Portable A/C and Heater Units

[usernamessuck]

Hey guys, I have a 9' x 18' grow room and was thinking of getting one of these portable A/C and heater units like the one in the link below.

http://www.sears.com/soleus-air-soleus-lx-100-hp-db-10-44-000/p-SPM6361088003?prdNo=7&blockNo=7&blockType=G7#desc

I figured my room would need around 9,000 BTU if I calculated right.

Does anyone have any experience with one of these things? If so, I would love to hear about it, or, if you recommend something else, I'm all ears.

My grow room is in the basement and is completely sealed.

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[valuablevariable]

What are the temps in the basement?

 

[usernamessuck]

My temps in the basement are ranging from around 87 degrees at the warmest and go down to around 70 when lights are off.

 

[Sir.Ganga]

How many lights are you running? I run 12 600's in a 10x20 room myself and I have 2-14,000 btu units. They do not have enough cooling effect in the summer, so I also turn on a 23,000 btu split a/c and have good control of my room year round.

9000 seems a tad bit small for that size of room, buy the biggest one you can if you plan on using portables. I consider portables as secondary cooling.

Good Luck

 

[usernamessuck]

My room is 9' x 18' and it is split in half with a mylar wall to make one room a flower room and the other a vegging room. There is ducting from one room to the other to exchange air.

I am running 1 - 1000 watt light in the flower room and 2 8 bulb TEC lights in the veg room. The two TEC lights are giving off more heat than the 1000 watt in the flower room (the 1,000 watt light is obviously hooked up to a fan and ducting and exhausted out of the room.) I do plan to add another 1,000 watt light to the flower room in time.

Sir Ganga, are the two 14,000 btu units portables like the one in the link I posted above? If so, have they been reliable for heating, cooling and dehumidifing for you? You are running a lot more lights than I am. Do you think a 14,000 BTU unit would be sufficient for my room to control temps in both winter and summer? I realize you may not be an expert on this (or maybe you are) but I'm completely ignorant to this stuff so just looking for any feedback.

 

[Sencha]

Portable ACs do not work in sealed rooms. They suck the CO2 out. Actually, they suck all around.

 

[ricky6991]

BEWARNED, i have 2 12kbtu ac. Portable dual hose that supposed to be co2 safe... its bullshit. 1100$ later for 2 of them and it sucks all my walls in when ac turns on. ALSO, they turn on in intervals (ac, the fan always on). Then the amount of air it pushes out is not enough to cool anything. My room is sealed with co2 an i have my ac half way out of mylar wall so the tubes and the screen intake on back of ac uses air from outside the room which is as cold as the air conditioner air...

Pretty much after my rambling, they dont stay on ac mode whole time when set, they dont keep air inside the room(even dual hose one), the amount of pressure that it moves sucks... if your in a basement just take inline fan and stick it in the walls pretty much an forget co2 unless you get minisplit.

 

[jrainman]

your calculations for thae room it self is rite on 162 sq ft = about 9000 BTU ,but now you have to add the extra heat load and equate that in to the real amount of Btu s needed .......... total wattage convert to btu

 

[valuablevariable]

87F seems like a great temperature to work with. I wouldnt say you need an AC

 

[Sir.Ganga]

Sir Ganga, are the two 14,000 btu units portables like the one in the link I posted above? If so, have they been reliable for heating, cooling and dehumidifing for you? You are running a lot more lights than I am. Do you think a 14,000 BTU unit would be sufficient for my room to control temps in both winter and summer? I realize you may not be an expert on this (or maybe you are) but I'm completely ignorant to this stuff so just looking for any feedback.

Yes very similar, both are a whirlpool products. My a/c are set for cooling in the summer and then heat in the winter. They basically are air movers in the winter, I doubt they actually heat my room because of my insulation factor. Its put on auto and forgot about. Any A/C will suck your Co2 out so its quite a balance between using A/C and Co2 at the same time. I do not use Co2 anymore and has made my life a lot easier.

Its hard to say if it will control the room but 14,000 btu's is the largest portable unless you go industrial, then the price goes through the roof. I would buy the biggest one I can find and go from there, watch your temps and make some exhausting changes if necessary.

They work but are not very in- efficient on the power side. IMO A/C and Co2 work against each other and your either wasting power or exhausting Co2, either way it comes out of your pocket

good luck

 

[shaggydog365]

Check into those room chillers the 3 fanned ones. u can see the in action at urbangrower videos with host Remo, who ownes advance nutriants. they work good for inclosed rooms. I have a solarious 14,000 btu like what ur talking about. it dosnt wrk tobad,but i will go with somthing differnt next time.