So What's the Stand on a Portable AC For Your & My Grow Room?

[GreenArmadillo]

Hi guys. Do any of you have experience with using a portable AC in your grow tent or grow room?

I'm thinking of ways to control heat, and this seems to be the perfect solution. But I don't know if it's legit or not? Like does it actually do what is required?
Supposedly these things cool the air AND absorb moisture, which would be PERFECT if it were true.

To get an idea of what i'm talking about, i'm thinking of buying this (the cheapest portable AC being sold):



That's the only info available about the device. So i'm still hesitant.
I'm broke as fuck, and can't afford to buy any more things for my grow, but i'm getting a gut instict, a feeling of sorts, that I really should add one in soon.
I guess the fact i'm ranging between 26-29 degrees celsius on average when all my HPS lights come on is pushing me to have this feeling.
Not to mention my RH is ranging between 40-50%, and I want to pull it down to the 30% range to boost trichomes for my final weeks of flower.


What's the general know-how on these things?
Would love to hear what you guys have to say.

Armadillo love y'all.

[GreenArmadillo]

The first one I posted was the equivalent of $210.

Here's another unit being sold, this one for $300's worth.

[alltatup]

Armadillo, I looked up this unit, couldn't find it for sale on any major websites, so I'm a little suspicious. If it's a lot cheaper than the other portable units, I'd be even more suspicious. One of the things I like about Amazon is reading the reviews of "verified buyers"; you get what you pay for...

[GreenArmadillo]

The thing is, you really can't compare the market here to the market in the US/Canada/Euro-zone. We're somewhat backwards in many ways when it comes to free economy and user products. There's always limitations in what you can find and buy here.

Wansa is a Chinese (or some other south eastern asian country) company that makes nearly everything in the consumer electronics market. From ovens, to fridges, to AC's. It's definitely on the cheaper side of brands, but it has a definite presence in the market here.

As for a comparison in prices with other brands, unfortunately it is one of the only three brands I was able to find on the market after my research. The other two being Hyundai and Chigo. The prices are somewhat similar. In the $300 range.

This might be the hyundai unit I seen in the shop:

https://www.amazon.com/Hyundai-Portable-Air-Conditioner-HYU-10CR/dp/B001V9LVNO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

[OzBud]

I've had one before, about 5 years or so ago but a different brand. Was fairly expensive as they weren't overly common yet.
They do cool they room and I think mine had a dehumidifier setting but I can't recall if it could be used at the same time as the cooling. I think they do generally lower humidity a bit though even on the cooling setting though.

You'll want to see if that comes with a window kit or at least an exhaust duct so you can vent the hot air from it away from your grow. I think they usually require a 6" duct, I could be wrong though.

They can be a bit power hungry, you may want to enquire about the wattage of the system. I tried to find out online but no luck.

[GreenArmadillo]

It's wattage is in the 2000 range I believe. Not sure exactly what number though.

And as for the venting.. Well that's part of why i'm asking about it here.
It's inconvenient for me to vent, cause there's only one exhaust fan in my grow bathroom and it's at the very back, and i've done quite a bit of work to make it light-leak proof. I want this unit to stand near the entry to my grow room, so I can move it in and out with ease, not to mention so I can plug it into the power socket of my adjacent room. I'm already running about 1,500 watts on the single socket that is next to my grow bathroom.

Do you see my dilemma?
I was hoping I could literally just put it next to the doorway of my grow bathroom, hook a run-off moisture hose to a sealed bucket, and switch it on. I'd empty the bucket once every day (That is if it doesn't already come with a pre-installed moisture collection chamber within the unit).

What do you think?
As you mentioned, I already thought to myself, well what happens to the hot air that this machine wants to get rid of?

[OzBud]

Ok so as you probably already know air conditioners take the heat out of the air and have to send it somewhere else (out the back of the unit). Some come with a duct & window kit or are sold separately.
Also at 2000W or so and already using 1500W the cost of the power for your grow is going to more than double.

