AC Question

[dman1234]

I know a better AC would be best but i dont plant to grow indoors in summer anymore, so i wanna get to the end of July with the window unit, here is what i bought for the AC intake.

 

[BBFan]

Hey dman- Those sold as filters for the a/c?

 

[dman1234]

no, they are charcoal pads for fish tanks, but my AC has a washable filter on it so i replaced it with these.

 

[Bill C]

While there is always a small (insignificant) amount of leakage, a window unit does not exchange inside air with the outside. However, a portable unit that sits in the room does exchange inside air (and the smell that goes along with it) to the outside.

All AC units have two heat exchangers in them. The first exchanger is the radiator in the front of the unit that feels cold. As room air is passed through this exchanger, the heat is transferred to the refrigerant. The result is the cold air you feel coming out of the unit in the front.

The second exchanger takes the heat in the refrigerant and exchanges it to the outside. On a window unit, it's the radiator in the back that gets hot. The window AC takes the outside air and passes it through this hot exchanger to get rid of the heat that was taken from the room.

Portable units that sit inside the room still need to get rid of the heat that was absorbed from the room, and they use an exhaust hose for this; typically exhausting out a window. Because the portable unit sits inside the room without access to outside air, it pulls air (and smell) from the room to pass through the heat exchanger and then vents it outside. Without the exhaust vent on portable units, any heat removed from the room would immediately be pumped right back into the room from the back of the unit, thus defeating the purpose.

If smell is a concern, then I would prefer a window unit over a portable unit.

 

[dman1234]

While there is always a small (insignificant) amount of leakage, a window unit does not exchange inside air with the outside. However, a portable unit that sits in the room does exchange inside air (and the smell that goes along with it) to the outside.

All AC units have two heat exchangers in them. The first exchanger is the radiator in the front of the unit that feels cold. As room air is passed through this exchanger, the heat is transferred to the refrigerant. The result is the cold air you feel coming out of the unit in the front.

The second exchanger takes the heat in the refrigerant and exchanges it to the outside. On a window unit, it's the radiator in the back that gets hot. The window AC takes the outside air and passes it through this hot exchanger to get rid of the heat that was taken from the room.

Portable units that sit inside the room still need to get rid of the heat that was absorbed from the room, and they use an exhaust hose for this; typically exhausting out a window. Because the portable unit sits inside the room without access to outside air, it pulls air (and smell) from the room to pass through the heat exchanger and then vents it outside. Without the exhaust vent on portable units, any heat removed from the room would immediately be pumped right back into the room from the back of the unit, thus defeating the purpose.

If smell is a concern, then I would prefer a window unit over a portable unit.

Thanks, I had already looked into this and what you wrote on window units is correct.

good post anyways for others who may read this.

 

[pcduck]

dman..In the big box stores, they sell charcoal filters, that are for HEPA filters, that comes in a much larger piece of filter material. fyi

 

[dman1234]

Yes, i actually ended up returning the charcoal pads i had and bought and bought exactly what your talking about,

Thanks for the replies.