[quote name='"jakesterjammin"'] I think that's "smarter, not harder" my stoned brother.... [/quote] There both relevant lol
OMG I found my controller for the system!!! Amazon.com: Control Products TC-9102D-HV Dual Stage High Voltage Digital Temperature Controller: Home Improvement Has a range of -67 to 302 degrees F Dual 20 amp relays.. It even has a stainless sensor... Yep, that will work for a control since it can monitor and control a reservoir which can reach as low as -35... If you can get that from a 5,000 BTU A/C, I wonder what you can get from 24,000 BTU A/C?? Done right of course and this next one will be above the skill level of most DIY'ers... Because I'll be removing the evap, replacing it with just coils, then install a service tap, and refill the system again... Should be sweet.... we'll have to see...
Hello JJ I have an AC question for you. I was referred to this thread by Midlife. I am building a room within my attic. It will be framed, insulated and dry walled I am building a square opening to set a window air conditioner. The back side of the AC unit will vent into the attic (outside of the grow room) which is literally like 4 ft away from the soffit which is porous and leads directly to the outside. Any moisture drain I plan to reroute into a drain tube, run it over to the soffit, drill a hole and drop it down into my gutter downspout so no water will ever be seen dripping out of my soffits. My question: the back side of the AC unit will be in the hot attic (90-100 degrees or so)...will it be able to work without over heating? I am not an AC expert, but does the unit get it's air from the front panel and expel out the back? So if the air inside is cool, then the AC unit should be ok? Again, room within a room.
It will work, but with added ware and tare on the A/C, and then in IMHO, won't last for very long... If the attic normally reaches 90, than add the A/C's heat and you're going to near 120 easily.... Remember that the A/C does not magically make the heat go away, it displaces the heat... So in other words, the evap absorbs the heat, which is passed to the Freon while as a liquid, then that is moved into the condenser (Freon is now a gas), and as the heated gas passing through the condenser, it's fan transfers the heat from the hot gas, back to the air.... That means how ever much heat you remove through the evap, has to go somewhere... Again the heat you removed from the room does not just magically disappear, it's simply relocated to the back and out... With that being said, the heat you pull from the chamber will go right into the attic... Can you maybe use a soffit vent and vent the back of the A/C right out the vent, so it does not get pumped into the attic? I think that would be best... Now back to sucking 90 air to cool the condenser and compressor, the A/C will not be as efficient and of course added ware and tare on the compressor itself..
Thank you for the info. This is beyond invaluable! If I set the AC over by the soffit (not much room as the roof meets the outer wall) how can I get to the outside air? Is there a way to get to the outside air without cutting a window hole? Would a portable AC unit do any better? What if I set up a fan to help blow the hot air coming from the back of the AC towards the soffit? Also I am slightly puzzled by the hot air question. If it is 100 degrees outside, my AC unit will still be moving hot air. How is 100 degrees outside air different than 100 degrees inside my attic?
If you do what is in that drawing, you're not going to be dealing with 100* temps, you're going to be dealing with way over 100* temps cause the A/C is going to make that small area extremely hot, and well over 100*.... So you're not going to cool the compressor like it should and end up overheating it.. I would get some HVAC duct and a soffit vent, and then tie them in so the A/C's heat is venting right out the soffit vent.... Then you do not have to work about that small area getting extremely hot and leaching back into the chamber... Then of course you're going to get cooler air across the compressor.....
Oh and just so you get an idea of how much heat an A/C unit can produce... I have a 12,000 Portable A/C cooling my chamber, outside temps in the low 80s... I figured I'd just pump the heat into the unfinished basement and let it disperse from there... The basement's temp started in the upper 60s, after 12hrs, the almost 1200 sq ft basement was 97*... You're going to make that very corner of the house EXTREMELY hot.... Yes by the A/C pressurizing that area, that is going to force the hot air out the soffit, but how fast... Meaning at what temp will that area sterilize and just how safe is that temp?? Could the added heat under and the sun's heat maybe start melting the tar in your singles??? Find a way to vent that heat directly outside....
