Water Cooled Grow Rooms

[phillipchristian]

What about in a place where your average temp in summer is like 60 degrees? It can get up into the 80's sometimes but not often. I am going to have 6k watts going this summer and Im trying to figure out how big a res I would need and what kind of $ it would cost me to water cool my room. Here are a few things to help you wrap your head around my room, I have a nice big crawl space that basically stays around the temp it is outside. I am also going to be growing vertically in soil most likely bare bulb. I have 2 ac units that are 20k btu total for the hottest days. My ballasts will be in another crawl space so they will not heat up the room and I plan to get a CO2 generator. My plan for right now is to run my lights at night pull in fresh air from outside and use the ac units to cool it down the rest of the way if/when needed. But I would like to have a closed room setup eventually so I trying to figure out everything I need. I have a friend who is going to go to water cooled and what he is going to do is rent a backhoe for a day and drop a 250gal res below the frost line right next to his house outside but unfortunately I cannot do that as I share a driveway. Also would these heat exchangers work for cooling my room if I put a fan behind them? https://www.pexuniverse.com/brazetek-water-to-air-heat-exchangers

Hey Nick, thanks for stopping by.

Sounds like you really don't need to go water cooled. If you want to seal your room then I understand but if you seal your lights well and add filters to the intake and exhaust ports then you should be fine exhausting them outside. You have plenty of a/c and judging by your ambient temps you won't need it much.

If you decide you want to go water cooled then great. All you would need for those 6 lights is a 1hp chiller and a 55 gallon reservoir setup outside with a pump. Since you are running at night the cool air will act like a 1hp chiller in itself. Then just use Ice Box on every light and you probably will only have to use your a/c 5 minutes every hour. The Ice Box will remove all of the heat from your hoods and the a/c will only be cooling the ambient air in your room.

Thise heat exchangers in the link will work just fine. You want to seal them up tight to a fan though. At the price you are paying for 1 I would just get an Ice Box. If you stick a fan behind that you will be losing CFM from the fan as it hits the heat exchanger because it is so big. The Ice Box are good because they are sealed so your inline fan will force all of the air through the coils. If anything; I would build an air tight box with the fan on one side and that coil on the other side.

 

[NickNasty]

Cool thanks for the advice. The reason I was thinking water cooled is because I thought with the outside temps being what they are the majority of the time I wouldn't even need a chiller if I had a big enough res. (How big would I need?) and could get away with the a/c on the really hot days when the res was too hot. Also I will be growing vertically so I will have no hoods which is why I was thinking one of those 20k btu heat exchangers for $221 and maybe a 8" or 12" fan behind it would be a better option then an ice box to cool my room.

 

[phillipchristian]

Cool thanks for the advice. The reason I was thinking water cooled is because I thought with the outside temps being what they are the majority of the time I wouldn't even need a chiller if I had a big enough res. (How big would I need?) and could get away with the a/c on the really hot days when the res was too hot. Also I will be growing vertically so I will have no hoods which is why I was thinking one of those 20k btu heat exchangers for $221 and maybe a 8" or 12" fan behind it would be a better option then an ice box to cool my room.

I've never done just a straight ambient reservoir. I mean in the winter you're gonna have issues. I really can't say what size you will need cause I have no experience and it seems like it depends on a lot of variables. Burying it in the ground makes it much more efficientbut you said you can't do that.

I would go for the 12" fan and try and fix it a flush as you can with the heat exchanger so you don't lose air pressure out of the sides.

 

