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Mini Split Vs Window Shaker


matt79

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Hi. Currently my 18×15 room is running 6 air cooled 1000watters and 2 600s.

I cool the room with 2 12000btu window shakers. In the summer on hot nights the a/c runs almost continuously.

I'm thinking of switching to a mini split. I have my eye on a 36000 btu unit that has 3 heads, each 12k btu. I figure that I can put 2 heads in the garage/growroom and 1 in my bedroom because my room is hot. The units also feature a heatpump which is nice.

I'm wondering if I will save $$$ running a high SEER mini split vs the 2 15amp 12000btu window units plus the cost of space heaters during winter when the lights aren't running.

The total cost of this unit with install is around 3600.

Also since my a/c units are on 1 side of the room it tends to be hotter on the far side....like 75 on the cool side and 85 on the far side.

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This doesn't answer your question but you might want to look into liquid cooled lights. It might be less expensive to buy liquid cooled fixtures than to buy and install new AC. I don't currently use liquid cooled fixtures because I significantly down sized my grow. At one point I was running 9000 watts liquid cooled. During the summer I had reservoir water storage outdoors and only needed 5,000 BTU AC window units in my bedrooms. In the cooler months I used four 55-gallon barrels of water indoors.

 

A huge benefit of liquid cooled lights is that you can place the lights much closer to the plants.

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Personally i would go with a mini split, but be picky with it. Aircooling, you should have zero problems with two 12k heads. youll probably save something on the bill...how much i dunno lol. I would just make sure to check the operating temps for it. Some only work down to like 40 degrees, with 5 degrees being the minimum without voiding the warranty. Youll likely not even need air cooling in the cooler months.

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Maybe he likesa variety, and for ease of growing they each have thier own lights. :)

My lightbill with fans and lights  plus ac runs $580 a month hes got to be closer to $1200 to $1500 a month its not economically sensible to run this size of grow for 5 patients not knocking him  if his 5 patients got deep pockets good for him .

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My electric runs about 650 on the time of day rate plan. But I also have a big house, 2 75 gallon aquariums, electric stove, and a terrarium. The window units in the room each draw 15 amps and 1200 watts. I'm running cool tubes and I really thought that when I changed from 600watt bulbs with parabolic reflectors to 1000watt cool tubes that the air cooling would remove most of the heat, and the lower a/c bill would offset the cost of the 1000watt bulbs.

Not so. Didn't happen. Temps got hotter and a/c runs harder.

I'm hopeful a mini split will lower the electric bill and make my bedroom not so hot. This was my first run with 1000 Watters and I'm not impressed

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This doesn't answer your question but you might want to look into liquid cooled lights. It might be less expensive to buy liquid cooled fixtures than to buy and install new AC. I don't currently use liquid cooled fixtures because I significantly down sized my grow. At one point I was running 9000 watts liquid cooled. During the summer I had reservoir water storage outdoors and only needed 5,000 BTU AC window units in my bedrooms. In the cooler months I used four 55-gallon barrels of water indoors.

 

A huge benefit of liquid cooled lights is that you can place the lights much closer to the plants.

You never want to use liquid cooled lights, we arent on the space station. I(f you have a water chiiler out back MAYBE yeah, most liking NO.

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My lightbill with fans and lights  plus ac runs $580 a month hes got to be closer to $1200 to $1500 a month its not economically sensible to run this size of grow for 5 patients not knocking him  if his 5 patients got deep pockets good for him .

i was gona say king, i run inbetween 4 and 6, and my bill is about 550 a month. And i think alot of that these recent months is dehumidifers never shutting off.
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  • 2 weeks later...

You never want to use liquid cooled lights, we arent on the space station. I(f you have a water chiiler out back MAYBE yeah, most liking NO.

Why would you say that when I just shared my own experience running liquid cooled lights? And I explained how I did it without a water chiller. And obviously I'm not on a space station.

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My setup/recommendation is a mini split.  I went from a 14k portable, that couldn't keep up with 4 1000's in mid summer to a 24k minisplit, bills dropped in half and it has no problem with all 4 lights in mid summer.  Now, portables are worse than window shakers, but not that much.  If the question is Window Shaker vs Mini split, the split is by far worth the money. 

 

I did get the DC inverter since when it is needed, it needs constant cooling.  With a standard non-dc inverter type, they turn on and off, and aren't as efficient.  I paid $3200 for a 24k mini split single head, installed, with 3 years labor and 10 years part warranty.  It is saving me $300+ a month and I have no temp issues, it is rock steady lights on or off.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Why would you say that when I just shared my own experience running liquid cooled lights? And I explained how I did it without a water chiller. And obviously I'm not on a space station.

Anything in front of the lights will decrease PAR. He needs to increase ac and get the glass out of the hoods. Now you want to add water. Now you have to add heat exchangers so you don't have any condensation. Plus 4x55 gal containers outside your house is hardly convenient. Space Station setup for sure. You couldn't give away those fixtures.

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