# Cooling the ladies w/ refrigerator...question



## time4tokin20s (Aug 15, 2008)

After trying different ways to cool down my box I have come to the conclusion I need a cooling system.So being the cheapskate I am, I have made a plan. I have a working refrigerator that just happens to be sitting right beside my grow box (hides vent hose).

 So the idea is to cut a 4" vent hole in the back of the fridge and cover inisde hole with a rubber X vent. Then send the hose to a third vent hole in the grow box.I will connect it to a 4" duct fan inside the box.I just ordered a thermostat outlett plug the duct fan into to keep temp where I want.

 Given that it actually works I still can't decide to vent from the fridge section or the freezer.I'm running at 95 degrees completly shut during a warm day. I really don't want to end up cutting two holes in the fridge so I thought I would ask what you all thought would work better.Longer period cooling from fridge or shorter cold blasts from freezer?


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## CasualGrower (Aug 15, 2008)

Cutting Holes in a working fridge for cooling..... That is a new one  .

A refrigerator works on the concept for keeping a small amount of air cooled within a small enviroment.... They are not made to put out that kind of volume of cold air....

If ya need some cooling, why not pick up a cheap window air conditioner and cool your grow with that....  If you dont want to go with an AC... You can just ventilate your grow with moving air... Keep a fresh supply of air coming into and exiting the room.  There are all kinds of things you can do... Using a refrigerator to 'cool' would be at the very bottom of the list.... IMO anyway


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## Puffin Afatty (Aug 15, 2008)

*I've seen chillers made using evaporation as a means to cool a grow :hubba:  However, if you move enuf air, the temps will come down significantly :aok: *


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## time4tokin20s (Aug 15, 2008)

I'm moving fresh air in and exausting my light.It does alright at night and should do good for fall/winter,just needs a little cold bump for when it gets warm outside.Plus I don't really use the fridge.


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## Anarchist_UK (Aug 15, 2008)

i'm just thinking, won't the motor burn out? it's not meant to cool things constantly hot

jmo


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## time4tokin20s (Aug 15, 2008)

Anarchist_UK said:
			
		

> i'm just thinking, won't the motor burn out? it's not meant to cool things constantly hot
> 
> jmo



It's only real purpose is to hide my vent hoses coming off my grow box.So it wouldn't be a big loss.If I can get a month of cooling I'll be happy.I'll just have to think of a new even dumber plan for next summer


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## Deus (Aug 17, 2008)

You cant cut holes in a refrigerator or freezer... As far as i know, theres this "chemical" behind the first layer in the freezer, which CANT be cut into... Well it can, but ill destroy the freezer. Dont know what its called, but id advise u not to m8. I found a lot of cooling devices on ebay, some were ment for aquariums, maybe you should check that out ?


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## Tater (Aug 17, 2008)

If you try to pull air from a sealed box like your fridge or freezer you will quickly create a vacum, not only that but fridges and freezers actually put out more heat than cold (technically they don't put out cold they simply transfer heat on the principle of phase change cooling) so you would end up heating the area directly around the fridge more than you could ever cool it.


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## Aurora_Indicas_Dad (Aug 17, 2008)

not aonly all this,but that fridge is gonna be a heck of alot more expensive to run than a little window a.c. i recommend just going to a pawn shop and picking one up there.im a cheapskate myself and trust me..its gonna be cheaper to run the ac. then to run a fridge that is constantly running. use it to store your buds in when your done growing.i wouldnt do it man..thats my $.02

 p.s.
im going through temp probs right now myself and would use anything i can to get my temps down..but not a fridge.i need to go to the pawn shop sometime this week.for once,i can honestly say,i cant wait for these hot summer days to be over.


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## Anarchist_UK (Aug 18, 2008)

Deus said:
			
		

> You cant cut holes in a refrigerator or freezer... As far as i know, theres this "chemical" behind the first layer in the freezer, which CANT be cut into... Well it can, but ill destroy the freezer. Dont know what its called, but id advise u not to m8. I found a lot of cooling devices on ebay, some were ment for aquariums, maybe you should check that out ?


they'll be CFC's


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## Tater (Aug 18, 2008)

No CFC's are in the freon thats used in the phase change process of cooling the fridge.  If you really want to cut a hole in a fridge go and look around on google for how to's on making your own keg fridge.  Lots of guys wack holes in fridges for this reason.