[ikickbutt]

a lot of info in this threat, but i'm thinking something much smaller. i have a 2'x3' cabinet that's about 5 feet tall. inside i'm running a 200w cfl. with the doors closed the temps go up to 30 degrees C (sorry i'm not familiar with F). so i drilled a 2.5 inch hole out the side into the wall space beside the cabinet. that wall space( behind the drywall) runs up to my attic and there i have a 80mm pc fan blowing air down the wall into the cabinet. all that is great with colder winter air bringing my temps down to 24ish C. now i'm concerned that during the summer the temps are just too warm in my attic to cool my cabinet enough. i'm curious if a small aluminum heat exchanger(158mm*120mm*30mm) mounted to the inside of my cabinet with another fan pulling air though it from the attic, is enough to do the trick?
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[phillipchristian]

a lot of info in this threat, but i'm thinking something much smaller. i have a 2'x3' cabinet that's about 5 feet tall. inside i'm running a 200w cfl. with the doors closed the temps go up to 30 degrees C (sorry i'm not familiar with F). so i drilled a 2.5 inch hole out the side into the wall space beside the cabinet. that wall space( behind the drywall) runs up to my attic and there i have a 80mm pc fan blowing air down the wall into the cabinet. all that is great with colder winter air bringing my temps down to 24ish C. now i'm concerned that during the summer the temps are just too warm in my attic to cool my cabinet enough. i'm curious if a small aluminum heat exchanger(158mm*120mm*30mm) mounted to the inside of my cabinet with another fan pulling air though it from the attic, is enough to do the trick?

I'm sure it would help. Put the fan on a thermostat controller. Where are you getting the water from for the heat exchanger?

 

[Warlock1369]

Attics get supper hot in the summer. Some times twice as hot as out doors. I think you would be better and flip the fan. Blownin the hot air out of the area and into the attic. And pull air from your outside room into the cab. If you keep it at a comfortable temp in the room temps in the cab will be lower. I'm sure it can keep up with your cfl.

a lot of info in this threat, but i'm thinking something much smaller. i have a 2'x3' cabinet that's about 5 feet tall. inside i'm running a 200w cfl. with the doors closed the temps go up to 30 degrees C (sorry i'm not familiar with F). so i drilled a 2.5 inch hole out the side into the wall space beside the cabinet. that wall space( behind the drywall) runs up to my attic and there i have a 80mm pc fan blowing air down the wall into the cabinet. all that is great with colder winter air bringing my temps down to 24ish C. now i'm concerned that during the summer the temps are just too warm in my attic to cool my cabinet enough. i'm curious if a small aluminum heat exchanger(158mm*120mm*30mm) mounted to the inside of my cabinet with another fan pulling air though it from the attic, is enough to do the trick?
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[ikickbutt]

hmm, i've never actually checked temps during summer in the attic. but with a black roof, that sounds likely to get pretty hot. i also have a 4" fan drawing air out of the cabinet through a carbon filter back into the attic. guess i'll just experiment more. as for where the water comes from, i'm thinking directly from the cold water manifold by my hot water tank, in a slow trickle. but i feel bad for wasting water, i dunno yet, trying to keep things as low key and very stealthy.
tap water is 15C (or 60F). how much different does the temp of the water have to be to actually have a cooling effect?

 

[phillipchristian]

If you pay your water bill than I wouldn't suggest doing it. The amount of water pressure you'll need at those temps to rmove heat from your room will be a lot more then a trickle. You would essentially need your faucet at full pressure. Because water has such high heat conductivity you need to supply water cooled equipment with substantial flow rates for them to be effective. This is why you see that most water cooled applicationsinvolve a recirculating reservoir.

 

[ikickbutt]

thanks for the input. gives me something to ponder over

 

[drgreentm]

hey phil whats up man, i need some advice on a chiller i am looking at. here is a link http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-HP-24K-BTU-aquarium-hydroponics-water-chiller-NEW-/280853781008?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4164309a10#ht_500wt_1156

would this unit suffice for running x4 1000w with heat exchanges or is it junk in your opinion. i REALLY like the chillking 2hp but they are quite pricey and i cant afford one at the moment. at this point i only have x2 1000w but will soon be running x2 more and just want something that is going to work and not have to waste the money, i would rather just wait until i have the money for the chillking.

thanks in advance

 

[phillipchristian]

hey phil whats up man, i need some advice on a chiller i am looking at. here is a link http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-HP-24K-BTU-aquarium-hydroponics-water-chiller-NEW-/280853781008?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4164309a10#ht_500wt_1156

would this unit suffice for running x4 1000w with heat exchanges or is it junk in your opinion. i REALLY like the chillking 2hp but they are quite pricey and i cant afford one at the moment. at this point i only have x2 1000w but will soon be running x2 more and just want something that is going to work and not have to waste the money, i would rather just wait until i have the money for the chillking.

