Ghetto AC/Swamp Cooler

[Iron Emmett]

Hey all, im in Southern Cali, and its been hot here the last week, my grow room is blistering, my ladies are suffering, so i had an idea to cool my room down, lemme know what you think.

My plan is to take a 5 Gallon Styrofoam ice chest that you buy at the gas station, fill it about 3/4th the way with water, let it freeze solid, cut a 6" hole in the lid toss a Booster fan in it, and let it exhaust the cool air into my grow room, anyone think this will work?

The grow room is about 27 square feet.

If the booster fan seems unsafe i plan on sitting a circular fan on the lid above the hole so it just blows the cool air out, im hoping i can freeze it every night, and put it in my grow room between about 1:00 and 7:00, the hottest time, the lights go off at 7:00 and it drops considerably.

Any feed back would be appreciated, im out of options the air in the house is like 85 constantly, so the grow room is usually about 89-90 during the day, i dont have the cash for an AC unit right now, and i live in an apartment so cutting holes in walls isnt an option.

I.E

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

What does your RH run? I use an actual swamp cooler to cool my home and my space.....however, I live in an area that can rival the Sahara desert for low humidity. The temp right now at 7:05 is 96 with 18% humidity.

 

[Iron Emmett]

Right now in the Grow room it is 90.7 Degrees and 31% RH, the light is going off in about 30 minutes, and it will drop to about 78 Degrees and 40-45% RH

 

[Hushpuppy]

I would think that should work, if you have enough space in your freezer to freeze it. You might do better to fill up several milk jugs with water and freeze them and just place them in the room an let the circulation fan move the air around them.

With several jugs, you could have some in freezing while the others are being utilized as it may take longer than 12 hours for multiple jugs to freeze. Plus this gives more room in the freezer and you don't have to worry about spillage with the cooler.

I am curious about the "swamp cooler", Goddess. What is that?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

They are also called evaporative coolers. It is a big box thing that sits in a window on on a roof. They cool by blowing air across pads that are kept constantly wet. There are evaporative pads on all sides of the unit. A water line is run to it and it has a float much like a toilet. A small reservoir of water stays in the bottom of the cooler. A pump pumps the water over the pads and a large squirrel cage type blower pushes air into your space. It really only works well in places that are arid as it puts a lot of moisture in the air.

 

[HemperFi]

it will cool off the room, but the humidity will go pretty high -- what stage of growth are the plants in?

 

[OGKushman]

I also live in socal. Mini split is the answer, dont have 2000$ no problemo, this cost me 100$ for the 13,000 BTU portable crapper a/c and 1o$ worth of adjustments...well just look




By the way it is cooling 600 sq ft.
Whos ghetto

 

[Iron Emmett]

That looks really good OG, did you just make it exhaust to and draw from outside?

Thats great for 600sqft

Im going to have to check craigslist for sure.

 

[OGKushman]

Yep. It pulls in ambient air from outside, cools coil, and blasts hot air out. Doesnt suck out the cold air it creates in the room and actually recycles the cold air to make it colder....im lovn it...

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

IE, what is your ventilation set up like now? How much lighting do you have in that 27 sq ft space? What size and kind of exhaust fan?

OG, I look all the time for an inexpensive split mini and have yet to find one for under about $300....

 

[OGKushman]

That was no split mini, it was a junky "portable a/c" that i retrofitted to "recirculate".

Works wonders

 

[Iron Emmett]

THG, i have a 1000w HPS, with a 6" Vortex fan pulling through my hood into a bathroom which exhausts out the bathroom fan, total ducting length about 5 feet, no curves or turns.

I never have any problem with heat when it isnt super hot outside, just the intake air is hot so the growroom is hot.

OG, that is a great idea im trying to find one for myself.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

That was no split mini, it was a junky "portable a/c" that i retrofitted to "recirculate".

Works wonders

LOL--thanks--sometimes I am just a dough-head.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

THG, i have a 1000w HPS, with a 6" Vortex fan pulling through my hood into a bathroom which exhausts out the bathroom fan, total ducting length about 5 feet, no curves or turns.

I never have any problem with heat when it isnt super hot outside, just the intake air is hot so the growroom is hot.

OG, that is a great idea im trying to find one for myself.

Where does your intake air come from? Is it cool? Is the bathroom closed up? Typically, bathroom fans are around 100 cfm and have 4" ducting, often with many twists and turns. If your 6" Vortex is blowing into the bathroom, and the door is closed, it could be causing some problems as the bathroom exhaust fan will not come close to being able to exhaust the air the Vortex is trying to force in there. It could actually be causing the Vortex to work less efficiently if the bathroom fan is not able to exhaust at the same rate as the Vortex is trying to push into the space...

 

[Iron Emmett]

my intake air comes from the bedroom, it isnt cool its room/house temperature, the bathroom is closed up, the door is covered with Styrofoam board, there isnt any blow back, and the fan in the bathroom is very large, im sure it isnt 450 CFM but it isnt a small exhaust fan.

I know it isnt optimal because the vortex is running faster than the bathroom fan, but its what i have, it works great when we arent having a heat wave.

 

[dman1234]

if the bathroom door is sealed open the window, close the AC vent in the bathroom and call it a sauna.