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## Tater (Aug 18, 2008)

hxxp://www.kegbooty.com/How_To_Build_A_Kegerator_1.htm

Talking about keg fridges got me thinking about that empty fridge in my garage so I thought I would post this.


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## ruffryder777 (Aug 18, 2008)

have you thought of investing in a water cooled tube....


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## Deus (Aug 20, 2008)

Kind of came up with this as i saw i had a new reputation comment... Ever thought about building in, one of those Coke refrigerators ? (Coca Cola) Those small ones which can hold... 12 cans i think it is ? They are cooled by air.

If you took that and combined it with a temp controller. That turned it on when it got too hot in there, voila... You SHOULD be able to have a steady temperature... Dunno why i havent thought of it my self as i could use it 

Not sure it cools enough tho, but its worth a shot...


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## 4u2sm0ke (Aug 20, 2008)

summer is almost over and the small window ac units will be on sale...I dont grow in summer because of heat..and dont need the weed....if I did i would use ac...if you are haveing Heat issues  that means you dont have proper ventilation...be sure your exhaust is moving enough air out in short amout of time...also having fresh air coming in...and air coming in wont get any  cooler then whats ouside box...you can modify ac unit to intake..that would help cool it..but brakes down co2 in my opinon..and is not fresh air. hope this helps


take care and be safe


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## Peter23 (Aug 20, 2008)

hey there  i had the same idea and posted it in a different thread a couple of days ago. i have a very small grow are with maybe 2 sq ft and 3 ft tall i was thinking of maybe taking it apart and just taking out the piece used for cooling and almost swap shells (fridge shell to my grow box as new shell of fridge.) idk im still pondering it and havent thought it over completely but for right now when it gets to hot (80-85) i just drop an ice pack in my box i put it right on top of my fan moving the air inside and it will drop the temp a good 5 degrees for a couple hours. i have 3 ice packs on rotation if it gets to be a problem lol. anyone ever heard of that method before? lol i thoughtof it on my own but i thought it was a pretty simple idea 

Thanks,
Pete


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## time4tokin20s (Aug 20, 2008)

Thanks everyone.I checked around a little and read that the fridge and freezer rely on each other to push the right temp of air.So I think they might both stop working if one is losing to much air.
I found an a/c at a garage sale for $25.So I'm going to run it off my thermostat outlet and cut another hole in  the box and run constant air from outside.I should be able to keep a perfect tempature with the ac running only a few hours a day.


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## Tater (Aug 21, 2008)

> that would help cool it..but brakes down co2 in my opinon..and is not fresh air



What do you mean breaks down co2??  What is bonding with the co2 to create a new molecule?  If nothing is bonding with it than what is in your air that is stripping the carbon molecule from the co2?  The only thing I can think of that would possibly reduce co2 in your growroom (besides your plants) would be ozone and that isn't produced by an airconditioning unit, unless you have a intense UV light in your ac unit.  What do you mean that the air that an ac unit is moving isn't fresh air?  If its pulling the air from outside cooling it and venting it inside how isn't that fresh air?  I'm confused please explain what you mean.


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## Organix4Sho (Aug 21, 2008)

Hey time4tokin20s, Tater is absolutely right. 
As genius as your idea may be.... I hate to rain on your parade. 
Understanding thermodynamics is tricky, but it makes sense. (I actually took a test on this last semester. <3 Engineering)
Refigerators work on basically as a heat pump. pumping they heat from a closed system (the insulated volume inside the fridge) to the outside of the fridge. When you merge the two systems (opening the fridge or put holes in it (seriously?!), you are then using energy to pump from inside the fridge, to its surroundings but because the surroundings are ONE environment after you merged them, it will pump heat through the overall area and waste LOTS of energy. 

I'd recommend air circulation or dry ice in a pale of water with a fan on it to disperse the heat (dry ice is solid CO2 so just another added bonus when it evaporates)


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## Deus (Aug 22, 2008)

Stumbled upon these items here... That i believe could help A LOT of peeps with hydroponics  Check it out peeps

The links below needs www and a dot in front of them... (not enough posts to post urls to other sites...)

marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~chillers_coolworks_iceprobe.html

amazon.com/Imperial-Garden-Products-Chiller-CL85/dp/B000S9TESC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1219198440&sr=8-5


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