thanks in advance

Hey Doc, thanks for stopping by. That chiller is an aquarium chiller. Unfortunately they are not meant for hydroponic applications. I've seen a couple people try and use them because they are cheaper but when you put that kind of continuos heat load on them then they will fail rather quickly; a matter of months. They're like standby generators kinda; not really meant to run all the time. Plus some of the internal parts are not the best in those units. They are designed to get a fishtank to the right temperature and then maintain that which is easy. Constantly absorbing the heat load of a water cooled system will fry that thing. Le me know if and when you change your mind about the Chillking unit, I can probably get you a pretty steep discount. Maybe 20% off.

 

[drgreentm]

Hey Doc, thanks for stopping by. That chiller is an aquarium chiller. Unfortunately they are not meant for hydroponic applications. I've seen a couple people try and use them because they are cheaper but when you put that kind of continuos heat load on them then they will fail rather quickly; a matter of months. They're like standby generators kinda; not really meant to run all the time. Plus some of the internal parts are not the best in those units. They are designed to get a fishtank to the right temperature and then maintain that which is easy. Constantly absorbing the heat load of a water cooled system will fry that thing. Le me know if and when you change your mind about the Chillking unit, I can probably get you a pretty steep discount. Maybe 20% off.

your the man phil. i would hate to buy something that fails on me and leaves the op shut down ya know. i will definitively be letting you know when i have the cash to get the chillking, its the chiller i have wanted since day 1 prably a few more months then i will be starting up this change to my grow. my 8500 btu ac is running night and day trying to keep things cool and the thing pulls some power, plus i really want to run some co2 in there anyway thanks a bunch for the info and im subb'd to keep up on the info on this thread.

 

[phillipchristian]

your the man phil. i would hate to buy something that fails on me and leaves the op shut down ya know. i will definitively be letting you know when i have the cash to get the chillking, its the chiller i have wanted since day 1 prably a few more months then i will be starting up this change to my grow. my 8500 btu ac is running night and day trying to keep things cool and the thing pulls some power, plus i really want to run some co2 in there anyway thanks a bunch for the info and im subb'd to keep up on the info on this thread.

My pleasure man. Glad to have you. Are you getting the chiller to replace your a/c or are you going to use them together? If I were you I wouldn't plan on throwing that a/c away. A lot is gonna depend on your room and the other heat producing equipment you have in there. EcoPlus makes a 1.5hp chiller for around the same price as that aquarium chiller you were looking at. That would be more than enough to cool the exhaust from the 4 hoods, a coil for your reservoir, and a water cooled Co2 generator. Then your a/c would only have to cool the ambient temps of your room. It would probably come on for 10 minutes every hour. It woulb basically be like you were just trying to cool the room with no grow equipment in there. That's a possibility. I can't vouch for the quality of their product but it is made for hydroponic applications and does have a titanium coil.

 

[drgreentm]

My pleasure man. Glad to have you. Are you getting the chiller to replace your a/c or are you going to use them together? If I were you I wouldn't plan on throwing that a/c away. A lot is gonna depend on your room and the other heat producing equipment you have in there. EcoPlus makes a 1.5hp chiller for around the same price as that aquarium chiller you were looking at. That would be more than enough to cool the exhaust from the 4 hoods, a coil for your reservoir, and a water cooled Co2 generator. Then your a/c would only have to cool the ambient temps of your room. It would probably come on for 10 minutes every hour. It woulb basically be like you were just trying to cool the room with no grow equipment in there. That's a possibility. I can't vouch for the quality of their product but it is made for hydroponic applications and does have a titanium coil.

I was thinking a real small air handler in there, do you think it would do all that? I can get a great deal on a 8 burner cap co2 gen but its not air cooled, do you think that is a problem or would the air handler in place of the liquid cooled gen work sufficient? I'm still learning allot about co2 lol.

 

[drgreentm]

And the air handler I was looking at was a single fan 4 coil I believe.

