Cooling room while using CO2? Help!

If im running CO2 in a closed-room setup, what are my options for cooling?

I know ill need an AC of some sort, so I think my options are either a mini-split, or a portable ac..

The problem with the minisplit is my vents are kind of far from my room, about 50 feet, so I dont know if I could run the coolant line that far.. Am I able to buy extentions at a hardware store?

And with the portable ac, im worried that exhausting the heat from the unit will blow all of my CO2 out of the room.. is this true? Or does it not affect the CO2 levels very much?

Any advice would be very helpful!
Thanks!

a portable WILL suck out your c02, you can get a dual hose and it will work without taking as much as a single. A minisplit is the best bet and the copper can be extended, but would require welding to do so. or you can purchase a longer lineset from ebay for it.

Thanks for the great info!

Could you possibly link me to such an auction? I have no idea where to even start looking or what to search for. A link would help a ton!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=mini+split+a%2Fc&_sacat=0

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-Foot-X-1-4-LL-X-3-8-SL-Line-Set-Install-Kit-for-Mini-Split-Systems-/271003344990?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f190ee05e

You'd better do some more planning and research before pulling the trigger on the lineset.

What do you mean when you say your vents are far away from the room? You don't need a vent for a mini-split. You need a place outside to put your condenser unit, maybe on your roof, backyard or side of your house. If you must conceal the condenser, then you can put it in a room or garage and vent that room at 500 cfm per ton of cooling.

If you have a small grow, then do some research and find a portable AC with an intake and exhaust. This will cool the room without exhausting your co2, since there is no air exchange.

You could even cut a hole in your wall and install a window AC unit that doesn't exchange the air.

i completely disagree with you on the dual hose portable. they are almost as bad as a single hose, both of which are the absolute least efficient of any ac. i spent hours on two different models of dual hose trying to seperate/insulate them inside. they have almost nothing inside, except for a couple pieces of foam tape, to seperate the intake and exhaust. what a waste of money and enviroment.
minisplit is the only way to go. absolutely no loss of enviroment, and tons more energy efficient. i stopped air cooling my lights after i got my minisplit, and room is very sealed.

superstoner1 said:

i completely disagree with you on the dual hose portable. they are almost as bad as a single hose, both of which are the absolute least efficient of any ac. i spent hours on two different models of dual hose trying to seperate/insulate them inside. they have almost nothing inside, except for a couple pieces of foam tape, to seperate the intake and exhaust. what a waste of money and enviroment.
minisplit is the only way to go. absolutely no loss of enviroment, and tons more energy efficient. i stopped air cooling my lights after i got my minisplit, and room is very sealed.

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This does appear to be the case with all but a few high end dual hose portables, which cost more than a mini split. My 18k window unit is rocking my 8x11 4k open bulb quite nicely but a minisplit is what I have my sights set on.

Basically this is what I mean:

My room is in a storage area, and inside my room are doors leading to an attic area which has vents leading to outside.

SO, what I did was build a false door between the two rooms with a hole cut in it for my ducting that's cooling my lights..

For a minisplit to work I would have to do roughly the same thing. It would be sitting outside the vent, coming through the attic space, through my false door and into my room.

This is what I meant by 'my vents are kinda far away from my room'.. basically they are simply just in the room next to my grow room. So id have to run the line across that room, and into my grow room through the false door I've built. Again its about 50 feet.

So with the extension kit, does this sound like its workable?

you have the evap/fan unit in room. you have condersor/compressor unit outside, just like a house heat pump unit. the only thing leaving the room is a small wire and two small lines. at the most you need a 2" hole to run the lines and wire. then seal the hole around the lines with caulk and expanding foam. you can put the condensor unit in the attic, in the next room, but best to be outside. make sure to get one with low ambiant temp or you wont have ac in the winter.

What would you consider to be low ambient temp for the unit?

The one im considering is the IdealAir brand mini split.. but im open to suggestions if there are other units that are better, or cheaper but still good?

Also, if I could put the unit in the adjacent room, I could do the same thing with a portable too couldnt I? And just have a small intake line running up to the false door, and the exhaust line running to my vent... whereas if I did that with the minisplit id have no way to exhaust to outside...

And whichever way I go, im not sure if id need a 13 or 15 seer / 13k btu or 26k btu.. Would a 13k be enough for 4x1000w in a 14x9 room? And would 13 seer be sufficient? Etc.. what do u all think about all of these things?

Ender87i said:

If im running CO2 in a closed-room setup, what are my options for cooling?

I know ill need an AC of some sort, so I think my options are either a mini-split, or a portable ac..

The problem with the minisplit is my vents are kind of far from my room, about 50 feet, so I dont know if I could run the coolant line that far.. Am I able to buy extentions at a hardware store?

And with the portable ac, im worried that exhausting the heat from the unit will blow all of my CO2 out of the room.. is this true? Or does it not affect the CO2 levels very much?

Any advice would be very helpful!
Thanks!

Click to expand...

You should use air cool lights. co2 work better on high temp. between 87-94f. couple fan and at least one fan on ground level.

VICTORYGARDENSHYDRO said:

a portable WILL suck out your c02, you can get a dual hose and it will work without taking as much as a single. A minisplit is the best bet and the copper can be extended, but would require welding to do so. or you can purchase a longer lineset from ebay for it.