Got some questions so I can get a bit more of an idea about you situation.
The exhaust is on the other side of the room so I'm assuming running a duct all the way over there past/through the plants and the other equipment and cables is off the table? Is it possible to vent out the window and still have the room lightproof?
Will the door need to be ajar for a power cord to run to the adjacent room?
Will it be needed during lights off?
If it's not needed during lights off and the door has to be ajar for operation will you always be available to move the unit and close the door at lights off and then the reverse at lights on? if the door is already going to be open a bit for the power cable you could always open it a but further and vent out the door without a duct but obviously with the room being open the air conditioner won't be able to cool the room as efficiently.
Is stealth an issue or can you cut a vent through the door?

Most of them do have an inbuilt water collection chamber, but as the person below me has said, the reservoir can be pretty small so it could overflow, hooking up a second collection chamber is definitely a good idea for peace of mind.

[GreenArmadillo]

- Price of electricity is not an issue. I pay a standard price along with rent no matter how much I use.

- It's just like you said. It would be super inconvenient having the venting duct going through the grow room and all the plants. Especially since I have to pull out all my girls one by one to feed them, and then put them back in.
- I guess there is a way to still make the room light proof if I hook up the exhaust with the ducting. It'll just take a helluva load of sticky tape, lol.

- And yes, no matter where I decide to put the portable AC, i'm gonna need to run an extension cord from the next room, because my grow room has only a single socket, and i'm already running ~ 1,500 watts on it. These AC's use between 1,500-2000 watts, so i'm gonna have to use my washing machines socket from the next room. I might be able to sneak the power cord underneath the door, but not sure yet.
btw, this neighboring room I speak of is the washing room, so it has a mini window with a built in exhaust.

- No, I will mainly use this during lights on, as my two HPS's are driving the heat up big time. During night, i'll rest the portable AC.

- I thought about what you said, moving the unit during lights on and keeping the door open, and closing the door and the unit at night. It's the most workable idea, but as you say, the heat from the neighbouring room is gonna sneak in so long as the door is open, even if it's just a little. Or do you think it will make a small impact.
-The other issue with this idea is that i'll have to take over the washing room, and my wife is NOT gonna like that. She already has issues with me taking over the spare bathroom and the little room next to it. She might have a go at me if I take over this third room, lol. :P
(For stealth issues I lock the doors that lead to any part of my grow op all the time I'm not in there. It's the locking of these doors and making them inaccessible that really irritates her. And at the same time, I don't want her to know exactly what i'm growing. For her own safety.

- Cutting through the door is not an option, haha. I'm renting this place.


In the end, i'm starting to reconsider buying this. I mean, I should be done with my harvest within a month, so I don't know if it's worth spending $300 on such a device. Especially since it comes with so many complications in terms of where to put it and how to vent out the hot air. Maybe I should just take a step back and keep my 2nd HPS off, so as to not drive up the temperature so much?

Or should I bite the bullet and buy the machine, and try to make it work? :P

[da11en47]

I've used one now for two summers for my bedroom. It sounds like a jet engine, but it works great.

I have a vent that blows hot air out the window and also tubing that drains water out of the unit, some of these things produce a lot of water that needs to go somewhere and the reservoir on them is usually small.

[GreenArmadillo]

Nicely put my friend. Cheers.

What if I didn't connect a vent that blows hot air outside? What would happen? Can it be done?

[cyberaktif]

it will pump the hot air into the room that you are trying to cool if you do not vent it out. the a/c will be fighting itself the whole time it's running.

[GreenDragonRon]

I'd put that money into some CMH lights instead.

[GreenArmadillo]

Ohhhh trust me bro, if I could buy CMH I would.Without any hesitation. As it is tho, our hydroponic scene here is quite dead, and no1 knows about these things, never mind sells them. I mean for real, we only have one shop in the WHOLE COUNTRY that even sells HPS grow lights. I mean ffs.

