Portable AC.. can i hook up ducting to the attic

MedicalMike420 · Apr 4, 2016

i got an portable AC has a input and output hose. i woul like to have all ducting attached to the attic. i have a light hooked up to there too. so i will have the inputs for my light and my air conditioner, along with the outputs for both all leading up into the attic.
Will it work fine?
The light already works fine, im more asking about the ac

ButchyBoy · Apr 4, 2016

I would not think pulling air from the attic to supply the A/C would be a good idea. Once summer hits it would not work out so well.
I would let it pull from the room or another place like a window.

MedicalMike420 · Apr 4, 2016

ButchyBoy said:
I would not think pulling air from the attic to supply the A/C would be a good idea. Once summer hits it would not work out so well.
I would let it pull from the room or another place like a window.

so sit the ac in the grow room and have ducting hooked up to my bedroom? I dont care bout my living space.. only the plants

MedicalMike420 · Apr 4, 2016

ButchyBoy said:
I would not think pulling air from the attic to supply the A/C would be a good idea. Once summer hits it would not work out so well.
I would let it pull from the room or another place like a window.

im concerned about the exaust and humidity, not pulling air

ButchyBoy · Apr 4, 2016

MedicalMike420 said:
i woul like to have all ducting attached to the attic. i have a light hooked up to there too. so i will have the inputs for my light and my air conditioner, along with the outputs for both all leading up into the attic.

This is what I read... You want to run all of the ducts to the attic correct?

What I was meaning is pulling the hot air from the attic into the A/C will not work as efficiently as it should. You can blow all the air you want into the attic.

nomofatum · Apr 4, 2016

MedicalMike420 said:
im concerned about the exaust and humidity, not pulling air

If you own the home/building, don't exhaust anything with humidity into the attic. That is how you end up with an attic full of mold. That said, winter is actually when that can be more of a problem.

HydroRed · Apr 4, 2016

A picture speaks 1000 words.
Set it up loosely relative to this:

I also wouldnt vent the air into your attic, just the same as you wouldnt do it for a shower room. Find a vent in your attic/crawlspace which most homes with attics have to vent out of or tap into your chimney stack if possible. Do you have a bathroom fan that vents outside? Find that vent and tap into it.
There should be at least one of a few ways to vent properly.
More words of caution:
Make sure you will be setting your portable A/C unit and your lighting (specially HID lighting) and fans etc on a circuit that can handle the load -cautious it isnt branced off by 3 other circuits on a 15 A breaker with other things from other rooms plugged into it. It will draw a lot of juice and stuff can get hot if it isnt rated for that kind of load.
Dont have anything electrical on the ground. Get all plugs/ extention cords/adapters etc off the floor. Set up like an aquarium with drip loops on everything.
Be safe.

MedicalMike420 · Apr 4, 2016

HydroRed said:
A picture speaks 1000 words.
Set it up loosely relative to this:

View attachment 3649755

I also wouldnt vent the air into your attic, just the same as you wouldnt do it for a shower room. Find a vent in your attic/crawlspace which most homes with attics have to vent out of or tap into your chimney stack if possible. Do you have a bathroom fan that vents outside? Find that vent and tap into it.
There should be at least one of a few ways to vent properly.
More words of caution:
Make sure you will be setting your portable A/C unit and your lighting (specially HID lighting) and fans etc on a circuit that can handle the load -cautious it isnt branced off by 3 other circuits on a 15 A breaker with other things from other rooms plugged into it. It will draw a lot of juice and stuff can get hot if it isnt rated for that kind of load.
Dont have anything electrical on the ground. Get all plugs/ extention cords/adapters etc off the floor. Set up like an aquarium with drip loops on everything.
Be safe.

yes i do have a vent in the bathroom. so find that? wont the air go back down into the bathroom when the bathroom fan is off? how should i do this? im assuming i should see a metal duct in the attic.. so take it apart and install a T joint in it

HydroRed · Apr 4, 2016

Most bathroom vents have louvers built into them already to help stop this from happening. Also, there is a difference between a "T" pipe and a "y" pipe. You will need a "y" pipe to stop backflow from occouring in your exhaust. Notice in my picture it is shaped like the letter "y" and not a "T". The air wont just turn the corner in a "T". With a "y" pipe the force of the straightest duct blowing out helps create vaccum from the slanted duct -creating the opposite of a backpressure.
You can also put a louver inline yourself on the exhaust between the bathroom exhaust and the branch of the "y" if you still feel you need this.

