An interesting concept for inline cooling

[IAm5toned]

very true, but doing that its gonna hit you in the wallet pretty hard, as it takes more energy to make something cool than it does to make something hot (with current air conditioning technology)
i think there is a way to use convection currents in liquid to acheive the same effect with using minimal power... i just dont know enough about hydrodynamics and thermodynamics to actually do the math and compute how much liquid it would take to cool whatever watts your using, moving at whatever gph is required... it gets complicated pretty quick.
i know its possible, these systems DO exist, but the only place ive ever heard of them existing is inside nuclear power plants in naval submarines... submarines need to be quiet, and cooling pumps make lotsa noise underwater, so the navy designed a system to overcome the noise... it was first used (that i know of anyways) on los angeles class attack subs and ohio class ballistic missile subs. it made the boats so quiet that whales would literally swim right into the side of the ship, cuz they couldnt hear it......

lol i dont think we'll ever get a 'peek' ot one of those systems however... but the science behind them is pretty intriguing, and i think if used in the proper application might be the solution we need.

also, calloway, the guy that designs performance corvettes and intake systems, had also designed a type of intercooler to cool intake air coming into engines, get more oxygen in the engine means more speed in the long run.. has anyone ever seen one of these intercoolers? i know it would be terribly expensive to buy one to cool a grow op, i was wondering more if it would be possible to make a DIY version of it, to cool the intake on the cooltube

 

[lazypothead420]

Yeah i hear ya there about the whole hittin ya in the wallet thing, lol. Im not too familiar with thermodynamics or hydrodynamics either. I was thinking about the inline a/c thing too and i can also see problems with moisture in the duct's and whatnot already. A lil off the subjet but it still has to do with cooling so, has anyone had any experience with these light and duct covers? http://www.hydroinnovations.com/product1.htm Maybe a combo of this, a/c and some air cooled reflectors would do the job while cutting back on some power at least. The a/c wouldnt run as much due to the covers and a smaller fan.

 

[That 5hit]

I've been thinking how i can keep lights as cool as possible. What if you used a refrigerator such as the one listed below. Cut a hole in it and secure ur ducting to it, run the ducting to cooltubes and out of the carbon scrubber. Im sure i would act as an a/c for the room as well. I have a bit of concern regarding the gasses and such used to cool a fridge. Anyone know if this is possible and would it hurt the plants due to the gasses? Just a pipe dream but those can be the best!



http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11154510

why not just use an A/C the same ways
run a duct from the ac blower

 

[lazypothead420]

True, but what about condensation in the ducting? I know most a/c units will do this.. But what about this one?!? http://www.kingersons.com/portable_ac_wa_9040deh.html

Self-Evaporating Technology - during the cooling or heating process, water is extracted from the air into the unit. In Cool mode, most of this water is recycled and used to cool the cooling coils. This creates improved cooling efficiently without adding energy cost. The moisture is then pushed out with the exhaust air, leaving you a virtually no-drain unit. In extreme humid conditions, if condensation collects faster than the unit can evaporate, the excess water will collect in the built-in tank. When the tank becomes full, compressor will automatically shut-off and unit will indicate that drainage is needed. As this technology does not take in effect in heating mode, continuous drainage is highly recommended when running in Heat mode.

 

[Brick Top]

A cooling idea I want to incorporate into a home that I have been considering building is something I saw in an episode of "This Old House" several decades back.
　
An energy conscious builder was building homes that used the earth’s constant temperature for the home’s A/C. If you dig down ‘X’ number of feet (it varies in different areas) the temperature will be the same 365 days a year no matter what the temperature above ground does. You lay large plastic pipes in trenches dug as deep as is needed in that area and they connect to a central unit with a fan connected to a thermostat. When cooling is needed the air in the home is circulated through the underground pipe and when it comes back into the home it is the temperature of the ground at that depth, which is roughly 58 degrees, and once the house cools the thermostat turns off the fan.
　
Air conditioning just for the price of running a fan.
　
Anyway I have been working on some plans for a home that would incorporate such a cooling system with a secondary smaller one added that would split off to a grow room. You would be pulling roughly 58 degree air through your light(s) at all times and if the room itself needed to be cooled either a thermostat and fan setup could be installed or even just a small low CFM running constantly during hours of light that would move just enough air to keep the temperature in range.
　
The builder had a second somewhat similar system that also used the earth’s temperature to cool but it did not need a fan. Instead of a circulating system that relied on a fan to move the air at one end of the trench the plastic pipe was laid in was something that looked like a well house. It was a screened and filtered intake for the A/C. On the top of the home was a copula with powered vents. You opened the vents and as the house heated up the natural upward convection of heat took it up and out of the house and that drew in fresh air from outside through the screened/filtered entrance and by the time it made it through the pipe it was that roughly 58 degrees and the house would cool and the convection would slow down until things heated up again but there would almost always be some air movement in warm to hot weather.
　
Someone building or adding on or doing a major remodeling job and taking their grow room into consideration in their construction plans could use ideas like that. If I end up building like I want to I will take advantage of it since I will be using the cooling system to begin with.

 

[Brick Top]

For some reason when people talk about cooling a grow room and it needs more than just increased movement and it needs cooler air people always say use an A/C unit … but why not a swamp cooler instead? They drop temperatures between 10 and 30 degrees so unless someone has MAJOR heat issues one would work. They even have small portable ones of various sizes and shapes and some have all sort of fancy extras on them.
　
But the deal is you run a fan and through evaporation you cool and you do it without paying the heavy electricity costs of running an air conditioners compressor.