I would order online, but don't wanna attract the attention of customs. If they see a grow light being imported, they might get suspicious. That I DO NOT WANT, haha.

[LuckyAcres]

Funny you ask! I just bought one and I love it! It's only 8800 btu cuz that's all I can fit amp wise.
when lights are on only the ac runs, can't do dehumidifier at same time. Temps stay around 77 as prescribed but rh goes up to 55-60. When lights are off both ac and dehu run together and it's heaven on a stick! 35rh, 77F, beautiful!
get one! I spent near $300 on mine

[OzBud]

makes sense RH goes up. If air is cooler it can't hold as much moisture so even if the moisture level in the air stays the same, if the temp drops rh goes up

[GreenArmadillo]

Awesome input bro. That's great to hear.

[bblv]

I just bought one as well. Last summer I had to harvest my first grow early due to crazy heat waves. Tried using ice bottles and vortex fans... Didn't wanna take a chance this year. I couldn't find one with excellent reviews so we opted to just purchase whatever brand Costco carried, to be able to rely on their awesome return/exchange policy. I have it hooked up in the garage (where grow tent is) so the intake to the tent is cool and I get to set the temp/humidity to my liking and it keeps it there (DeLonghi). It did trip the circuit when I first hooked it up so I had to split the only 220 connection with the freezer. Fine since then, but clearly it's a power draw!

[GreenArmadillo]

Thanks for sharing my man. Good to hear such a detailed response. It seems I may go ahead and make the investment after all (with money I don't have, lol).

[oldjarhead100]

I may have to go to an ac unit when I'm done building my new grow room but for now my solution was to put another inline exhaust fan in, that increased the cfms enough to cool my existing room.those new in room ac units are real nice i've seen a couple of them work. Just throwing another idea out there

[GreenArmadillo]

Yeah man, I feel you. I don't have that much play room unfortunately, so adding in another exhaust fan is not an option.
And gaaadaamn, standing AC units be expensive. Like $1000+. Not to mention they need to be hooked up to an exhaust that directly draws heat and moisture outside. This portable AC idea is pretty much the only legitimate way out.

But i'm not sure how it will work if I don't have a connection that throws out the (inevitable) heated air outside my grow room. Try to imagine a closed box setup. There is a way for me to get around this issue, but i'll be honest it's not preferable. =/
lol, if you wanna know why I can say, but it has something to do with the wife and me taking over rooms in the house to get up to "questionable" activities, haha. XP

[GreenArmadillo]

So the Wansa unit contains a chinese compressor, and the Hyundai (more expensive) is a Japanese compressor.
Does that make any difference at all?

And more importantly, what will happen if I put the unit inside my closed grow room, with no consideration for ventilation and exhaust air, and leave it on for 10 hours?
Will my room blow up?
Will temperatures remain the same?
Will temperatures slightly go down?
I don't know enough about AC's to understand, and all the technicians in the shops i'm asking seem to give vague answers off the top of their heads.

I'm trying to decide over the next two days.. To buy or not to buy. hmmmmmmm

[bobsakamoto]

hi GreenArmadillo . i have a set up similar to yours (closet instead of br). i inherited a portable AC unit similar to the one you posted. i can say, if my experience is any indication, unless you vent that AC with ducting somewhere else, it will be too hot/cancel itself out. mine came with 15ft or so of ducting and one of those window placards to hook up the ducting to to vent outside.

one thing i haven't seen mentioned is a swamp cooler. i have never used one, only seem them on growing forums, but these are a totally DIY thing that supposedly lower temps and humidity--google 'swamp cooler' or search on the main GWE site--somewhere Nebula has a section on them in one of her temp/RH/exhaust tutorials. sorry but i can't put my keys on it rt now. idk if that'll help but it might given your market/customs considerations.

oh, and the little reservoir on the AC fills up *fast*--mine is only about half a gallon, if that. lasts about 3 hours or less before needing to be emptied. good luck to you!