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Is welding absolutely required? Since the copper lines are "refrigerator coil", I'd think a good flare connection should do. Is there a code issue? cn

my unit will go down to 12* ambiant temp and still cool the room. without low ambiant some will stop cooling at mid 40's or higher. lg makes very good systems. if you really want to do it right the first time just forget the portable idea and get an inverter minisplit. mine is 12000btu 20 or 21seer in a 6x10 room,2000watts, co2gen, ballasts, dehumidifier, and household water heater and if i wanted i could take room from 80-70 in just a few mins. oh and i dont air cool my lights.
with 4k you might want 18000btu.

dont think i would ever run my room at 87-94.

no welding needed. line sets are available in different lengths and flare connections are used.

cannabineer said:

Is welding absolutely required? Since the copper lines are "refrigerator coil", I'd think a good flare connection should do. Is there a code issue? cn

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if you were to buy a unit and it came with a lineset that was to short, you could extend it by simply brazing/welding in the longer section. you could flare it, but that would require a flare tool and knowledge of how to flare, just like you could weld it, as that requires a torch and knowledge of welding, way less chance of a leak when you weld/braze/sweat it.

To the person who replied first let me clarify again: im already running aircooled lights and room fans.

With 2x1000w lights aircooled by one 8 inch duct fan, my room sits at about 77-79 degrees. But of course adding 2 more lights is the reason im looking into an ac unit.

I think im sold on the mini split, and ill probably end up with the IdealAir brand one since its at my local growshop and the only one in the sunlightsupply catalog. So I know its a decent minisplit.

But they have 13k btu or 26k btu, both with either 13 seer or 15 seer. So a total of 4 options, and I just dont know which one I should go with.. I dont want to undercut myself and have it be insufficient and stuck with it, but I also dont want to spend more money than I need to, so the less the better. But again im not sure.. Considering my current room conditions (aircooled lights and sitting at 77-79 deg) do you guys think a 13k btu will be enough for adding 2 more lights? And also, how big of a diff does 13seer or 15seer actually make?

Just want to get it right the first time, but not waste extra money on a bigger unit if 13k btu is enough, because the price jump isn't cheap.

Ender87i said:

To the person who replied first let me clarify again: im already running aircooled lights and room fans.

With 2x1000w lights aircooled by one 8 inch duct fan, my room sits at about 77-79 degrees. But of course adding 2 more lights is the reason im looking into an ac unit.

I think im sold on the mini split, and ill probably end up with the IdealAir brand one since its at my local growshop and the only one in the sunlightsupply catalog. So I know its a decent minisplit.

But they have 13k btu or 26k btu, both with either 13 seer or 15 seer. So a total of 4 options, and I just dont know which one I should go with.. I dont want to undercut myself and have it be insufficient and stuck with it, but I also dont want to spend more money than I need to, so the less the better. But again im not sure.. Considering my current room conditions (aircooled lights and sitting at 77-79 deg) do you guys think a 13k btu will be enough for adding 2 more lights? And also, how big of a diff does 13seer or 15seer actually make?

Just want to get it right the first time, but not waste extra money on a bigger unit if 13k btu is enough, because the price jump isn't cheap.

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for every s.e.e.r you go up, you save 5-10% on your electric bill. i f you plan in using it A lot. the 15 will save you money and eventually pay for itself in savings.

Ok cool thanks.
So if all its doing is saving in electricity, I might go for the 13seer only because its such a big price jump and funds are tight but hopefully not for long.

So now the real question is, do I need the 24k or will the 12k be enough for my room? (By the way I realized they come in 12k and 24k not 13k and 26k like I stated earlier).. On the website it states 10-12k btu is suggested for 4000w. So I think it will make due, but of course thats not taking room size or anything into consideration.

So I ask, will the 12k btu be sufficient? Or must I get the 24k?

Well, I think the difference in SEER rating will only pay for the higher price of the unit over YEARS. But anyways, I have a 2 ton(24,000 Btu's) mini split(13 Seer). What you're looking at is a smaller form and diff. shape of a central air unit sitting outside the house/building. The farther away and more difficult is is to run those those lines, the more money it's going to cost you.

I just had to go through one wall that was shared with my room and the outside. I had quotes from $900-$600 and then finally a guy that did it for $300(total install). Figure about $80/hour plus any gas or something they need to use on the unit.

DON'T buy a unit from the hydro store!! That would prob. be the most you'll over pay anywhere. I forget the exact website but just google "minisplitwarehouse.com" Hell, that may be the exact site...They have all kinds of units, ratings, high and low end/prices etc.

I bought a Shinco but they have units on there called Mr. Whisper and they're just plain awesome prices...MANY others too though. Just be sure to do your homework before you get "taken" for a min split at the hydro shop........

Ender87i said:

Ok cool thanks.
So if all its doing is saving in electricity, I might go for the 13seer only because its such a big price jump and funds are tight but hopefully not for long.

So now the real question is, do I need the 24k or will the 12k be enough for my room? (By the way I realized they come in 12k and 24k not 13k and 26k like I stated earlier).. On the website it states 10-12k btu is suggested for 4000w. So I think it will make due, but of course thats not taking room size or anything into consideration.

So I ask, will the 12k btu be sufficient? Or must I get the 24k?

Click to expand...

I'd go with the 24K unit. It's better and going to be more efficient while being easier on the unit as well since it won't have to be REALLY "pumping" all the time to keep up. Always better to have more than you need with these.