Please Help!! Question about Heat removal from a "Sealed" room

OK, so I have this small area that I am turning into a grow room, the total area of the room will be around 250 cubic feet. The area that will be usable for the grow will be closer to 165 Cubic feet. The room will be completely sealed for the benefit of Co2 Enrichment via pressurized tank/regulator. As far as heat producing devices we are only talking about 1000 watt HPS, and probably 600 watts T5. A guess would place that pretty close to 5,000 BTU's when they are all on.

What are my best options for keeping things cool?

I noticed that all portable A/C units have a venting tube to cool the device. (Venting Atmosphere from the room is what I am trying to avoid)

How viable is running a portable evaporative cooler in combination to a dehumidifier? (Take into consideration where I live, year round has a relative
humidity of 50%-65%)

I saw there are those small split system A/C, but the ones I have seen start around $1,200. And that would strain my budget a little too much.


Any Ideas? Advice?



Thank you

Well, I've been in the HVAC business for 10 yrs and can tell you what I would do. Assuming you have an outside wall, I would install a "window shaker" air conditioner that vents to the outside. 8,000 to 10,000 BTU is what I would prolly put in there. I would also get a dehumidifier that I could run if I didn't need too much cooling, although just running the dehumidifier will also keep the temperatures down somewhat... because its basically a partial air conditioner if you like.

keylime

Keylime,

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, the room is in the garage up against a concrete filled cinder block retaining wall that has earth on the other side of it.

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Originally Posted by loopup2u

Keylime,

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, the room is in the garage up against a concrete filled cinder block retaining wall that has earth on the other side of it.

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Well then, my second choice would be one of those mobile air conditioners with the exhaust hose....as long as it can be vented out of the area... even up thru the ceiling if necessary.

keylime

OK, then here is my question to you, do those Portable units with the exhaust hose, pull air from the room to exhaust the heat from the unit?

My concern is that it would vent the Co2 out. Another concern is that it would vent smells if it does indeed pull air out of the room.

Well those are legitimate concerns.... but nothing is perfect. You could set up the exhaust and dump it thru a filter first. There is no way to get around the CO2 loss, its prolly minimal. The only answer I would have is have timers running so that when one is running the other is not.

keylime

It looks like that is probably what I will end up doing. Just to repose the question. Do you think a portable evaporative cooler could give me the cooling I would need if it was run in tandem with a dehumidifier?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by loopup2u

It looks like that is probably what I will end up doing. Just to repose the question. Do you think a portable evaporative cooler could give me the cooling I would need if it was run in tandem with a dehumidifier?

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An air conditioner works by removing moisture from the air. When you have a dehumidifier working at the same time as the A/C, it is helping the A/C do some of its work.... and it won't have to work as hard to do its job.'


keylime

Quote:

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Originally Posted by keylime

An air conditioner works by removing moisture from the air. When you have a dehumidifier working at the same time as the A/C, it is helping the A/C do some of its work.... and it won't have to work as hard to do its job.'


keylime

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Well for an HVAC, I wonder how you come up with it works by removing the moisture. To the best of my knowledge the frost is a byproduct of the evaporator freezing the moisture in the air passing over it. The actual cooling is done by the refrigerant in the device trapping it in the refrigerant and exchanging temps by ambient air passing over the condenser an evaporator. Are you licensed HVAC?

You seem to have a thing for humidifers too....They do fine.

Now, I would just vent with fan to outside the grow room. Turn off fan during c02 dispersion,which I think is a real waste of money for the bother involoved.

Being an HVAC, Master sheetmetal mechanic. I have seen 1st hand that an air conditioner in a window will raise humidity. Hot and cold air meeting you get condensation on the walls and anything metal or plastic.Making the risk higher to aquire an airborne mold or mildew. The best senario would be to use only the dehumidifier and draw air into your room with a passive vent with a backdraft damper.You keep your sealed room aspect. Use a scrubber and a dehumidifier.