Homemade AC unit

Fangthane said:
I'm in a similar boat. If it's high summer, my 5x5 with only a single 480watt QB running at 100% will get well up into the mid 90s. I have to leave the tent flap open with a fan just outside blasting air in to even keep the temp below 100. The struggle is real in this shithole region.
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are you venting into the room or outdoors?
mine goes to the attic via 4" fan. get the heat out and away, not recirculated into the room.
no real problems with temp but it does tend to run a few deg. higher, summer vs. winter.
mid 80's summer vs.upper 70's winter.
its fun growing in the desert! :blsmoke:
 
Drop That Sound said:
If opening the door works, then maybe you could purchase a new or used door of the exact dimensions (save the original door for later) and put nice size vent hole right through it, with a light trap\S shaped duct on the inside section, and a grill on the other side that people see the most. Or make a boxy looking light trap that is more low profile to the door. I've made my own light proof vents with stacks of aluminum z-channel pieces that are shimmed between the layers. Painted black, and framed like a picture. Only works to remove about 95% by itself, but thats probably good enough for a room with tent.

Force air right through the door sounds like the way to go IMO, without messing with any walls or anything..

Maybe even add a small booster fan. Sure it will look kinda wonky, making the door thicker, but only from the one side if you do it right.

Otherwise, pony up for another portable/window AC, or maybe exhaust right out the window or something, but I'm not sure how that would affect your homes central HVAC systems.. possibly causing it to run non stop or something..
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Any ideas for pushing air under the door for now?
 
Sucks for having to be in the room though. If I had to work or live in a hot office with a grow tent all day, I would probably block any existing vents, and just run another AC for that room. The home system wouldn't have to work as hard either.
RuggedWombat said:
Any ideas for pushing air under the door for now?
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Ya. If you took the door off and cut maybe an extra half inch or so off the bottom, then hang it right back up, that would actually make quite a difference in the amount that flows underneath it.
 
Don't go too far in on a hollow core type door though, and shave away the whole piece of framing. Should be good to take away that much atleast..
 
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Or if you can, maybe cut a hole through the wall & put a vent right above the door. Hope there’s no wiring /plumbing while your at it. :eek:

With a double stack of z channel light traps hidden inside..

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Going to suggest picking up some flexible ducting and an inlet boot, or make a custom inlet boot to get air under the door. I'm assuming the door is undercut.
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acinfinity.com

Flexible Four-Layer Ducting, 25-Ft Long, 6-Inch

Your source to create smart growing systems with components including advance grow tents, inline fans, clip-on fans, LED grow lights, and UIS™ controllers.
acinfinity.com acinfinity.com

1691126167939.png
tradesmanmfg.ca

Slab Inlet Boot at Tradesman MFG HVAC Products

Slab inlet boot is used for transitioning from a round pipe of an exhaust fan outlet to a slab exhaust duct. Tradesman MFG products are perfect for all your HVAC needs. Locate a dealer today!
tradesmanmfg.ca tradesmanmfg.ca


If I was in your situation, I would install flex duct in the bottom of the tent with a few turns in it for air entering the tent, and flex out the top to the exhaust fan outside the tent, door to the room could be left open. I have never had issues with a tent having enough light getting in to cause issues.
1691128429369.png
 
Before you attempt growing you should have your lighting, air exchange, and temp humidity control figured out. If you can't afford to to do that don't even try to have a big grow. Just put it in the window and cross your fingers
 
ProPheT 216 said:
Before you attempt growing you should have your lighting, air exchange, and temp humidity control figured out. If you can't afford to to do that don't even try to have a big grow. Just put it in the window and cross your fingers
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This is my 10th grow I'm past the attempt phase. I have a decent idea what I'm doing. The issue is I moved houses and now have completely new grow conditions to work around. I'm trying to make it work more efficiently, not just work period. This is actually easy mode compared to what I dealt with the last 2 years. Worst case scenario still has everything under perfectly optimal conditions, it's me who is uncomfortable in the grow environment conditions lol the plants are having a ball. Also I only run 3 plants in a 2x4 so I'm definitely on the micro side lol.
 
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CANON_Grow said:
Going to suggest picking up some flexible ducting and an inlet boot, or make a custom inlet boot to get air under the door. I'm assuming the door is undercut.
View attachment 5315019
acinfinity.com

Flexible Four-Layer Ducting, 25-Ft Long, 6-Inch

Your source to create smart growing systems with components including advance grow tents, inline fans, clip-on fans, LED grow lights, and UIS™ controllers.
acinfinity.com acinfinity.com

View attachment 5315020
tradesmanmfg.ca

Slab Inlet Boot at Tradesman MFG HVAC Products

Slab inlet boot is used for transitioning from a round pipe of an exhaust fan outlet to a slab exhaust duct. Tradesman MFG products are perfect for all your HVAC needs. Locate a dealer today!
tradesmanmfg.ca tradesmanmfg.ca


If I was in your situation, I would install flex duct in the bottom of the tent with a few turns in it for air entering the tent, and flex out the top to the exhaust fan outside the tent, door to the room could be left open. I have never had issues with a tent having enough light getting in to cause issues.
View attachment 5315031
Click to expand...

For intake I run both of those rectangle vents open on the left and right. When in flower, I have charcoal filter sheets which block the light but still allow air flow so I probably don't need bends for intake. The exhaust is like the picture but reversed where it goes out to the right toward the door. I suppose I could go out of that top side hole and then do a 90 degree bend down to the door which would run into that inlet boot. I definitely think the inlet boot you linked is the way to go. It's a big ass restriction though so like you said it may need to be custom to be as wide as possible. Ideally then I need a slab inlet boot around 1 inch tall and as close to 30 inches in length as silly as that would look lol. That should be enough and worse case I can open the door and still have it go under or even remove the boot and run the exhaust hose itself out of the room. It's just a bit obvious there is a giant exhaust hose coming out lol.
 
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If you have a crawl space into the attic in the room, you could cut a piece of plywood the same size as the crawl space door and then cut a hole and place a fan inside the attic, on top of the plywood in the hole.
 
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