Possible to vent grow tent into A/C return ducting?

You should be able to fit to that pretty easily. There are lots of options at the parts house. Let the MacGyvering begin!!!!!!!!

Alexander Supertramp said:

You should be able to fit to that pretty easily. There are lots of options at the parts house. Let the MacGyvering begin!!!!!!!!

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Do I need to try and pull the ducting out from the ceiling some and just clamp right onto the fitting? What if it doesn't have enough slack?

I don't see how it could hurt the A/C. I think I would just duct tape a flex hose to the vent to see if it's going to work. Then look for a better way. MB

highasfvck said:

Do I need to try and pull the ducting out from the ceiling some and just clamp right onto the fitting? What if it doesn't have enough slack?

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Well the fitting won't come down at all. I don't see anyway to get anything screwed into it or attached to it without just duct taping it more..

Get a 6 inch crimped coupler and shove the crimped end into the ceiling socket. Or vise versa if the crimped end is exposed in the ceiling. Friction alone may hold it just fine. If not a couple of angle brackets should do the trick...

Alexander Supertramp said:

Get a 6 inch crimped coupler and shove the crimped end into the ceiling socket. Or vise versa if the crimped end is exposed in the ceiling. Friction alone may hold it just fine. If not a couple of angle brackets should do the trick...

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I might have to try shoving the crimped coupler up in there.. I'm not having much luck with duct tape so far. If I had to use angle brackets I'm just not sure what I could attach them too. Everything close is foam.

Few reasons not to do this..The obvious is if the filter fails then the smell will fill the house and vent outside. Second you may inadvertantly add moisture into your ducting which can cause mold, corrosion and dust build up which besides health reason bogs the system down costing you money and comfort. Another is adding this branch if not figured into the original units setup can cause air flow and pressure issues which may cause damage to the inside furnace a/c unit.I'm not sure if you run co2 but this would stop that option as the filter fan would need to run 24/7 making co2 fills impossible. Your also going to have temp flux in the system when the home unit kicks on as it will add draw to the filter line which could cause the fan to over run and burn the motor up. I would just not do it due to all the possible issues.... And side note fuck the first person to point out my spelling or grammatical mistakes here lol

FilthyFletch said:

Few reasons not to do this..The obvious is if the filter fails then the smell will fill the house and vent outside. Second you may inadvertantly add moisture into your ducting which can cause mold, corrosion and dust build up which besides health reason bogs the system down costing you money and comfort. Another is adding this branch if not figured into the original units setup can cause air flow and pressure issues which may cause damage to the inside furnace a/c unit.I'm not sure if you run co2 but this would stop that option as the filter fan would need to run 24/7 making co2 fills impossible. Your also going to have temp flux in the system when the home unit kicks on as it will add draw to the filter line which could cause the fan to over run and burn the motor up. I would just not do it due to all the possible issues.... And side note fuck the first person to point out my spelling or grammatical mistakes here lol

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Man... I don't know what to do with all this heat then....

Everyone else says its ok except for maybe the smell, but you say it could cause damage to the A/C? I was worried about the possiblity of mold, but what if I periodically check for moisture? Also, I'm not actually "adding" a branch to the original A/C unit, just extending it and adding an inline fan in a sense.

Alexander Supertramp said:

Get a 6 inch crimped coupler and shove the crimped end into the ceiling socket. Or vise versa if the crimped end is exposed in the ceiling. Friction alone may hold it just fine. If not a couple of angle brackets should do the trick...

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Well shoving the 6" coupler isn't going to work it fits way too loosely. Any other ideas? Here is a pic of what I am working with to help out... and no the dark areas of the foam is not water or at least its not wet right now. I'm not sure what it is, but I checked and the inside of the other vents in the house look this way too.

highasfvck said:

Man... I don't know what to do with all this heat then....

Everyone else says its ok except for maybe the smell, but you say it could cause damage to the A/C? I was worried about the possiblity of mold, but what if I periodically check for moisture? Also, I'm not actually "adding" a branch to the original A/C unit, just extending it and adding an inline fan in a sense.

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No need to worry about mold or adding moisture to the system. Or burning any motors up. If the air is vented from the tent into the room its still pulled into the return when to system kicks on. Pretty much same as having it vented directly into the return. And as far as burning a motor it just wont happen. If anything the motors working will reduce the load rather than increase it....

highasfvck said:

Well shoving the 6" coupler isn't going to work it fits way too loosely. Any other ideas? Here is a pic of what I am working with to help out... and no the dark areas of the foam is not water or at least its not wet right now. I'm not sure what it is, but I checked and the inside of the other vents in the house look this way too.