Here is an example below. There are whole house units and smaller fancier ones than below and just about everything in between but this is an example of a portable one.



INDUSTRIAL EVAPORATIVE COOLERS
Reduces air temperature 10-30°F with additional wind chill cooling from air circulation. Water supplied to internal tank through standard 3/4" hose and level is controlled by float valve. Ideal for garages, workshops and light industrial use. Features powder coated heavy gauge steel housing, variable speed, 17’L power cord. 4" heavy duty swivel casters, 2 locking. Meets OSHA requirements. 1 year warranty.

​

Meets the requirements of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Product SpecificationsLENGTH INCHES 19 WIDTH INCHES 22 HEIGHT INCHES 29 CAPACITY GALLONS 6 AMPS 1.5 ASSEMBLY Assembled CFM HIGH 3800 CFM LOW 2200 CONSTRUCTION Polystyrene COOLING SQ. FT. 500 DRIVE TYPE Direct HORSE POWER 1/8 MODEL 795961 SIZE INCHES 12 SPEEDS 2 WARRANTY YEARS 2 WEIGHT LBS 51 VOLTS 115 APPROVAL OSHA

 

[lazypothead420]

hmm what bout all the humidity you'll get from running one of those in the room? Also does it need a constant flow of water or could u just fill it up? If you can fill it up, how long on average would you have to fill it?

 

[SmokeyMcChokey]

had also designed a type of intercooler to cool intake air coming into engines, get more oxygen in the engine means more speed in the long run.. has anyone ever seen one of these intercoolers? i know it would be terribly expensive to buy one to cool a grow op, i was wondering more if it would be possible to make a DIY version of it, to cool the intake on the cooltube

for this application you would also need a high olume fan to cover the intercooler because generally these intercooler designs are meant to run best at speed. ie wind passing over the intercooler at 60-70+ mph
very interesting concept though im just not entirely sure that it would be worth the risk of exposing a conductive liquid (even in a closed system) to the bulbs or other electrical stuff.

 

[IAm5toned]

wind moving that fast wouldnt need an intercooler in a duct lol, it would be compressed and the temp would drastically be lowered... so i guess the fan in itself would be more than enough. but a fan that big is pulling too many watts and thats not the objective here... the only real danger in using a watercooled heat exchanger would be if for some reason a tube broke, and cold water hit the glass lamp. then it would explode. but im thinkn you would have to damn near totally immerse the socket to have any danger of electrical hazard. ive worked many a construction job where MH lights are used as temporaries, often before the building is dried in. and ive seen them just absolutly soaking wet with water running off of the fixture. granted it is a high bay fixture but nontheless,a lil water is not as dangerous as most people percieve. and if it truely was a major concern, its nothing a GFCI couldnt handle

 

[IAm5toned]

For some reason when people talk about cooling a grow room and it needs more than just increased movement and it needs cooler air people always say use an A/C unit … but why not a swamp cooler instead? They drop temperatures between 10 and 30 degrees so unless someone has MAJOR heat issues one would work. They even have small portable ones of various sizes and shapes and some have all sort of fancy extras on them.
　
But the deal is you run a fan and through evaporation you cool and you do it without paying the heavy electricity costs of running an air conditioners compressor.

Here is an example below. There are whole house units and smaller fancier ones than below and just about everything in between but this is an example of a portable one.



INDUSTRIAL EVAPORATIVE COOLERS
Reduces air temperature 10-30°F with additional wind chill cooling from air circulation. Water supplied to internal tank through standard 3/4" hose and level is controlled by float valve. Ideal for garages, workshops and light industrial use. Features powder coated heavy gauge steel housing, variable speed, 17’L power cord. 4" heavy duty swivel casters, 2 locking. Meets OSHA requirements. 1 year warranty.

​

Meets the requirements of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Product SpecificationsLENGTH INCHES 19 WIDTH INCHES 22 HEIGHT INCHES 29 CAPACITY GALLONS 6 AMPS 1.5 ASSEMBLY Assembled CFM HIGH 3800 CFM LOW 2200 CONSTRUCTION Polystyrene COOLING SQ. FT. 500 DRIVE TYPE Direct HORSE POWER 1/8 MODEL 795961 SIZE INCHES 12 SPEEDS 2 WARRANTY YEARS 2 WEIGHT LBS 51 VOLTS 115 APPROVAL OSHA

good idea but, still using too much wattage. id like to see a cooling system where less than 75w are being used

 

[robert 14617]

how about a closed heat exchaner system that used anti freeze and 100' coil of copper tubeing in a chest freezer

 

[IAm5toned]

how about a closed heat exchaner system that used anti freeze and 100' coil of copper tubeing in a chest freezer

i thought of that.. turns out the anitfreeze actually decreases the the waters thermal conductivity... and since were trying to eleiminate wattage, an ice chest isnt really the solution i think he was looking for... so far IMHO the best idea was the linked thread where the guy used the closed loop heat exchanger hooked up to an old ford radiator outside the duct, and had a simple 46w fan blowing on the radiator...

 

[Brick Top]

good idea but, still using too much wattage. id like to see a cooling system where less than 75w are being used

That was only one example chosen at random from a number of them of different sizes and shapes. Possibly one would run in the wattage range you are thinking about. I sort of doubt it but maybe.
　
There are plans online for how to build your own. Possibly someone could look at some plans and downsize everything to make it just large enough to be capable of handling their grow room and that might not take much wattage to achieve.