got my hands on an AC unit. How should I install it?

MedicalMike420

MedicalMike420

Well-Known Member
my friend has a window unit he's willing to donate towards my grow. I'm not sure how many BTU it is but it definitly is strong it cools his room in the hot summer and it's bigger than my grow room. The only thing is it is for a window, and I CANNOT CUT INTO THE WALL, or drill a hole into the wall
My plan is to hook ducting up to the front of the AC unit and hook the other end of the hose up to the grow room door. Will this work fine? What's the air filter for on the AC? Can I pull air from my room if I have ducting hooked up to the output leading to my grow room?
Grow closet: 300 cubic ft
AC unit: Unkown BTU

Thanks
 

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HydroRed

HydroRed

Well-Known Member
Not gonna work. There has to be an exchange to cool the room or you will just be wasting energy with very little to no results. The ac unit has to pull from the room its in to exchange the air in the room taking the warmer room air and exchanging it for cooled air. Also, there will be a ton of heat coming from the exhaust end of the ac unit and that heat has to go somewhere. Your either going to need to install the ac unit like it is intended to be used (by window or cutting a hole etc) or duct air from a cooled room into your grow closet.
 
kachiga

kachiga

Well-Known Member
I don't know. It won't be the most be the best option but it will work. I have had to do this before. I had a window. but I did not want to cut a whole in my tent at the time. So I found a window and piped it in hosing a duct hose.

Again, it can work but not with out some issues. As stated above acs suck in the air in the room and takes that convert it to cold air. That is true, and it will, just wont be the air in the tent. So if your AC is in a window, it will do that and just pump in cold air.

An issue I had is I used a floor sheet metal type box, like this, http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/145/a9/a9ca764a-b27c-4ca2-9df8-705e23330f4a_145.jpg

Now I put the square end where the AC would pump out, and I attached a 4 inch hose to the other end, then I had a small inline fan, I used to help pull the cold air along the line and push it into the tent. This means I had two fans running. Make sure the new duct line goes on the bottom, and filter is at the top. Cold air falls, hot air goes up and your fan sucks out whats up top.

Now because I used a metal box here was my draw back, the constant cold on the metal created condensation. So keep this in mind, you would need to put a drip tray under it.

Another option to think about I know you can not cut a big hole, and I am not sure how far or what any of this looks like. But could you put AC unit in the room, with a hose to duct out the hot air? That would be a better option.
 
MedicalMike420

MedicalMike420

Well-Known Member
HydroRed said:
Not gonna work. There has to be an exchange to cool the room or you will just be wasting energy with very little to no results. The ac unit has to pull from the room its in to exchange the air in the room taking the warmer room air and exchanging it for cooled air. Also, there will be a ton of heat coming from the exhaust end of the ac unit and that heat has to go somewhere. Your either going to need to install the ac unit like it is intended to be used (by window or cutting a hole etc) or duct air from a cooled room into your grow closet.
Click to expand...
My Windows swing open I can't us it in a window. What if I cut two duct holes in the door, an other one for pulling
 
MedicalMike420

MedicalMike420

Well-Known Member
I g
kachiga said:
I don't know. It won't be the most be the best option but it will work. I have had to do this before. I had a window. but I did not want to cut a whole in my tent at the time. So I found a window and piped it in hosing a duct hose.

Again, it can work but not with out some issues. As stated above acs suck in the air in the room and takes that convert it to cold air. That is true, and it will, just wont be the air in the tent. So if your AC is in a window, it will do that and just pump in cold air.

An issue I had is I used a floor sheet metal type box, like this, http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/145/a9/a9ca764a-b27c-4ca2-9df8-705e23330f4a_145.jpg

Now I put the square end where the AC would pump out, and I attached a 4 inch hose to the other end, then I had a small inline fan, I used to help pull the cold air along the line and push it into the tent. This means I had two fans running. Make sure the new duct line goes on the bottom, and filter is at the top. Cold air falls, hot air goes up and your fan sucks out whats up top.

Now because I used a metal box here was my draw back, the constant cold on the metal created condensation. So keep this in mind, you would need to put a drip tray under it.

Another option to think about I know you can not cut a big hole, and I am not sure how far or what any of this looks like. But could you put AC unit in the room, with a hose to duct out the hot air? That would be a better option.
Click to expand...
i guess maybe I could put it directly in the door but I would need a very strong door to hold an AC up, and that would be expensive
 
kachiga

kachiga

Well-Known Member
Put AC in the room, run an exhaust hose out the window or into another room. Check every thing before you get to cutting.
 
kachiga

kachiga

Well-Known Member
MedicalMike420 said:
I g

i guess maybe I could put it directly in the door but I would need a very strong door to hold an AC up, and that would be expensive
Click to expand...
I am sorry its hard to tell with out a real picture. but no way to attach it to a wall? Of heh.. I dont know how much you care about that door, you talked about cutting a hole into it, you cant make the AC unit fit on it? secure it with straps.
 
MedicalMike420

MedicalMike420

Well-Known Member
kachiga said:
I am sorry its hard to tell with out a real picture. but no way to attach it to a wall? Of heh.. I dont know how much you care about that door, you talked about cutting a hole into it, you cant make the AC unit fit on it? secure it with straps.
Click to expand...
Can I put some sort of cap over the front and attach ducting to both of the front things and have the hoses attached to the room. That way it won't falloff the door. Then leave the back of the AC open in my bedroom?
 
kachiga

kachiga

Well-Known Member
You can but I think you will find a lot of issues. You will also stress the machine I think more then normal. You are causing a free flowing machine to have to cram every through vents. You will also need to keep a tray by the AC unit they like to have water drops.

You will also reduce the effectiveness of the machine by a lot.

If you do go with cutting the door, to add it in, you can always have a table on the other side of the door that the unit can rest out of.

Every thing from this point out is trial and error and learning first hand. With that I mean test out your idea doesn't mean it has to stay that way.
 
MedicalMike420

MedicalMike420

Well-Known Member
kachiga said:
You can but I think you will find a lot of issues. You will also stress the machine I think more then normal. You are causing a free flowing machine to have to cram every through vents. You will also need to keep a tray by the AC unit they like to have water drops.

You will also reduce the effectiveness of the machine by a lot.

If you do go with cutting the door, to add it in, you can always have a table on the other side of the door that the unit can rest out of.

Every thing from this point out is trial and error and learning first hand. With that I mean test out your idea doesn't mean it has to stay that way.
Click to expand...
I'm only cooling like 15 degrees at the absolute most I'm just a little high, just trying to bring things down a tad, it's not going to be on full blast if it matters
 
a senile fungus

a senile fungus

Well-Known Member
You can build two boxes, one around the front of the unit, and one around the back of the unit. The front box will be split into two portions one for exhaust air conditioned air and the other for returning previously conditioned warm air. The box in the back of the unit would just be to exhaust heat from the unit through the motor and out of the room. Look up how to convert a window AC into a portable. You'll have at least three ducts coming off of the box and you also need to set it up on a pan so that the condensate has somewhere to go. All in all it's more trouble than it's worth just go ahead and get a portable unit or toss that one.

Yes I've done it before. I used a 10k but to cool two gavitas in a 4x8 tent
 
Big smo

Big smo

Well-Known Member
I have a wall in the middle of my shed. One side is inside my grow the other side is to the rest of the shed. In a pinch due to higher temps and not being ready for it I ran it. The sheds 22x22 and after a few hours the inside temp hit 100 degrees when it's only 60 outside.
 
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