Grow Room Portable AC & 2x4 tent queries

[Giant Flying Wombat]

Hello all!

So, about to start another grow with somewhat terrible seasonal timing! Southern Hemisphere here so going into summer which is not so forgiving on the indoor grower!
Working with a small tent, 2 x 4 x 6..ish? I wont go into too much detail but basically an attic grow, mezzanine so basically air circulation ain’t so bad.
I’m in a rental, so cant be putting no holes in walls!
Drama is, temps get real hot up there. As its a mezzanine all the heat from the house builds up. There is a velux window which I will have to attach an internal fly screen to so I can keep it open 24/7 which should help with removing some of the heat.

Now, the big issue. Initially I had the portable AC inside the tent. It’s very small, 32cm x 30cm footprint. But even so, that means 1 plant not 2, which is just plain crazy. I set it up as this anyway to try it out. I have it connected to an inkbird thermo controller by the way, with settings at 26c + 3c, so at 29 it goes on and brings down to 26.
When it went on, the negative pressure was insane. I vent from the exhaust out of the tent, which blows pretty hard, but a lot less than most portable ac. Even so, it was mad, the tent was almost inverted!!
So, to stop that and free space up, I switched it around and brought the ac outside the tent. I removed the vent fins to control the direction of cold air and mounted a pvc plate with collar so I can duct the cold air straight into the tent. This is great, but when the ac does go on I end up with too much positive pressure!!! Argh!!!
Not a major issue during veg, but flowering will pose problems as it may stink out the house. Fortunately the ac will only be on for about 1 or 2 minutes to get the temps down, works wonders.
I have a 6” ac infinity exhaust with carbon filter, but even at full blast it cant match the AC. I guess I could hook up a second exhaust with filter that goes on with the ac, but that’s a whole other expense.
Wondering if anyone has any suggestions?
As smell will be the primary concern I thought of ONA, but I really don’t like the idea of these chemicals floating around the house especially as I have a little one.

Thoughts appreciated!
Thanks
GFR

 

[Giant Flying Wombat]

Unsolvable problem I guess... not without spending more money!?!

 

[BII]

One option could be to get a larger tent; a size better suited to the air conditioner. I presume the AC vents all its heated air to the outside? If not, heat will just build up.

 

[Giant Flying Wombat]

Hi Bill, thanks for chiming in.
AC is outisde the tent with the exhaust venting out, so it shouldnt effect ambient temps in the room.
I would LOVE a larger tent haha! Need to be relatively discrete which makes it all quite challenging.
The only solution I can personally think of is to add another inline exhaust fan thats hooked up the same switch as the AC, so at least when the AC is pumping cold air in there are two fans exhausting out of the tent. Not even too sure whether that would be enough as the AC blows hard!
As mentioned, Im trying not to spend MORE money on the setup
But, its is what it is, and I may just have to settle with the current setup.
Winter will come back around, eventually!
cheers

 

[Olderfart]

I would have the ac not blow so hard into the tent. Hang a curtain or put a cardboard barrier or whatever in place so that the cold air from the ac covers the tent inlet but not all the cold air is forced into the tent. That way, only the air drawn in by the filter fan would enter the tent, and it would all be cold.

Good luck with it.

 

[Giant Flying Wombat]

I would have the ac not blow so hard into the tent. Hang a curtain or put a cardboard barrier or whatever in place so that the cold air from the ac covers the tent inlet but not all the cold air is forced into the tent. That way, only the air drawn in by the filter fan would enter the tent, and it would all be cold.

Good luck with it.

I’ll take a pic later so you can see. I have mounted an external vent plate backwards after removing the grill to the cool air vent on the AC, therefore I can mount ducting to the cool air vent straight into my tent.
You’ve made me think of a potential idea, you know how vacuum cleaner nahdles have that little vent near your thumb to decrease pressure...? I could put a little hole somewhere near the Ac that would release some, not too much of the air.
Thanks for chiming in

 

[Olderfart]

I’ll take a pic later so you can see. I have mounted an external vent plate backwards after removing the grill to the cool air vent on the AC, therefore I can mount ducting to the cool air vent straight into my tent.
You’ve made me think of a potential idea, you know how vacuum cleaner nahdles have that little vent near your thumb to decrease pressure...? I could put a little hole somewhere near the Ac that would release some, not too much of the air.
Thanks for chiming in

You have the idea, but it sounds like it will need a big hole. I would be tempted to get rid of the ducting altogether, but if the hole is easier, it certainly won't hurt to see whether it works. Bottom line, I think, is you need to reduce the air forced into the tent by quite a lot.

Good luck with it.

 

[Giant Flying Wombat]

You have the idea, but it sounds like it will need a big hole. I would be tempted to get rid of the ducting altogether, but if the hole is easier, it certainly won't hurt to see whether it works. Bottom line, I think, is you need to reduce the air forced into the tent by quite a lot.

Good luck with it.

Trouble is my attic is actually a mezzanine, internal balcony if you will, which means with no ducting I’m going to be trying to cool a huge area.
I’ll drill holes in the collar, keep adding more until it’s just right. Should let me fine tune it pretty well, will just take longer to cool the tent down with less coming in
Cheers

 

[Olderfart]

Trouble is my attic is actually a mezzanine, internal balcony if you will, which means with no ducting I’m going to be trying to cool a huge area.
I’ll drill holes in the collar, keep adding more until it’s just right. Should let me fine tune it pretty well, will just take longer to cool the tent down with less coming in
Cheers

Sounds like a good plan.