WHAT TYPE OF AIR CONDITIONER TO COOL MY ROOM

[oldschool1]

I have an insulated indoor greenhouse with 8-1000 Watt HPS lights. It is 450Sq.Ft with 8' insulated ceilings. Presently I'm running a 32000 BTU window unit that keeps the room at 79 degrees in the hot afternoons. Would a commercial portable unit perform better & what kind do you recommnd. I eventually want to have 16-1000 watt lights. Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

oldschool1 Reviewed by oldschool1 on 06-06-2010. WHAT TYPE OF AIR CONDITIONER TO COOL MY ROOM I have an insulated indoor greenhouse with 8-1000 Watt HPS lights. It is 450Sq.Ft with 8' insulated ceilings. Presently I'm running a 32000 BTU window unit that keeps the room at 79 degrees in the hot afternoons. Would a commercial portable unit perform better & what kind do you recommnd. I eventually want to have 16-1000 watt lights. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks Rating: 5

[Mississippi Steve]

I have an insulated indoor greenhouse with 8-1000 Watt HPS lights. It is 450Sq.Ft with 8' insulated ceilings. Presently I'm running a 32000 BTU window unit that keeps the room at 79 degrees in the hot afternoons. Would a commercial portable unit perform better & what kind do you recommnd. I eventually want to have 16-1000 watt lights. Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

For 16kw in lights alone, your going to need a tick over 54,000btu, then you also have to figure in for humidity, as well as the heat from any other sources, such as fan motors, people, as well as any other appliances. Then you have to figure in heat loss/gain from the structure itself. to run 16 lights, your going to have to run *AT LEAST* 5 tons(60,000btu) of air conditioning. 5 tons of air conditioning also requires 2,000cfm of airflow to operate correctly. When you do this, about the least expensive system you'll find is going to be around $6,000 plus ductwork and sales tax. Its not gonna be free. If your in Kalifornia or inside of the city limits, it will have to be inspected by building inspectors for compliance with electrical and mechanical codes.
That is going to put one hell of a dent in your wallet as well as your power bill.

FWIW, a commercial grow of that size is going raise a lot of red flags(unintentional or or otherwise) and draw a lot of unwanted attention anywhere in the US. Yes the power companies do start asking a lot of questions when they have that kind of usage increase.

[oldschool1]

Can the 5-ton unit be installed indoors? Do they make a portable 5-ton unit you are aware of??

[Mississippi Steve]

Can the 5-ton unit be installed indoors? Do they make a portable 5-ton unit you are aware of??

nope.... the closest you can get is a split system with the condenser outside and the air handler inside, or a package unit where the entire unit is outside and the only thing that goes inside is the ductwork, power and controls.
A cheap system is going to have very high operating costs also... probably $125 - $150 per month *provided* that its installed correctly in the first place... if its installed by "Billy-Joe-Jim-Bob", or "Bubba" (the lowest bidder), then all bets are off.... you can look forward $250 - $300 a month just to run the A/C.

Yes I am a certified, Master HVAC Technican, and company owner.

[oldschool1]

Thanks a lot

[cbp420]

You can get 5 ton portable units that can sit inside of the area. Server Room Cooling, Studio & Computer Room Air Conditioning, Spot Coolers. No real install, you will need to bump up your power to this as it will use a lot. No inspections either as they are temporary. Good luck.

Oh, and just to keep up with Mississippi Steve, I am in the HVAC biz as well. :thumbsup:

[TheChameleon]

You can get 5 ton portable units that can sit inside of the area. Server Room Cooling, Studio & Computer Room Air Conditioning, Spot Coolers. No real install, you will need to bump up your power to this as it will use a lot. No inspections either as they are temporary. Good luck.

Oh, and just to keep up with Mississippi Steve, I am in the HVAC biz as well. :thumbsup:

Yes there are portable industrial ac's for work site and the like... I'm just a dumb plumber... I have rented units with a 10" flex duct that you put out the window... I see where steve is coming from and his options are more of a permanent fix but I think you are looking for fast and dirty...