Air conditioning

[stonedstump]

Hi all

 

Can I use an A/C with a digital thermostat setting (split system type) 1kw to cool a 3 x 3m grow shed running a 1000w MH?

 

Can I use the A/C as the only source of air with NO intake or outtake fans?

 

 

 

 

treestump

[WantDaChronic]

you really should replace the air in the grow room frequently, leaving them closed up will only cause problems :thumbdown

 

if you need to keep things stealthy, get 2 fans, ducting and a carbon filter...that way you can replace stale air, kill any smell during the extraction of the air and it will aid in keeping the room so your air conditioner has to work less :smoke

[stonedstump]

What if I run the air conditioner on the cool setting only when the light is on and then run it on the fan setting after the light is off?

 

How much are carbon filters?

[SukonmiSkunk]

if you are getting one of th se air cond. make sure it has an exhuast function.. but like WTC said.. you need odour control.

 

as plants use up Co2 in the air the air need to be replaced and valuable oxygen and Co2 are depleated. Plants grow at a maximum of 1500ppm of Co2 in the air the earths atmosphere is only at 300.... so replacing the air as quickly as possible is a MUST for any indoor grow

 

carbon fiters are great, and I would normally reccomend them... how ever I have bought an ozone generator for only $160, from holland forge... and it works excellently... my room smells like a hospital.. ::

you will also need ducting and an inline fan. Ventaltion is a major part of any growromm setup, the better vetaltion the healthier you grow will be...

[stonedstump]

The smell is no problem for me at all

 

I need to know if I can use the a/c as the only source of air (don't they take air from outside?)

 

I will look into these carbon filters right now after I post this

[Roadblock]

Hello

 

I use Air Con in my clone mother room I have to because of the extreme humidity with high heat I get here , and it works great , even blows a few cloning myths away as I get roots showing out of 75ml cubes in 4 to 9 days and have not lost a clone since I set this room up , not even droped a single leaf cloning , yesterday in the room was 32C with 27% humidity outside was 35C with 64% , who said you need high humidity for fast cloning .

 

You got to have an exchange of air you carnt just use an aircon in a closed room , it doesnt condition air it just removes the humidity and cools it , what I have done is set up a small inline fan that runs 24/7 pulling in fresh air and a small vent to let it out , Ive slowed the exchange down enough to give the plants enough fresh air but not enough to overwhelm the aircon , works great for what Im doing with it , Mothers and clones , I wouldnt aircon for flowering unless you can Gas them because the demand for fresh air by flowering plants in a typical grow room is too much for the aircon to handle , you are better if heat is your problem up the ventilation , if humidity is the problem , up the lighting to burn off moisture , its a juggling act and a simple rule I work by is if its comfortable for you in the room they will like it .

 

Dont ignore fresh Air it is one of the major downfalls for heaps of growers , standing in a grow room it should be fresh like you are standing outside not stuffy or stale smelling , when you demand a lot from your plants their demands go way up and are dynamic meaning they have different needs at different times , fresh air might be free but its one of the major players in this .

 

Rod

Edited February 21, 2006 by Roadblock

[postman]

Mine is the only source of air......no problems

[nitram]

Can I use an A/C with a digital thermostat setting (split system type) 1kw to cool a 3 x 3m grow shed running a 1000w MH?

 

Can I use the A/C as the only source of air with NO intake or outtake fans?

 

They are right about air replacement. Also, with well ventalated room of that size using centrafugal 250mm exhaust & intake fans will deal with heat like you describe such as your problem.

 

Here is some information I found useful from "firgie by trade grower" about growing using an air conditioner for cooling.

 

IT'S BEST NOT TO HAVE A TEMERATURE RANGE OF GREATER THAN 10 DEG CEL., as long as it ain't 2 cold or red hot....

 

If you run your lights at night you'll solve half your problems.

Heat on its own is not such a huge issue with lots of fresh air, but high humidity certainly is, (trust me on this one)! Ventilation – moving air out & replacing with cooler air or doing this using an air conditioner ?

 

What a luxury !

 

As the plants veg on, filling up space with fresh foliage, so the humidity will rocket as all those extra leaves transpire loads of moisture into the environment.

 

A fan mounted between the lamp and the plants, just below the lamp seemed to take away a bit fair bit of heat. I guess over sizing your growing space is the only way to avoid such temperatures. That’s how I am set up.

 

Yes a good fan is advisable....to keep the air cooler & moving . Also it helps strengthen those stems up ....so she will be able to hold more juicy buds for you.

 

Air conditioning from a refrigeration Grower

“AC is my trade. When the warm air is coiled across the refrigerated coil, the moisture in the air condenses and condense is collected or pumped to waste depending on you ac unit. What you need to think about is the dehydration factor. The cooler the air gets, the less moisture it is able to hold you will find the air temp at the top of your grow room will be more than the bottom, heat rises .so the air intake needs to be as high as you can. depending on the size of your grow room and heat out put from lights. think when you have been in a car with ac on after a time your nose and lips start to dry up imagine the effect on your plants. because their leaf surface area is massive! in the industryare humidifiers are sometimes used so that you get a cool environment but a 45% relative humidity. The condense water I was talking about earlier could be used to increase your humidity back to normal. if you were able to evaporate it you would get the nearly the same ratio of water removal (condensing) as moisture addition(evaporation). that way you wouldn't cause to much moisture not get damp areas. (depending on your set up) you could pump the condense to a heat source like the top of a light, on to a tray to evaporate or can buy a humidifier. there is so many other factors to consider and the chances are this is well over the top but there's my two penny's worth peace clokey”

 

Not bad info from “clokey” :smoke

[Roadblock]

((( Mine is the only source of air......no problems )))))

 

No exchange , Imposible for any length of time , when you say no problems what are you saying , that no fresh air enters the room ? or that the aircons vent is open and its pulling in air form outside , or are you saying its just recycling the air in the room with no exchange .

 

Give more details .

 

Rod

[postman]

The air con xchanges the air, keeps room at a near constant temp, no dehydration of leaves and no mould which is a problem for a lot of growers in the first few months of the year.