[GreenArmadillo]

Super details here bro! Thank you very much.

I already considered swamp coolers btw. But I read that they increase humidity in the room. That's because the way they cool the air is by evaporating water, so the evaporated moisture ends up in the room I believe.

I just looked up Nebulas articles and it's as I believed. She recommends swamp coolers for those who have high temperatures and low humidity.
Unfortunately mu humidity ranges between 35-50%, so I don't wanna add any more humidity in. Actually, i'm trying to lower it to boost dem trichomes on my last few weeks flowering.

[GreenArmadillo]

bobsakamoto OzBud

I actually had a vision last night, and boy has it got me excited. I think I may have found a way "around" this little venting issue.
What do you think of my diabolical plan?

Basically, my grow bathroom has a little room next to it. And next to this little room is the washing room, separated by a door. Now in this washing room there is a built in exhaust fan with a little window.
Here's where it gets funky. I checked out this door that separates the washing room from my grow room, and there is like a 1/2 inches worth of space underneath the door. I managed to get an extension cord going underneath very easily.
What i'm thinking of doing is getting the AC, putting it in my grow room, hooking up the back of it where it blows out the hot air to the duct that comes with the box. Now, at the other end of this duct, i'm gonna tape it up to a black bin bag, so that the exhaust air comes out of the duct, through the bin bag, and out the open end of the bin bag. Now this bin bag will be put underneath the door. That way the air will blow through it and out of the grow room, into the washing room, where the exhaust will naturally vent it outside.
How's that for a DIY solution? You think it will work? In theory it should be all good, at least i'm hoping so.

I'm prbbly gonna buy the unit tomorrow if this idea gets thumbsed up. I just need a little nudge to get me to take that leap of faith.

[bobsakamoto]

hi GreenArmadillo . that plan sounds good. if it were me, i would at least try it out so long as you can return the AC if for some reason it doesn't work. other than that i can't think of anything else i would worry about. it sounds to me like you have a lot of options with that side room so it sounds like it's just a matter of mcgyvering to find out the right set up that works for your space.

[bblv]

Hello greenarmadillo, the room I have the ac unit in, also doesn't have any venting options... aside from a short door to a storage area (then small wall vents from that room). I run the included ducting into that door, then use towels to "semi-seal" the rest of the door's opening. Then point the ac fan at my tent's intake. It's a bit clunky, but works.

[GreenArmadillo]

I like the way that sounds.

[Zativa]

Air conditioners are HEAT PUMPS, they cannot create or destroy heat, they can only move it around. You want yours to move heat from indoors to outdoors, which is why an outdoor vent is absolutely necessary. The compressor pump uses quite a bit of energy which creates more heat, so if you just lock one in a closed room it acts as a heater. There really is no way around this. If it's a possibility, you might consider a 'real' window or through-the-wall unit (expensive, but very effective). Maybe air condition a living space next to your grow room and blow some of that cool air in?

A dehumidifier pulls water out of the air which does provide some evaporative cooling, but not nearly as much as an air conditioner. It requires moist air to work at all, and pulling all the moisture out of your grow room may not be good for the plants. You could also mist a little extra water into the grow room, which would both make the dehumidifier cool better and keep the plants hydrated. Bottom line is there aren't many simple/cheap/effective answers.

[alltatup]

Very good points.

[GreenArmadillo]

It's sad to hear this, but it definitely is much better to be told the truth, rather than sugercoating it.
Thank you very much for the information.

[Newf]

Good luck with whatever you chose. Please be careful, though, if you are trying to keep the grow secret from your landlord. This may end up with a big spike in electric (in addition to the lamps etc.). which could cause some inquiries. I am sure they keep track of how much they are paying per unit for electricity. Also, consider having your "lights out" period during the hottest daytime hours.

[GreenArmadillo]

That's a superb idea. Lights out during daytime is definitely something I should do for my next grow.