Portable A/C questions

Hey guys I am looking into purchasing a portable A/C. What A/C will I need to cool 2 1kw hps in air cooled hoods in a 15x12x8 room? I am looking a buying this unit http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=air+conditioner&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1280&bih=642&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=3915137349763902556&sa=X&ei=d5S_T-jEFcKTgweT3_3NCQ&ved=0CMYBEPMCMAY. I did some research on dual vs single hose units but am still confused on what to use.

Any help is appreciated guys!

+ rep for helpfullness!!

Are you going to try and ad Co2 and run sealed or are you going to be venting out?

If you are venting a single hose portable works well, it will provide you with your air exchange. Keep in mind all that hot air blowing out that hose is some of your air conditioned air. Dual hose is supposed to draw in one and exhaust our the other, but they either leak or are designed to draw some of your conditioned air out as well.

Both of these types will make running a sealed room with co2 very tricky. If that is your goal, then a minisplit or window ac is better.

Yes I am going to try and add Co2. currently in/out venting. I dont have the money for a minisplit right now and I have no window to use a window sytle A/C unit. Is there some way I can use a window A/C in my room. anyway I found this portable unithttp://bestemporium.net/details.php?id=17947 it says it creates no negative pressure in the room so im asuming it dosent suck out and air from within the room? Oh and will I need to run a dehumidifier or will the built in dehumidifier on the unit work?

budleydoright said:

Are you going to try and ad Co2 and run sealed or are you going to be venting out?

If you are venting a single hose portable works well, it will provide you with your air exchange. Keep in mind all that hot air blowing out that hose is some of your air conditioned air. Dual hose is supposed to draw in one and exhaust our the other, but they either leak or are designed to draw some of your conditioned air out as well.

Both of these types will make running a sealed room with co2 very tricky. If that is your goal, then a minisplit or window ac is better.

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i agree here. the single hose unit is ideal also if your environment outside your grow room is extremely hot. for example, guys growing in garages that are extremely hot shouldn't use a dual hose because the air in the garage is to hot for it to be efficient cooling the a/c coils. if you "lung" room is actually cool as well then the dual hose does offer you the option of not mixing air but like budley said...they leak.

i've never owned a portable a/c unit for grows but danby does make quality units from what i have heard and their dehumidifiers are the only one i buy. i have a 70 pint dehu of theirs that i've had for 7 years and it still works perfect.

bmf725 said:

Yes I am going to try and add Co2. currently in/out venting. I dont have the money for a minisplit right now and I have no window to use a window sytle A/C unit. Is there some way I can use a window A/C in my room. anyway I found this portable unithttp://bestemporium.net/details.php?id=17947 it says it creates no negative pressure in the room so im asuming it dosent suck out and air from within the room? Oh and will I need to run a dehumidifier or will the built in dehumidifier on the unit work?

Click to expand...

negative pressure isn't a bad thing; especially in growing. helps keep odors inside of the room.

you should plan on having a small 30pint dehumidifier in the room. the a/c will most likely be able to handle dehumidification during the light cycle but when the lights go off the a/c will not be working as much and you might need a dehu to prevent humidity spikes. this all depends on how well you size the a/c for that room. it's pretty hard to make recommendations without actually being in your room. a lot depends on your ambient temps and the environment you are in. ideally you want your a/c to be working around 80-90% of the time when your lights are on.

I am in the basement of a house and my temps right now are 81 degrees with lights on. my intake air is about 73 or so. I just want to get my temps down to 73-75 with the lights on. So what you guys are saying is that the dual hose portable a/c will leak out some of my co2? How much do the leak alot or a minute amount?

bmf725 said:

I am in the basement of a house and my temps right now are 81 degrees with lights on. my intake air is about 73 or so. I just want to get my temps down to 73-75 with the lights on. So what you guys are saying is that the dual hose portable a/c will leak out some of my co2?

Click to expand...

most portable a/c units; single or dual hose; are going to leak co2. they are not designed with dual chambers so they will leak air from your room. my advice...co2 is cheap enough...don't worry about it. you aren't going to be losing that much. the only other option would be a minisplit or a true dual chamber portable. both are much more expensive.

Thanks for the advice guys I just need this setup to get me through the summer. Then I can afford a mini split after a few more harvests. looks like my Credit card is getting maxed out today but hey at least I have a shit load of bubble to smoke!

YEA Bubble...i loves me some bubble.

bmf725 said:

I am in the basement of a house and my temps right now are 81 degrees with lights on. my intake air is about 73 or so. I just want to get my temps down to 73-75 with the lights on. So what you guys are saying is that the dual hose portable a/c will leak out some of my co2? How much do the leak alot or a minute amount?

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My first post! Been away from forums since overgrow......

Any way. Why do you want your temps 73-75 with CO2 enrichment?

Waste of AC IMHO

81 is beautiful. Take it up to 86 with 1500 ppm of CO2 in the environment! Trust me.

However, temps should be a tad lower if CO2 levels are not at 1500ppm and if enrichment doesnt take place for the complete duration of the "light-on" ore if you only plan on supplementing CO2 once a day and ventilating the rest of the time.

Also the plants cant take advantage of a CO2 rich atmosphere at such low temps.

I heart Mari J

I'm back! Super late with this post though.

I see nobody mentions the odor you're gonna pump out of that exhaust, personal experience, it's gonna smell.