AC in grow tents

Still, great job! Looks all professional… :face_with_monocle:

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Hey @nick I am currently running a 4x4 tent in my unfinished basement in central Ontario :canada:. I am running LED lights and have found that I have consistent temps year round 22-24c lights on and 22-18 lights off. I have subfloor panels on the floor then a layer of those foam mats for exercising or kids play room that are like large square puzzle pieces then the tent and inside tent between floor and removable liner I have a fleece blanket. The only thing that changes is the humidity depending on if heat is on or A/C is on in the house. During summer if flowering I run a dehumidifier outside the tent and in winter or when furnace is on I run a humidifier inside for veg and just a container of water with microfibre rag dangling in the water and resting on a bamboo stake for more surface area during flower. I have a 30” tower oscillating fan running and 4” inline fan with carbon filter just venting back into basement.

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Id say the first things to consider when trying to control the tempature in a grow tent is what is the tempature swing between night and day to figure out what type of heater or ac to use. Then I’d consider the humidity. Is it to wet or too dry and choose to use a dehu or ac. Next I’d do the homework and math on how much you need to change and get a sutible unit that’s not going to over power what your trying to achieve. Getting something too massive and you’ll be fighting your environment instead of controlling it. Next I’d look into thermostats with external probes for inside the tent and controllers to control your newly purchased units to kick on around your ideal peramiters. As far as placement if running a stand alone ac. I’d place it in a corner away from the tent with the exhaust preferably going out side the entire room. I’d then get a couple ac duct flanges from the hardware store and couple the ac with some ducting to the lower vents of the tent. I’d make a cut in the tent vent to securely fasten the flange to the side vent of the tent with some weather stripping for a gasket and nuts and bolts with washers to secure the flange to the tent. With my personal skills I’d make a backing plate to back up the flange in the other side to keep it secure. When running ac units they introduce excess moisture into the atmosphere so monitoring the humidity is a must. When you do one thing you must monitor the other (temp-rh) having an ample exhaust connected will help evacuate any excess moisture.

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Thanks for all of the info. I knew I could count on you all!

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Thanks for sharing and welcome to the community!

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I have been controlling heat and humidity in my tent with the help of the Inkbird controllers that @devjyarn suggested to me. With only a 16" oscillating fan and a 4" exhaust fan and those controllers, I can keep things easily under control! My tent covers roughly 4’X4’…

And it might be worth it to check for sales. They are often on sale either together or separately!

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Yep, love my inkbirds!

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I have two set ups essentially.
Winter time, I use room temperature air for my intake, summer, I move my intake to an A/C vent, to vent in cool air. This maintains temps, however there’s a little bit of a spike when it shuts off.
Eventually I’m going to get a chiller with a water to air coil to cool incoming air to whatever I set it to.

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That’s cool, literally.

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@kapouic Those seem like the ticket. Are they comparable with generic ACs and de/humidifiers?

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I only use them to control my fans, so I wouldn’t be sure. I control a 16" oscillating fan with the one for temperature and a 4" exhaust fan with the humidity controller. And it kind of works for me and my budget :wink: But I am pretty sure they do…
Maybe @devjyarn can answer that one?

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@kapouic

The controllers are probably a NO relay that is activated by the sensor. I don’t know if portable ACs and such would be reset and need a manual start after a complete power-down.

I have some research to do.

Thanks

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You need an AC unit that auto restarts after power failure. Most newer digital AC units have this feature

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Thats a damn good point. @devjyarn Because thats exactly what happens.

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@devjyarn @PreyBird1.

I’ll have to locate a manual for the AC I have to see if it has auto restart.

Thanks much

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Novice grower here, but I went through the same thing.
So here is what I ended up doing (I’ve always been a techno-nerd so I tend to go a bit overboard)
I bought a pair of ink-bird controllers off Amazon.
Inkbird Combination Humidity Controller Ihc 200
Inkbird Temperature Controller ITC 310T
The humidity controller is connected to a small humidifier and dehunidifier pair.
The temperature controller is connected to a heater, and a spare intake booster fan (never comes on)
I’m growing in a basement in Canada and cooling is not an issue, though heating is.
I first tried a 1400watt heater that I had on hand and it was too much for the tent, so I moved to a small 250watt heater and it is managing but barely. Next grow I’ll use a 500-600watt heater.

My conditions in winter at night temp drops to 14c (57f) and daytime rises to 21c(70f). Summer daytime rises to 24c(75f) and drops to 21c(70f) at night.
House humidity in winter is runs 40%-45%
So for the seedling and veg stages really need to boost humidity in the tent.
(Tent exhaust is through a carbon filter and out a window, so it does not affect the house)

:smiley: you learn a lot really fast when you start to grow!
Good luck with your grow!

Here is a link to the inkbird controler pair I ended up using.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01LL4SRZ8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Maybe try changing your light schedule to 6 on 2 off, in total still 18 hours a day and helps keep heat to a minimum. Works for me. Give it a try.

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I am going to throw in what I do. Ive built close to 400 commercial grow rooms now. Everything you have running and operating makes a difference in your environment controls. Examples: Co2 burners, magnetic ballast, size of lights, what lights as in led mh hps all make a difference. They all create heat. Is your light exhausted, more things that change the variables. If for just a general answer. I keep the theory of 5000btu of a/c per 1000w hps light. That hs always kept the rooms between 75-77 like I want from Tennessee to the mountains of Colorado it was the same. Cooler areas you can utilize outside air with an intake. Need filters and a portable thermostat. Also make sure your a/c Will turn back on after power outage or surge. Some need manually turned on. I found a he basic a/c from home depot or lowes works well. Get manual not digital to save money. Buy a LUXPRO thermostat so you can set the stat in the center of your plants. This way a/c is maintaining the temp at the plants not the over all room temp. If your only indoor you can also try getting your flower light cycle on time at night. The cooler outside air helps depending in where you live and where your indoors are. I do not use led lighting. Not to be mean, but your cutting yourself short with those ufo lights. I know some people do not have a choice, but when we did our experiments, led where ok until compared with regular hps. Then there was no real comparison…hps magnetic ballast hands down still the king. Hahahaha I hope I was informative and not a blow whole. Hahahaha

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Im only telling you this story since your in Canada. Hahaha I was flown out to Vancouver twice to fix a few grows. The one room I went in was so hot when I got there that the paint was sweating down the walls. It took my breath away when I walked in. It was a bad ass set up tho, just designed wrong. You cant run 4-1000w Hps lights with just fans hahahaha anyway, He owned the building so I ended up cutting a whole to create an exhaust, then designed and built an a/c set up with exhaust hot box/ or plenum to exhaust the heat out. I had a lot of fun up there!!!

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A lot of fun up there my ass. I do not envy HVAC guys when “THEY” have to go “IN” to that inferno! No F’n thanks. You are a GREAT man. Lol i helped on a swamp to commercial swap. The HVAC unit had to be craned up there and when we shut down the swamps to do the install OMG! I almost melted for real!. I Ride with full leathers and gear into 105 degrees. And thats damn hot with a 450 degree machine between your legs. But that inside attack on a hot day shit no thanks . :pray: your a saint.