Tent\bedroom\house AC question(s)

JSB99

Well-Known Member
I'm going to be getting everything I need next week, but I had a few AC questions.

My setup - 4x4 tent, 600w, batwing hood, 440cfm fan, in a 10x10 bedroom.
  1. If I'm exhausting the tent air to the outside of the house with a proper inline fan, and my home is cooled via central air, am I sucking out a lot of the conditioned/cooled air from inside the house?
  2. If I want to use a small 5,000 btu window AC for the room, should I block the central AC register to the room?
  3. Do I even need a window AC for a 600w and a 440cfm fan (with scrubber and controller)?
  4. If I end up not needing the window AC, would I need to get a dehumidifier, or would the central AC take care of that?
  5. Should I try to seal off as much of the room from the rest of the house as I can? I'd have to imagine it'd cause a tremendous amount of negative pressure in the room. I was planning on installing a 4"x10" register, allowing air to come in from the rest of the house. I'll also make a filter for the register out of an AC hepa filter as well.
I appreciate all the advice
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
Since the way air conditioners work is by exhausting warm air from inside the house, and not actually blowing cold air in, would the fan be acting the same way?

I just did a big dab so I'm not sure how much that sentence made sense :bigjoint:
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
Need to correct what I said above before I get pounced on for my misstatement lol.

I meant that air conditioners cool the air by removing heat and humidity, and not by blowing cold air into the house.
 

sonson176

Well-Known Member
Id say vent the tent outside, put the window unit in and leave the top window cracked a bit. Leave the register in that room open, as it will help provide cool air and blend your fresh air. This way the only negative pressure you'll have is inside the tent, where you want it. The window unit will only cycle the compressor if the temperature rises above the set point. In the summer it will help reduce the load on your central AC by cooling the incoming air from outside a bit before it blends with the air in your house. You could also run a jump duct or two from a soffit into the room, to provide fresh air. Like you said, you'll need some sort of fresh air supply or else you'll end up with a bogged down fan, no air flow, and a big back draft. Any situation where you are exhausting air outside, you're gonna need make up air from outside as well.
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
Id say vent the tent outside, put the window unit in and leave the top window cracked a bit. Leave the register in that room open, as it will help provide cool air and blend your fresh air. This way the only negative pressure you'll have is inside the tent, where you want it. The window unit will only cycle the compressor if the temperature rises above the set point. In the summer it will help reduce the load on your central AC by cooling the incoming air from outside a bit before it blends with the air in your house. You could also run a jump duct or two from a soffit into the room, to provide fresh air. Like you said, you'll need some sort of fresh air supply or else you'll end up with a bogged down fan, no air flow, and a big back draft. Any situation where you are exhausting air outside, you're gonna need make up air from outside as well.
Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!
 

SouthCross

Well-Known Member
Question 1.

No. The fan isn't that powerful. You don't want to vacuum the humidity level out the growing environment either. The idea is suck the warmer air out to be replaced by cooler air....bla,bla. It's a dialing in of balance between the two. Where the air is exchanged while maintaining stable environmental metrics.


#2.

The central air conditioner will pump the room with fresh air. Don't block it.


#3.

Hell Yeah you will. 600watts is a hot bulb.


#4.

The central a.c. won't dry it. Every time you water, the humidity will shoot up. If it rains. The humidity can hang above 60%+ in the semi closed room for a week. If you store water in the room and bubble it overnight. That adds moisture too. A dehumidifier is tool to consider. Some days I pump 2 gallons of water out a similar sized room. Some days it takes a humidifier. I enjoy a dehumidifier because I use the water that comes off it to water my plants. It test at 7-10 PPM.


#5.

Yes. Not for some air flow factor but for odor control and insects prevention.
 
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JSB99

Well-Known Member
#4.

The central a.c. won't dry it. Every time you water, the humidity will shoot up. If it rains. The humidity can hang above 60%+ in the semi closed room for a week. If you store water in the room and bubble it overnight. That adds moisture too. A dehumidifier is tool to consider. Some days I pump 2 gallons of water out a similar sized room. Some days it takes a humidifier. I enjoy a dehumidifier because I use the water that comes off it to water my plants. It test at 7-10 PPM.
Great answers! This helps a lot!

On question 4, will a window AC be enough of a dehumidifier?
 

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
The window shaker will probably dehum if you don't oversize it and if needed it will dehum more by slowing down the fan. As stated you want to maintain a somewhat balanced system with just a bit of negative pressure for odour, to much will draw air through the wall cavity causing mould. Shut off the central duct as it will pressurize the room when it comes on if your balanced otherwise. The need for mechanical cooling really depends on your location but yup you'll probably need it.
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
The window shaker will probably dehum if you don't oversize it and if needed it will dehum more by slowing down the fan. As stated you want to maintain a somewhat balanced system with just a bit of negative pressure for odour, to much will draw air through the wall cavity causing mould. Shut off the central duct as it will pressurize the room when it comes on if your balanced otherwise. The need for mechanical cooling really depends on your location but yup you'll probably need it.
Cool! Thx again
 

SPLFreak808

Well-Known Member
You can probably use the central a/c to veg, save a bit of power but once you flip to flower that window unit will help you out. At that point yup, block of the central a/c and slap a dehu in there.
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
You can probably use the central a/c to veg, save a bit of power but once you flip to flower that window unit will help you out. At that point yup, block of the central a/c and slap a dehu in there.
That's good to know. I forgot about the humidity differences between veg and flower. I'm relearning all this from 10 years ago when I grew :)

Thx!
 

JSB99

Well-Known Member
Now for the over-asked question, "what size AC?" 900 cu ft room, 600w hid for grow, 2-ft 4-lamp T5 for mums. That's about all I'll have in there. I was thinking something small, like a 5k btu.
 

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
Now for the over-asked question, "what size AC?" 900 cu ft room, 600w hid for grow, 2-ft 4-lamp T5 for mums. That's about all I'll have in there. I was thinking something small, like a 5k btu.
There are a few sizing calculators if you Google that are pretty good. And keep in mind that it's just as bad to oversize as undersize cooling.
 
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