Question for anyone trying to use co2 with window or portable AC

My grow room is roughly 10x10 with a 39x39x79 tent for vegging under CFL's and the rest flowering under a 1,000 HPS and 400 HPS.

My newest setup is I have a 10,000BTU Sharp portable AC. It is only the single hose setup though which I have venting into the crawl space under the house. Other than that the room is what you would call sealed. My question is how bad will the loss of co2 be? Are we talking a ridiculous amount, like not even worth trying to use co2? I will be using bottle co2 and a controller...

It won't be sealed anymore with a single hose portable. That thing will suck out all the C02 in minutes.

spartree said:

It won't be sealed anymore with a single hose portable. That thing will suck out all the C02 in minutes.

Click to expand...

im using a single hose ac unit and its inside of the room with the single hose "hot air" going into my clone room to keep a bit warmer. i use co2 with a controller and reg. and im just fine i replenish 2-3 times a day usually when co2 gets to 2300

ref said:

im using a single hose ac unit and its inside of the room with the single hose "hot air" going into my clone room to keep a bit warmer. i use co2 with a controller and reg. and im just fine i replenish 2-3 times a day usually when co2 gets to 2300

Click to expand...

Thats not too bad considering you are venting it out of the room like I will be. Why such a high PPM of co2 though? Ive heard it doesn't need to be more than 1500. Or are you taking it to 2300 and letting it drop from there?

Dragline said:

Thats not too bad considering you are venting it out of the room like I will be. Why such a high PPM of co2 though? Ive heard it doesn't need to be more than 1500. Or are you taking it to 2300 and letting it drop from there?

Click to expand...

if i dont vent with open windows the holuse gets a high level

Dragline said:

My grow room is roughly 10x10 with a 39x39x79 tent for vegging under CFL's and the rest flowering under a 1,000 HPS and 400 HPS.

My newest setup is I have a 10,000BTU Sharp portable AC. It is only the single hose setup though which I have venting into the crawl space under the house. Other than that the room is what you would call sealed. My question is how bad will the loss of co2 be? Are we talking a ridiculous amount, like not even worth trying to use co2? I will be using bottle co2 and a controller...

Click to expand...

If the A/C has manual controls you could use an appliance timers to shut it down, while the CO2 does it's work, but electronic controls usually reset the unit to off or fan only, once it loses power.

As long as you have a couple oscillating fans blowing the air around the garden, your plants will get plenty of CO2.

Green Cross said:

If the A/C has manual controls you could use an appliance timers to shut it down, while the CO2 does it's work, but electronic controls usually reset the unit to off or fan only, once it loses power.

As long as you have a couple oscillating fans blowing the air around the garden, your plants will get plenty of CO2.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately if this unit loses power it stays off.

My worry is if I use a co2 controller it will run so much i will go through co2 so fast it wont be worth the cost. Or if i just use a regulator and timer I will be wasting it.

Could be back to the drawing board and possibly another AC unfortunately.

You really can't do,

what you want to do Dragline with a single hose.

Honestly, the single hose makes 0 sense period, from a thermodynamic, or fluid standpoint.

Once you put that hot, Co2 laden air into the crawlspace its gone,

and normal air rushes in to fill the vacuum/lower pressure.

Try and get rid of the bitch and use the money to get a dual hose... And completely seal the environment.

Good luck!

-I just found a dual hose, 9,000 BTU Federer on c-list for 100!

Oh, and try to get a cool tube system on that 1,000 watt, and put that hot air into the crawlspace as well.

Hey, Some other ideas:

Consider how big your basement is, if its big enough, maybe it can chill the hot air expelled from the single hose. Co2 a factor or something heavier than air, so it will definitely mostly stay in the basement, and you could have a large closed exchange.

It will be tough however to establish a temperature equilibrium- The ac pumping heat into the basement, which neutralizes the energy you're putting into the air in the grow room...

Again, you would probably have to cool tube your lights to do this. At least the one thousand watt.

For reference, I personally have an 8x6 room, 1200 watts and a Co2 burner... and it heats up really fast. 20, 30 degrees in minutes. Pumping as much of it out as I could with a couple of inline fans, going by their ratings a collective 750 CFM, I raised the temp in the, geez 20x40 basement by over 10 degrees, much more on a hot day like today. It was really shitty. I had to turn everything off. My plants were stressing really badly.

I thought the cool concrete / air of the basement would absorb much more heat than it did.

Again, good luck.

I Hope this helps.

So, You're pretty much SOL with all that power untill you go sealed with a dual hose, or move LOTS of air.

-Maybe you could do just that, and use the Sharp to cool the large "reservoir" of air that is the basement, before it goes in the room again, tube the lights, and then play with the airflow in/out of the room. Again, an equilibrium that will probably get fucked with outside temp changes anyways.

Peace! I am not proofreading this.

so if i am using a single hose ac unit that means i am basically sucking out all the co2 from the room?

ref said:

so if i am using a single hose ac unit that means i am basically sucking out all the co2 from the room?

Click to expand...

If you are adding co2 via a burner or bottle, then you are pretty much wasting your time.

Found a couple of dual hose AC's on craigslist I'm gonna call about today.

Dragline said:

My grow room is roughly 10x10 with a 39x39x79 tent for vegging under CFL's and the rest flowering under a 1,000 HPS and 400 HPS.

My newest setup is I have a 10,000BTU Sharp portable AC. It is only the single hose setup though which I have venting into the crawl space under the house. Other than that the room is what you would call sealed.

Click to expand...

LMAO. This is the EXACT same setup as me. 10x10 with a Homebox Large and I just received the Sharp AC the other day (bought off ebay) and the thing vents hot as hell. I only need it on from 2pm to 12am and I have no clue how to do it on a timer. I cannot even figure out the timer on the remote. How do you vent your setup? Specifics would be great. Thanks!

MendelMaster said:

LMAO. This is the EXACT same setup as me. 10x10 with a Homebox Large and I just received the Sharp AC the other day (bought off ebay) and the thing vents hot as hell. I only need it on from 2pm to 12am and I have no clue how to do it on a timer. I cannot even figure out the timer on the remote. How do you vent your setup? Specifics would be great. Thanks!

Click to expand...

The Sharp AC I was venting into the crawl space under the room. I simply took the vent that was feeding the room from the central AC off and plugged that ducting. Then ran the exhaust hose from the portable AC down the hole and sealed around it with duct tape.

Since I made this thread I have switched to a dual hose unit. A 12,000 BTU Haier I was lucky enough to score off craigslist. I am now bringing air in from the crawl space under the house, and venting it into the attic above the room.

I'm having the same problem...I have to cool the room and want to feed co2...I don't have a cooltube light.(open hood 1000w HPS). My rooms are 8x8x8 each with a 4x8x8 room dividing them, and will be sealed.

I thought I could recirculate the air in the room it self without venting out the co2, is this possible?

seasmoke said:

I'm having the same problem...I have to cool the room and want to feed co2...I don't have a cooltube light.(open hood 1000w HPS). My rooms are 8x8x8 each with a 4x8x8 room dividing them, and will be sealed.

I thought I could recirculate the air in the room it self without venting out the co2, is this possible?

Click to expand...

You are either gonna have to cool that light or get an AC. I turned on my 1,000 the other night while setting up the new AC. It only took 10 minutes or so before sweat was dripping off of me. That new dual hose 12,000 BTU unit I got has no trouble keeping my grow room a comfortable 74 degrees.

dragline do you have a PPM monitor? does it verify you are not sucking out the co2?