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Maybe some screws run through from the inside of the pipe with a stubby screwdriver. Or you use some plastic anchors in the foam or toggle bolts to fasten the angle bracket too. Or you could hold things in place and use some expandable spray foam to anchor things together.

Alexander Supertramp said:

No need to worry about mold or adding moisture to the system. Or burning any motors up. If the air is vented from the tent into the room its still pulled into the return when to system kicks on. Pretty much same as having it vented directly into the return. And as far as burning a motor it just wont happen. If anything the motors working will reduce the load rather than increase it....

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I thought so too.. Also when I popped my head into the main vent in the hallway outside the grow room it just felt like a little warm air blowing in from that room. I can't imagine it's enough to give the A/C any trouble. I'll periodically check up in the vent for any moisture just to be safe, but I don't think I'll ever find any. I've never felt any moisture in my tent's exhaust prior to it being hooked to the A/C.

Alexander Supertramp said:

Maybe some screws run through from the inside of the pipe with a stubby screwdriver. Or you use some plastic anchors in the foam or toggle bolts to fasten the angle bracket too. Or you could hold things in place and use some expandable spray foam to anchor things together.

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I was thinking about the screws run in from the inside also. I have a portable drill that is designed to go in tight spaces that I think will fit a small screw and even a small drill bit to tap a hole. Two screws should be enough to hold it in place right? Then maybe some duct tape around the inside to make it air tight?

Yep, a few screws and seal with tape.

I like the idea but you do pose scent and mold issues as your dumping 100*+ air onto a 50* coil its prone to sweat, and depending on whether your running duct board plenums(south) or metal plenum(north) if your using metal i feel you could have some issues with sweating but its hard to tell without knowing your climate and ducts and all. I would say giving it a few days test run would be your best bet just watch carefully at your surrounding duct runs for sweating/moisture, the coil/handler probably wont be much problem as long as your drain is nice and clean.

Tomatoz said:

I like the idea but you do pose scent and mold issues as your dumping 100*+ air onto a 50* coil its prone to sweat, and depending on whether your running duct board plenums(south) or metal plenum(north) if your using metal i feel you could have some issues with sweating but its hard to tell without knowing your climate and ducts and all. I would say giving it a few days test run would be your best bet just watch carefully at your surrounding duct runs for sweating/moisture, the coil/handler probably wont be much problem as long as your drain is nice and clean.

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I would guess I'm running duct board plenums because I am very much in the South, although I have no idea what that means. Temps here are pretty hot and humid. High is usually around 90F in the summer, highs in the winter are usually around 60F. It's a central A/C system that doubles as a heat pump (no furnace) and is almost 6 years old now (bought the house as new construction). The drain has to be vacuumed out by me several times a year anyways. The air handler is in the garage and has always had some sweating/mold issues since long before I had a grow room. I try to keep it as clean as possible. I have never found any moisture or mold in the ducting though. I don't think the air will be 100F by the time it hits the coil because right outside the grow room it converges with a hub where 2 more ducts come in and the air mixes all together and goes up one big duct to the air handler. I could tell the air was cooling down in the hub by mixing with the other air when I looked in there.

Well I got everything attached for this time I believe. Got 3 screws on the inside and had to duct tape an almost inch long gap on one side of the 6" connector because it fit so loose. I don't think there's anyway it will fall down this time, lol. I'll keep everyone posted after a couple weeks to let you know how everything is working and if I find any moisture in the ducts or anything like that. Thanks for everyone's help!

superstoner1 said:

key word....... hopefully. hopefully you wont have to find out but i think it is a terribly bad idea to even take the chance.

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i would have to agree, you might have some surprised house quests if the carbon filter ever stops working and the a/c kicks on LOL

Kush Killington said:

Im doing that right now, except im venting the hot air from my ac in my house ducts. Works well, keeps me warm. And i got no filter on it. Me and my roommates smoke plenty of kush to make the smell irrelevant... For now. Either way ive seen no negatives about it.Sir Killington.

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You do understand that smoking mj and growing mj doesn't completely smell the same, right?? I hope so for you and your friends sake.. Peace!!