How difficult would it be to vent off the back of a wall ac unit? If somehow venting it over 4 feet to the soffit is doable then my problem is solved! The question is how do you vent the back of a window unit? Does it have a hose like a portable ac unit? Or would I need to build a box something like this: That's brutal. 30 degree change in 12 hrs lol. Yea I need to vent it out of my soffits. Melting shingles? Ok scared me enough heh. I wonder if the tiny holes in my soffit need bored out some. Maybe a little bigger holes would help increase air flow.
find me the answer to this question lol. ive always wondered if you could vent an ac sorta like whats in your pic. i know if you try to push all the cold ac air into 4 inch duct it freezes up the ac lol. tried cooling my box by tapeing off the front of the ac and having 4 inch duct run to my box. worked well for like 5 hours then i came back to the ac being a block of ice.
No, check this duct out, it's a 9x16" and I use that for my central exhaust duct.. My lamps, A/C, and chiller is tied into it, and it dumps out a basement 24x36" window.... What I would do is take one of them ducts, cut an opening so the back of the A/C fits into the hole and seal it around the back of the A/C... Then tie several soffit vents into that main duct, so it vents out..
And you're going to do the same thing, but on the front... The ONLY thing different, in the front you have to split the duct, so to create a "return"...
Just another grower my ass! Thanks JJ you are giving me the brain storms. I will fit a big duct like that one on the back of the AC unit. I'll figure out the logistics of that later. Tying all my outgoing small ducting into this big duct "box" is the way to go. Then from the box, a single outgoing duct tube to the soffit. The outgoing air from the 2 smaller ducts (powered by 2 separate inline fans - each with a carbon filter) could help push out the AC exhaust as well. Holy smokes that would solve a lot of the logistical road blocks I face Now the question is: would water condensation run off into the duct box?
i think acs push their own air out the back. so if the rear of the ac is sealed in jjs duct idea then pushing air into the box to create a possitive pressure would only hinder the acs ability to blow cold air right? idk im just in my own little world. someone left me in the toaster and yea acs have to be tilted back some to drain right? so if you didnt hook up a hose to the acs drip pan it would run into the duct...i think. dont quote me lol im just guessing
No worries, I'm in a toaster too Maybe the additional airflow into the big duct box would hinder the AC's ability to expel hot air out through the soffit? What if I ran the fans all the time so they continually push air out? Or should I only use the duct box for the AC alone and find another way to vent out the other two lines? Either way is very doable. After the duct is on the back of the AC unit, there is still about 3-4 feet to the soffit opening. So the hot air has to travel a small distance. But JJ says he ties multiple lines into his duct box (including AC) so it should work?
my honest opinion is to let jj answer that. he seems to have a great deal of knowledge in that head of his. im a machinist. i make things from metal lol. and this doesnt fit that job description
Will do LT. So far JJ doin real good Looking up HVAC stuff now. Probably a good idea to insulate all the ductwork on the outside of the growroom.
You should be able to get a duct like that at the local hardware... It's a VERY common duct, and comes in all kinds of sizes (EDIT: AND IS CHEAP TOO)... I would get one bigger then the A/C, so I could cut a square hole in the duct for the A/C's ass end to just fit inside..... That way it's sucking from the attic, and blowing into the duct out its ass.. By doing this, you're going to also circulate the air in the attic, and help cool that down as well... Then because this duct comes in 6', just run that down the soffit, tying in as many soffit vents as you can into the duct.. No, you want this sealed up tight, so the A/C is pulling air from the attic, using it to cool the condenser, then forcing that heated air into the central duct and out the soffit ducts... So you want this all sealed up tight, and that way there is no where else it can go, but out..... Middy has friends in high places... Glad I could help..
Also check out my grow... It has several pics of the duct work.... http://forum.grasscity.com/hydropon...0w-mh-hps-4x8-scrog-ebb-gro-monster-grow.html