the duct comes in the bottom dumping warm air behind the fan. It is also automated to maintain a set temp.

The other inline fan is the exhaust fan that pulls air out of the tent and its triggered by the humidity. Again automated by the controller.

I tried to get a wider angle of the room. Excuse the mess I havent cleaned in a minute. This is a bedroom in my apartment. You can see the ac and dehumids there and the tent is the one on the left.

For example if my tent gets over 78F the inline fan outside on the floor kicks on pushing cold air into the tent cooling it down. If the humidity gets over 73% the exhaust fan kicks on pushing that moist air out and at the same time pulling dry cool air in. If that dry cool air lowers the temp below 78F the heater kicks on. Same with the humidifier. If too much dry air enters the tent then the humidifier kicks on.

Green_thumb_grower · Apr 9, 2026

Thank you for showing and explaining your setup makes perfect sense very appreciated

Green_thumb_grower · Apr 9, 2026

If I use the portable air-conditioning unit set up, will I need to move my dehumidifier outside the grow tent?

GasPlease · Apr 9, 2026

Green_thumb_grower said:
If I use the portable air-conditioning unit set up, will I need to move my dehumidifier outside the grow tent?

It's situational to your exact setup. If you have enough dehumidifier to control the lung room I think that's the better option. If you have a smaller dehumidifier than the smaller space inside the tent would have to work. The thing about all equipment but especially a dehumidifier is that they will produce heat warming the tent. Feel the air coming out of your dehu.

Green_thumb_grower · Apr 9, 2026

thank you for explaining

Green_thumb_grower · Apr 9, 2026

my lung room is about 3.5 by 3.5 by 2.4 metres, and the grow tent is 2.4 by 2.4 by 2.2 metres, and with two 600-watt LED lights and five fans, the total heat load is about 4,500 BTU?
I was thinking minimum 12,000 BTU

a second opinion from the community is always a better

Thank you for your patience.

Green_thumb_grower · Apr 9, 2026

There’s a couple of things need changing

GasPlease · Apr 9, 2026

Green_thumb_grower said:
my lung room is about 3.5 by 3.5 by 2.4 metres, and the grow tent is 2.4 by 2.4 by 2.2 metres, and with two 600-watt LED lights and five fans, the total heat load is about 4,500 BTU?
I was thinking minimum 12,000 BTU

a second opinion from the community is always a better

Thank you for your patience.

This is the unit i got and its 14000. My room is 10x15 and it can keep the room around 63-65f pretty easy.

Amazon.com: Whynter Portable Air Conditioner 14,000 BTU with Dual Hose Dehumidifier & Cooling Fan for 500 Sq Ft Rooms, Includes AC Unit Window Kit, ARC-14S (9,500 SACC) : Home & Kitchen

Buy Whynter Portable Air Conditioner 14,000 BTU with Dual Hose Dehumidifier & Cooling Fan for 500 Sq Ft Rooms, Includes AC Unit Window Kit, ARC-14S (9,500 SACC): Accessories - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Portable air-conditioning unit in grow tent

Portable air-conditioning unit in grow tent

Green_thumb_grower

Galgrows

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GasPlease

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Magnumsmydog

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Amazon.com: Whynter Portable Air Conditioner 14,000 BTU with Dual Hose Dehumidifier & Cooling Fan for 500 Sq Ft Rooms, Includes AC Unit Window Kit, ARC-14S (9,500 SACC) : Home & Kitchen

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