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How you keep a cool vivarium cool...

Discussion in 'Growing Areas' started by orchidkarma, Jul 6, 2010.

  1. Jul 6, 2010 #1
    orchidkarma

    orchidkarma Member

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    Location:
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    Perhaps it was wishful thinking believing that I was going to be able to cool the new cool vivarium all summer only with the help of outside air. But not really... we normally do not have much of this nice summer weather... But it has been very warm here lately so I decided to install a small portable air conditioner for cooling the cool vivarium.

    It is not very powerful, only 6000 BTU, but it does not have to be since it is going to be cooling such a small area. The main thing was that it had to have was a mechanical switch so I can hook it up to an external thermostat and timer. I have ordered a Lucky Reptile Thermo Control PRO II to handle the regulating part. You to set different temperatures for day and night and it has a built in minute timer for on/off functionality and you can switch between heating and cooling modes. I turned on the AC and it brought the temperature inside the viv down from 24-28 degrees to about 15-16 in about an hour.

    Much more info and pictures on my blog. More on the vivarium build in this thread.

    Video of the AC installation.

    afarm5.static.flickr.com_4094_4769233796_3199819b86_b.jpg
     
  2. Jul 6, 2010 #2
    harrywitmore

    harrywitmore Member

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    What does it do to the humidity? I'm assuming it's drawing air from the room and not the viv for cooling purposes.
     
  3. Jul 6, 2010 #3
    Alexis

    Alexis New Member

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    Woah, that's really impressive. I'm interested in building a cool tank some time in my future, so you are paving the way for me!
     
  4. Jul 7, 2010 #4
    orchidkarma

    orchidkarma Member

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    Thanks!! Always happy to be of help/inspiration. :D
    About the humidity... well, not a big difference at all I must say... maybe 50-10% lower, but it's still well above 75% in there. Yes, the AC draws the warm air from the room, not the viv, so the room on the other hand is getting a bit less humid in the process, but the windowsill orchids will just have to manage in the summer.... it's all a matter of prioritizing. ;)