MedicalMike420 · Apr 4, 2016

HydroRed said:
Most bathroom vents have louvers built into them already to help stop this from happening. Also, there is a difference between a "T" pipe and a "y" pipe. You will need a "y" pipe to stop backflow from occouring in your exhaust. Notice in my picture it is shaped like the letter "y" and not a "T". The air wont just turn the corner in a "T". With a "y" pipe the force of the straightest duct blowing out helps create vaccum from the slanted duct -creating the opposite of a backpressure.
You can also put a louver inline yourself on the exhaust between the bathroom exhaust and the branch of the "y" if you still feel you need this.

do you think it would it be easier to just intake from and exaust into my bedroom?

HydroRed · Apr 4, 2016

You will have to determine whats easiest for your application. I dont know what you are using or what you are doing with it or what the setup of your house looks like etc. I can merely state the basics and let you make a decision from that.

Reddi Parker · Apr 6, 2016

HydroRed said:
You will have to determine whats easiest for your application. I dont know what you are using or what you are doing with it or what the setup of your house looks like etc. I can merely state the basics and let you make a decision from that.

I have a closed loop system grow closet. The safest place for me to set it up is in the attic. I'm concerned about the temperature around the grow closet tho. It's supposed to be regulated between 68-72.

Can you give me some suggestions for accomplishing this?

I have a nice portable air conditioner for summer and heaters for the winter. Should I build a small plastic room around my supercloset and setup those units when needed?

Can I use the attic ducting like the user above has posted?? Which would be better.

MedicalMike420 · Apr 7, 2016

Reddi Parker said:
I have a closed loop system grow closet. The safest place for me to set it up is in the attic. I'm concerned about the temperature around the grow closet tho. It's supposed to be regulated between 68-72.

Can you give me some suggestions for accomplishing this?

I have a nice portable air conditioner for summer and heaters for the winter. Should I build a small plastic room around my supercloset and setup those units when needed?

Can I use the attic ducting like the user above has posted?? Which would be better.

my understanding is lights are fine to blow directly into the attic and I've been doing it.
The air conditioner gives off a lot of humid air which is going to cause mold/mildew problems in the attic. If you have a bathroom vent that goes up in the attic it should have an exaust vent leading outside, you can hook your AC ducting up to that with a "y" joint. Just make sure you hook it up so the air flows out, not towards your bathroom.
I'm going to try to vent my AC directly into the room that the closet is in, if that doesn't work out I will extend the ducting to a window and find a way to hide it or I'll go with the attic thing.
If it's your house I would go into the ducting, I wouldn't mess with any of that stuff without permission from the house owner

Reddi Parker · Apr 7, 2016

MedicalMike420 said:
my understanding is lights are fine to blow directly into the attic and I've been doing it.
The air conditioner gives off a lot of humid air which is going to cause mold/mildew problems in the attic. If you have a bathroom vent that goes up in the attic it should have an exaust vent leading outside, you can hook your AC ducting up to that with a "y" joint. Just make sure you hook it up so the air flows out, not towards your bathroom.
I'm going to try to vent my AC directly into the room that the closet is in, if that doesn't work out I will extend the ducting to a window and find a way to hide it or I'll go with the attic thing.
If it's your house I would go into the ducting, I wouldn't mess with any of that stuff without permission from the house owner

Thanks Mike. I appreciate you throwing a little clarity on there for me.

Yes it's my house. I'll check the other side of the attic for the bathroom vent. When I find it I'll have to lay some flooring down and build up a side wall. Kinda a pain BC the other side of the attic has already been setup 50% + for usage by the previous owner. Well flooring, lighting, and a nice 3 way closed off room.....but nothing's under there but my garage.

Reddi Parker · Apr 7, 2016

I'll be doing my project in the next 3 weeks. If you'll keep me comprised of your project I'll do the same with mine. Thanks again.

Portable AC.. can i hook up ducting to the attic

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