Homemade A/C and tank chiller

I made a homemade air conditioner as well as a tank chiller...using copper tubing and 2 styrofoam coolers...fill the coolers with ice (actually instead of ice I refreeze platic tupperware bowls of water with a lid so I dont have to keep emptying excess water out of the cooler)...inside the cooler is a roll of 15 feet of copper tubing hooked up to the return side of the water flow and a submersible pump...without putting the copper tubing on the return side the cooler (and just mounting it to the fan, or putting it in your res tank), the returning water is to warm and melts the ice too fast.....on the sending side of the water flow mount copper tubing to the front of the fan(A/C), or simply put it in your res tank (for the tank chiller)always clean the tubing when you change the water in your tank...hook the sending side of copper tubing up to your pumps with plactic tubing and turn them on...this small home made AC unit chills my 5x7 grow room almost 8 degrees and provides cool airflow, from 90-82 and the chiller keeps my 12 gal res tank at 74!!! The only downside is putting newly frozen bowls of water in the coolers on a daily basis, but I always have 4 bowls of freezing water in the freezer waiting, so the swap takes all of 5 minutes, and I really only do once a day....beats spending $200 on a portable A/C or a tank chiller. This whole setup cost me less than $75 for both units....here are a few pics of my first grow as well at 2 weeks

wow thats quite good were did u get the supplys for the fan i would like to know(i live in cali)and what do u use to clean the tubeing?and u clean the plastic tubeing not the copper right?

I got everything from homedepot except the styrofoam cooler at 7-11
I dont flush out the tubing, I make sure to clean the outside of the copper tubing that sits in my res...I'm not sure if it has any effect on the nutrients at all but dont feel like taking any chances...google homemade AC, thats where I got the idea from....

oh yeah, the tubing that is zip tied to the front of the fan sweats like a bitch, its humid where I live...so I poked a few holes in the lid for the cooler for a place for the wate rto drain back into...also make sure to use a fan that doesnt have a power switch directly under the tubing, or be real careful if you decide to put the tubing on the back of the fan, it will sweat and drip in the shaft or power switch and could short out the fan and possibly be a fire hazard....

Alright i have been thinking of different ways of cooling my room,

right now with the temps 70 -90(outside) the grow room gets 74-78 with lights off and i have been testing the lights, with lights on it goes up about 10 degrees in the room with the cooltube setup. So thinking that in the summer the outside temps are 85-100 the rooms going to get really hot.

I don't really want to go buy a chiller for this small room and i already went through a few portable ac's so i don't really want to spend 150 or more

So getting idea from all these threads i was thinking of doing something like this.

10' - 3/8 flex copper - buy $15
6' - 3/8 freezer tubing - buy $ 10
pump - already have one
normal Tupperware would work for this - already have allot
mini fridge - already have one

Using the copper i will make the spiral for around the 6'' intake fan opening, then hook that up to the freezer tubing, that runs into the fridge to the pump, in the Tupperware with ice and water ........

..... the fridge should keep the water cold so i do not have to replace the water and add ice all the time. Only thing i do not know is if the pump will work in the cold water in the fridge!!! any one know ???

Trying not to waste time or money but sometimes trial and error is the only way.

Thanks for any input or ideas i am all ears.

Hulk Nugs said:

Alright i have been thinking of different ways of cooling my room,

right now with the temps 70 -90(outside) the grow room gets 74-78 with lights off and i have been testing the lights, with lights on it goes up about 10 degrees in the room with the cooltube setup. So thinking that in the summer the outside temps are 85-100 the rooms going to get really hot.

I don't really want to go buy a chiller for this small room and i already went through a few portable ac's so i don't really want to spend 150 or more

So getting idea from all these threads i was thinking of doing something like this.

10' - 3/8 flex copper - buy $15
6' - 3/8 freezer tubing - buy $ 10
pump - already have one
normal Tupperware would work for this - already have allot
mini fridge - already have one

Using the copper i will make the spiral for around the 6'' intake fan opening, then hook that up to the freezer tubing, that runs into the fridge to the pump, in the Tupperware with ice and water ........

..... the fridge should keep the water cold so i do not have to replace the water and add ice all the time. Only thing i do not know is if the pump will work in the cold water in the fridge!!! any one know ???

Trying not to waste time or money but sometimes trial and error is the only way.

Thanks for any input or ideas i am all ears.

Click to expand...

(the outside of a fridge makes heat) sucks.
maybe suck air IN from a cooler room?

That's what I do. I just exchange air with the rest of the basement. I have a dehumidifier outside my little grow room. I have two fans, 250 and 400 CFMs. Each on max with carbon filters. The high air circulation keeps the smell great, the humidity lower, and keeps it cool. My room is very small relative to the basement, so this works for me.

If things get too hot inside, during cooler months i trap air and blow it in.
I've created a poly trap over a window with a fan below (inside poly area) that blows fresh outside air IN.
most of the time just the breeze is enough.
during summer i run AC so its more managable.
I like the fan with the copper coil, its a cool idea .haha.
but dont run NUTES through the copper.