 

[phillipchristian]

I was thinking a real small air handler in there, do you think it would do all that? I can get a great deal on a 8 burner cap co2 gen but its not air cooled, do you think that is a problem or would the air handler in place of the liquid cooled gen work sufficient? I'm still learning allot about co2 lol.

And the air handler I was looking at was a single fan 4 coil I believe.

I thought you meant you wanted one of the water cooled air handlers. Those CAP 8 burner units add some heat to the room but not much. I still think if you get the chiller you won't need an air handler. I can pretty much gurantee it. Basically the only thing you would need to cool is the ambient temps of the room and the Co2 burner. I'm not sure how big your room is but an 8,500btu a/c is rated for around 200sq.ft so I'm confident you'll be fine. Even if you had the ballasts in the room and a dehumidifier it would still be cheaper to get a portable or window a/c unit then an air handler.

 

[drgreentm]

I thought you meant you wanted one of the water cooled air handlers. Those CAP 8 burner units add some heat to the room but not much. I still think if you get the chiller you won't need an air handler. I can pretty much gurantee it. Basically the only thing you would need to cool is the ambient temps of the room and the Co2 burner. I'm not sure how big your room is but an 8,500btu a/c is rated for around 200sq.ft so I'm confident you'll be fine. Even if you had the ballasts in the room and a dehumidifier it would still be cheaper to get a portable or window a/c unit then an air handler.

I got ya, my room is about 12x12x8 and I am going to have x2 4x8 tents inside the room each having x2 1000w inside. The initial plan was to place the burner in the room outside the tents and enrich the whole space the tents are in, having intake fans on each tent pulling enriched air inside then having a exhaust fan pulling air through the lights ( each light having a icebox on it ) then outside the tent and back into the room and recycling it back to the tent. The ac unit has to be ducted out for the compressor heat but I imagine I could use a icebox for that as well but idk lol what you think?

 

[phillipchristian]

I got ya, my room is about 12x12x8 and I am going to have x2 4x8 tents inside the room each having x2 1000w inside. The initial plan was to place the burner in the room outside the tents and enrich the whole space the tents are in, having intake fans on each tent pulling enriched air inside then having a exhaust fan pulling air through the lights ( each light having a icebox on it ) then outside the tent. The ac unit has to be ducted out for the compressor heat but I imagine I could use a icebox for that as well but idk lol what you think?

That could definitely work but if you use the Ice Box to also cool the ambient temps in the tents then you'll need to go with the 2hp model (Chillking) or maybe even bigger. If you did get the 1.5hp chiller then Hydro Innovations makes a water cooler generator (MiniGen) that you could hang in each tent. The only go for about $250 and would be more than enough if you bought 1 for each tent. They run on propane and all you would need is the monitor/controller. Then you would be cooling all of the heat producing equipment in the tents and would only need to pump some cool fresh air in there as needed. Maybe via active intakes or 2 small portable 6,000btu a/c units.

 

[drgreentm]

Now you got me thinking lol that's a great idea!! A gen in each tent then I could use the iceboxes to cool the tent as well as expell the heat from the lights correct?? Then my ac would just have to cool the room with the ballasts in it. You think the 1.5 hp chiller would hack that?

 

[phillipchristian]

Now you got me thinking lol that's a great idea!! A gen in each tent then I could use the iceboxes to cool the tent as well as expell the heat from the lights correct?? Then my ac would just have to cool the room with the ballasts in it. You think the 1.5 hp chiller would hack that?

You are going to need a 2hp chiller if you want to use an Ice Box to cool each tent. You could do a 1.5hp chiller just to cool the exhaust on your lights; both Co2 generators; and any reservoirs. You are still going to need to cool the tents so if you can use the a/c in the room and just draw that cold air into each tent you should be more then fine. Your lights will be real cool. When I was using the Ice Box I could lay my face on the glass all day. You'll only need to cool ambient temps of the room and maybe the dehumidifier exhaust. You can do that with a intake fan and thermostat controller. You'd only need about the equivelent of 2,000btu of cooling drawn into the room.