a way to cool off a grow room

hey does any one know if it would be a good idea to get a mini fridge and use the cooling system( rip off the door and walls ) and hook it up to a thermostat so you can use that to control the heat in a room, and of course the room has ventilation. any thoughts on this?

I doubt it would work... they are designed to cool a small insulated space with minimal air exchange. If you have ever gotten a new refridgerator and filled it before you let it reach temp it takes a long long time to cool off enough to even begin to work. I always think of cooling as the removal of heat rather than the addition of cold. It is more or less the same thing because the room is always trying to reach homeostasis but I find it is easier to pull the excess heat hout than to add enought cold air to have an impact on the overall temperature of the room. Just my 2 cents.

what if you are in a space that cant bring in enough cool air. what about using my idea to bring in the cool air, like having the unit outside where the air is moving in. I was also thinking of getting some solar shit to charge batteries and run the entire room off of the batteries so after the starting cost to put it all together I wont need power from my house so I don't really care about how long it runs.

smokindope said:

what if you are in a space that cant bring in enough cool air. what about using my idea to bring in the cool air, like having the unit outside where the air is moving in. I was also thinking of getting some solar shit to charge batteries and run the entire room off of the batteries so after the starting cost to put it all together I wont need power from my house so I don't really care about how long it runs.

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You need to stop smokin dope before makin dope growin plans, lol

You could make it work but you should start doin the research on what hat would require. It would definitely need an aux generator to kick in when the batteries are low, cause the solar wont be enough on they're own. And the batteries will be extremely expensive.

If your in a space where you cant bring in enough fresh outside air then you've got major problems and should think about how you can fix that. Your plants will love you and thrive with a nice intake of outside air.

And the mini fridge is a horrible idea, the amount of freon in a mini fridge condenser is so ridiculously small that it would end up running at full capacity 24/7 and would probably just pump out room temp air. Fridges and mini fridges are cold when they are assembled because they are insulated. If you open up a plugged in mini fridge after a while it will just be warm, probably hot from over working.

With the amount of money you spend on a mini fridge, you could probably purchase a portable AC unit.

Or just one of those AC fans you fill with ice. I got a buddy who uses them to cool his grow room, he says it's a pain to have to refill the ice every damn day, but it's worth it cuz no heat stress.

batteries are cheap, when you get old ones and get them reconditioned. I have ways of getting real cheap solar cells so those ain't really a dent in my pocket except for the ac unit I haven't found one less then a bill. If I have to spend the money I will but not for my 1st grow after I move.

put frozen water bottles in front of a fan

my cab will consist of a 21 + cubic ft refridgerator with a top freeze the old style

i will gut and modify as needed top will be used for vegging and lower used for flowering once i start this i will be posting pics and steps of it but it will be some time before i make my move

smokindope said:

batteries are cheap, when you get old ones and get them reconditioned. I have ways of getting real cheap solar cells so those ain't really a dent in my pocket except for the ac unit I haven't found one less then a bill. If I have to spend the money I will but not for my 1st grow after I move.

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You cant run it off regular batteries or car batteries, you will need deep cell batteries, and it wont be the same wattage or voltage as the lights so you will need someone with experience with battery systems

deep cycle batteries! and I am looking into getting about 4 and the wattage i am going to be using isn't much. I have 2 65 watt clf bulbs one has a 500 watt out put for only 65 watts. the lumens for one bulb is 6,825 so I have 1000watt out put with a total of 140 watts and a lumen out put of 13,650 in a 2.5 by 3ft closet and the lights right know are growing one hell of a crop. I would imangine that with 4 deep cycle batteries I really will be only useing two bateries a day and have the other two for back up and the solar cells that i have looked into will charge the two that I almost drain. the deep cycle batteries will not come close to completley drained after useing them for 18 hours.

smokindope said:

batteries are cheap, when you get old ones and get them reconditioned. I have ways of getting real cheap solar cells so those ain't really a dent in my pocket except for the ac unit I haven't found one less then a bill. If I have to spend the money I will but not for my 1st grow after I move.

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Goto Wal-Mart, they have smaller A/C "window" units for $89.00. i bought one for my room and it seems to keep up very nice

thats cool I just want to try and grow green whatcha think about the lights on solar power

I personally work on all types of hvac systems and my boys right when he says that the fridge def won't cool down a space larger than that of the actual fridge itself. Besides the heat from the compressor alone would significantly increse the room temp. As far as using the fridge as a clone box, so that the plants inside would stay cool, that could def work. But again for the price of the fridge you could prolly find a cheap window unit, or u could just join the rest of us and us fans! Smaller, more productive, not to mention less overall heat producion!

But hey way to keep an open mind!

if a fridge would work then i would put the coils in the back that get hot out of the room. I know they would get hot I have put more thought then that into this idea. I want to completely hide my room when I move behind a false wall so an ac unit wouldn't work. I have already joined the rest of you by using fans, who the hell would not but a fan in a room its suicide. I am going to try and use solar power to run my lights and I am also looking into alternative way to add cool air to a room. I know that ppl think of cooling air as extracting the old air, ya i get. I am done with the fridge idea after hearing that after awhile it wont produce cold air. I have seen home made ac units with coolers and fans. Im gonna try that with an electric cooler that can be used in cars and shit im just gonna get an inverter so I dont have to keep replaceing the ice. But still I am going to hook it all up to solar panels