Ducting A/C to Grow tent

NewGreen92

NewGreen92

New Member
So Im almost ready to start my first indoor grow and I just wanted to bounce some ideas and see if I can avoid some future issues. I have a 4x4x80" secret jardin grow tent, a 1000w dimmable lumatek ballast with a 600w Ushio HPS bulb, a 171 cfm 4" fan and a 8000 btu window a/c unit. I plan on creating a cool tube for the lamp and using the fan to exhaust the hot air, and ducting my a/c unit directly to the top of the tent. I also have an oscillating fan to keep air moving. I was wondering, should I completely enclose the front of the a/c unit so it is recirculating and recooling air, or should I only duct the cool air exhaust portion and allow the unit to pull in fresh air at all times. If I completely enclose the front of the unit I worry it wont be pulling in enough fresh c02 to keep the plants healthy. But if I only enclose the exhaust portion, I worry that the unit won't be able to cool the warm outdoor air enough in one pass. I hope I was thorough enough with my explanation. Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
wheels619

wheels619

Well-Known Member
NewGreen92 said:
So Im almost ready to start my first indoor grow and I just wanted to bounce some ideas and see if I can avoid some future issues. I have a 4x4x80" secret jardin grow tent, a 1000w dimmable lumatek ballast with a 600w Ushio HPS bulb, a 171 cfm 4" fan and a 8000 btu window a/c unit. I plan on creating a cool tube for the lamp and using the fan to exhaust the hot air, and ducting my a/c unit directly to the top of the tent. I also have an oscillating fan to keep air moving. I was wondering, should I completely enclose the front of the a/c unit so it is recirculating and recooling air, or should I only duct the cool air exhaust portion and allow the unit to pull in fresh air at all times. If I completely enclose the front of the unit I worry it wont be pulling in enough fresh c02 to keep the plants healthy. But if I only enclose the exhaust portion, I worry that the unit won't be able to cool the warm outdoor air enough in one pass. I hope I was thorough enough with my explanation. Thanks in advance for any advice.
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your gonna need more than a 4 inch fan to cool that 1000. a 6 inch would drop your temps drastically. oh and by the way pics make it a lot easier to help when we can actually see your setup.
 
SOMEBEECH

SOMEBEECH

Well-Known Member
A 1k dimmable with a 600bulb........Im old school wont that blow if turned to high? I use Mag.ballastBeech
 
SxIstew

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
I was thinking of doing something similar, I got an 8x4 tent coming in. best way you can go about it is. duct YOUR cool tube(I have a single air cooled reflector and a dual wing non cooled) with the fan pulling air in and pushing out the side or top. use the AC to keep the room OUTSIDE the tent cold and using an intake fan(linked to walmart.com) to blow air into the bottom of the tent and another cyclone fan(linked again to walmart) to move air around within the tent. My setup will only differ from what I said slightly due to only having one air cooled light. I will instead use a 4"-6" inline to exhaust all my hot air OUTSIDE ducting to a dryer vent(just for looks guys not tapping into anything dangerous.).. with my intake being AC cold air. you won't want to duct the AC direct in the case that the AC fails and showers your ladies in Freon. you don't want that.......................... PORTABLE AC's work well to within a tent. you can set an Exact temp on some and it will maintain the temp throughout.(uses a wired thermometer so you can hang it at the top and maintain the same temp top to bottom.)
 
papadankles

papadankles

Member
Ya and I can honestly say that having one made a dramatic difference for my plants. I had a 4x4x8 tent in my garage and having the ac kept is at perfect temp. So if you can splurge, I would.
 
NewGreen92

NewGreen92

New Member
wheels619 said:
your gonna need more than a 4 inch fan to cool that 1000. a 6 inch would drop your temps drastically. oh and by the way pics make it a lot easier to help when we can actually see your setup.
Click to expand...
Sorry about the pics I just got the tent and a/c set up. Right now I have the cool air vented in but no recirculation. The a/c is just pulling air in from the room. I have a passive air exhaust and the temps are staying in the low 70s. Ive only had it set up today though and it wasn't a very hot day. I don't have a cool tube set up right now but I haven't sprouted any seeds yet, im just playing with my setup. I was thinking about running a duct from the air intake on the ac into the vent on the light, then leaving the a/c on auto. this would work as a cool tube and it would recirculate the air in the tent when the light is off.
 
NewGreen92

NewGreen92

New Member
SxIstew said:
I was thinking of doing something similar, I got an 8x4 tent coming in. best way you can go about it is. duct YOUR cool tube(I have a single air cooled reflector and a dual wing non cooled) with the fan pulling air in and pushing out the side or top. use the AC to keep the room OUTSIDE the tent cold and using an intake fan(linked to walmart.com) to blow air into the bottom of the tent and another cyclone fan(linked again to walmart) to move air around within the tent. My setup will only differ from what I said slightly due to only having one air cooled light. I will instead use a 4"-6" inline to exhaust all my hot air OUTSIDE ducting to a dryer vent(just for looks guys not tapping into anything dangerous.).. with my intake being AC cold air. you won't want to duct the AC direct in the case that the AC fails and showers your ladies in Freon. you don't want that.......................... PORTABLE AC's work well to within a tent. you can set an Exact temp on some and it will maintain the temp throughout.(uses a wired thermometer so you can hang it at the top and maintain the same temp top to bottom.)
Click to expand...
The problem with cooling the entire room for me is that right now my tent is set up in a shed that isn't insulated. It would take a lot of power to keep that room cool. Once I have about $600 Im gonna build an insulated room in my garage, and install my window unit through the wall. Then I won't need all this ducting b/s anymore. Im just trying to figure out how to manage one start to finish grow before I build the room.
 
SxIstew

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
NewGreen92 said:
The problem with cooling the entire room for me is that right now my tent is set up in a shed that isn't insulated. It would take a lot of power to keep that room cool. Once I have about $600 Im gonna build an insulated room in my garage, and install my window unit through the wall. Then I won't need all this ducting b/s anymore. Im just trying to figure out how to manage one start to finish grow before I build the room.
Click to expand...
Just go with a Portable AC. You can get one for like 100 bux on ebay. here's ONE I found
 
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