JohnCee
Well-Known Member
I have a 1350 watt portable a/c unit, which is a 14,000 BTU and comes with dual hoses to ventilate my flowering room correctly. I don't have a window in my basement to transfer air with, so I have my hot exhaust air going from my a/c unit, out of my enclosed flowering room, and up through into the bathroom. I know what you are thinking, however, it turns out that my bathroom was lacking ventilation and entirely so I figured a little warm air might help keep that seat warm come this winter. I don't think exhausting into the bathroom is a that bad of an idea, but would could be the worst that comes from it? I don't think there is any carbon monoxide since offices and other smaller places exhaust into crawl spaces and lung rooms.
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How effective are energy cost calculating websites such as, http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/electricity-calculator.htm? I set the power consumption to 1350 watts, 10/12 hours a day, at $0.15 cents an hour, which the price should be on the higher end just to be safe with the estimation. The highest estimation I get using that is around $74 a month. Do you think $74 a month is about right for running a portable a/c unit? Unfortunately, it will likely be running for around 3/4's of the year, which is why I have to get this efficient as possible.
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Now that we have the general information out of the way -- let's discuss possible setup configurations for maximum efficiency in terms of air which is supplied to the a/c unit.
#1 - No Outside Fresh Air
Being lazy, and creating a massively large negative pressure when running, recycling the air inside of the flowering room. This setup does create a large negative pressure, sucking in a tremendous (you can feel a small breeze on your legs) amount of air through the small gaps around my entrance door, which I am only assuming that could probably only result in basement bugs flying into the room once in a while.
Does anyone know if this kind of negative pressure will damage my portable a/c unit?
#2 - Drawing Air From Outside Of Flowering Room
Opposite of the first method, this method relies on running ducting from the a/c unit out of the flowering room, and into the basement. This will allow the exchange of positively pressurized air to the a/c supplying the intake for the unit. This method will create a positive pressure in my room, which is keep bugs and little critters away, however it will always leak a bit of the smells as well. I'm not entirely too concerned about the smell, but obviously I don't want it to be smelled outside of the basement.
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Which method do you guys feel would be best suit my situation when it comes to supplying air to my air conditioning unit? I currently have it setup as option #1, and I mention all of this because of my concern of the negative pressure and the impact it could have on the unit. I also wanted to know if anyone else had tried this before and knew which route I should go with in terms of running most efficiently cost wise.
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Insulation Methods:
I figure a good way to help reduce running costs with the a/c unit is to either help insulate to keep the cold in and the heat out.
#1 - Foam Insulation Board
I have about 96 cubic feet of space that I would have to foam board, which likely would take me 4, or possibly 5 pieces of board. Figure at about $18-$20 per sheet that's roughly $80-120 dollars to insult the entire room with foam board. This seems to be a costly option at the moment, but if it makes that much difference in the monthly bill then I'll pick some up tomorrow.
#2 - Custom Glass For Reflector
Literally, the only heat that is generated inside of the room is from my 315w bulb, which the ballast and all of that other jazz is out of the room. I have a glass cover over the reflector, and the bulb is air cooled (334 CFM), which is exhausted out of the room. The outside of the reflector is always cold to the touch, but under the glass is where the heat can be felt noticeably. I have been playing around with the idea of getting a custom piece of insulated glass cut or something of the sort to help reduce the transfer of heat. I have plenty of light in my room for what I need to achieve, so having an extra pane of glass doesn't bother me too much.
--
Which insulation option do you guys feel would be the most effective cost verses efficiency wise? The foam would help keep the cold in the room, but the custom glass for the reflector could eliminate a lot of my heat issues AND there's the chance I might NOT have to use an air conditioner (BIG $AVINGS).
---------------------------
How effective are energy cost calculating websites such as, http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/electricity-calculator.htm? I set the power consumption to 1350 watts, 10/12 hours a day, at $0.15 cents an hour, which the price should be on the higher end just to be safe with the estimation. The highest estimation I get using that is around $74 a month. Do you think $74 a month is about right for running a portable a/c unit? Unfortunately, it will likely be running for around 3/4's of the year, which is why I have to get this efficient as possible.
---------------------------
Now that we have the general information out of the way -- let's discuss possible setup configurations for maximum efficiency in terms of air which is supplied to the a/c unit.
#1 - No Outside Fresh Air
Being lazy, and creating a massively large negative pressure when running, recycling the air inside of the flowering room. This setup does create a large negative pressure, sucking in a tremendous (you can feel a small breeze on your legs) amount of air through the small gaps around my entrance door, which I am only assuming that could probably only result in basement bugs flying into the room once in a while.
Does anyone know if this kind of negative pressure will damage my portable a/c unit?
#2 - Drawing Air From Outside Of Flowering Room
Opposite of the first method, this method relies on running ducting from the a/c unit out of the flowering room, and into the basement. This will allow the exchange of positively pressurized air to the a/c supplying the intake for the unit. This method will create a positive pressure in my room, which is keep bugs and little critters away, however it will always leak a bit of the smells as well. I'm not entirely too concerned about the smell, but obviously I don't want it to be smelled outside of the basement.
--
Which method do you guys feel would be best suit my situation when it comes to supplying air to my air conditioning unit? I currently have it setup as option #1, and I mention all of this because of my concern of the negative pressure and the impact it could have on the unit. I also wanted to know if anyone else had tried this before and knew which route I should go with in terms of running most efficiently cost wise.
---------------------------
Insulation Methods:
I figure a good way to help reduce running costs with the a/c unit is to either help insulate to keep the cold in and the heat out.
#1 - Foam Insulation Board
I have about 96 cubic feet of space that I would have to foam board, which likely would take me 4, or possibly 5 pieces of board. Figure at about $18-$20 per sheet that's roughly $80-120 dollars to insult the entire room with foam board. This seems to be a costly option at the moment, but if it makes that much difference in the monthly bill then I'll pick some up tomorrow.
#2 - Custom Glass For Reflector
Literally, the only heat that is generated inside of the room is from my 315w bulb, which the ballast and all of that other jazz is out of the room. I have a glass cover over the reflector, and the bulb is air cooled (334 CFM), which is exhausted out of the room. The outside of the reflector is always cold to the touch, but under the glass is where the heat can be felt noticeably. I have been playing around with the idea of getting a custom piece of insulated glass cut or something of the sort to help reduce the transfer of heat. I have plenty of light in my room for what I need to achieve, so having an extra pane of glass doesn't bother me too much.
--
Which insulation option do you guys feel would be the most effective cost verses efficiency wise? The foam would help keep the cold in the room, but the custom glass for the reflector could eliminate a lot of my heat issues AND there's the chance I might NOT have to use an air conditioner (BIG $AVINGS).
