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This would be a cool highland chamber!

You can make a huge highland terrarium way cheaper than this out of a wood frame covered in tub wall surround (waterproof white fiberglass from home depot). Put a plexiglass lid on top (home depot) and a single pane storm window on the front ($26 menards) and just use a 5200 BTU air conditioner to cool the nights (wal mart has these ACs for $70 right now). Put an ultrasonic humidifier on the terrarium ac inlet and whatever lights you want just set them ontop and you're ready to rock. That's what I did anyway.
 
"Cool highland chamber" Is that a pun?
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Joe
 
josh,
that is a really nice sounding chamber, quite cheap too...... wow, I have new options now!! Thankyou, can you give me anymore info on it? Or advise any reading? Thanks
 
Joe, will the AC on those $70 units get cold enough for ultrahighlanders? My AC unit only cools to 51F (drop of about 10 over normal night lows). Is this what can be expected or is this high just because my unit is older?
 
I think you meant Josh
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Joe

Swords, That does sound pretty "cool"
I have been around sick people too long.
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Hey josh, or others, can you recomend any reading or a place to find info on making a highland chamber....I REALLY REALLY want to do this,
thanks
 
You can get quite decent cooling from a window AC unit but  it will depend upon your local climate. If you live in florida a 5000 BTU may be like having someone fan you with a piece of paper! In MN it's perfect for me. Just keep your receipt and return it if it doesn't get cold enough. Then just pay a few extra $$ and get a step up model and see if that works better. Also, those of you who are alreayd doing this, I didn't get as good of cooling last year because I'd lost the filter for my AC and it got clogged with dust, pollen, dandelion seeds and all sorts of forest litter that blows around in my backyard area. If you have access to an air compressor spray the AC out after each years use or every couple months if you have to use it all the time to get good nighttime temps. Getting it uncloged does wonders for it's cooling efficiency/ability.

I dreamed up this chamebr & cooling idea by thinking about how I would operate a greenhouse for Neps if I had the land to do so. So how I came up with my highland chamber idea was by studying climate control for greenhouses and buying books on teh subject. There's no sites I know of which state how to do what I'm doing here. I keep meaning to rebuild my highland chamber in the same manner as the one I described but about twice as deep as I deperately need space to do highjland cuttings and a few plants are getting too big).  

When I do finally get around to it I will photograph each step of the way. For the moment I do still have this quickie diagram of how the whole unit looks broken down into it's simple pieces. I tried to explain my logic behind the parts in the key below the image. I hope it helps all you aspiring highlanders out there!  
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A   4"/10 cm diameter Intake fan from radio shack sold as "PC / CPU fan". This blows air into the duct and eventually the chamber. Most of the time, in Minnesota all I have to do is set the fan in the window to get "perfect" highland temps day and night. In winter I set the fan infront of a closed window so the temps don't go below 40*F at night. In summer I need to use an AC from about mid june til early sept. I will be starting in with the AC tonight and so I will simply place the intake fan infront of the AC's output at night and get nice temperature drops from 45-50*F.  I attached a starightened out paperclip to one of the holes on the chasis of the 4" fan so it can be hung on the AC unit (this will take some ingenuity on your part cos each AC is likely a bit different).

B   Mount plate for 4" diameter duct hose and glue fan on opposite side blowing "in". This is just a picee of metal with a 4" hole and a little piece of metal tubing that the duct slides onto.

C   4" diameter flexible aluminum duct hose. slide over the metal tube on that mount plate secure with the handymans secret weapon...

D   Ultrasonic humidifier with output hole uncovered. This is attached to a humidiistat which can be found at greenhouse suppliers online or SOMETIMES at home depot. The home depot ones will need to have a "remote power cord" attached to them that is, a power cord which has a plug with a plug on the back. the ultrasonic humidifier is plugged into the "piggyback" slot and the power cord is wired to the humidistat this is plugged into the wall and set for the desired humidity level. Since I have fans blowing fresh air into my highland terrariums day and night I have it set for maximum of 80% for an "on time" of about 50%.


E    2" diameter hose fitted inside the ultrasonic humidifiers output (glue with aquarium silicone duct tape comes unstuck due to smooth surfaces and high moisture) this 2" hose from the humidifier intersects the flexible duct work BEFORE the incoming air reaches the terrarium. Just cut it open and insert the 2" hose a couple inches into the 4" hose and secure the join with duct tape. Make this intersection at least 12" to 24" before the "terrarium" end of the duct. This way the incoming air is almost 100% saturated with fog before it ever touches the plants.

F  This is the chamber itself. Built from 2" x 2" planks made into a box then with the fiberglass tub surround sheets cut to size, screwed down and then sealed with bathtub caulk. Aquarium silicone is too expensive for the amount you'll be using to seal a big chamber!
Leave the top and front open to place the lid glass and front window. I used plexiglass ontop and a storm window mounted upside down for the door. It's upsidedown so that when I wanna open it and take pics, feed or water them I just click the latches and slide the window down (which would be "up if it were mounted correctly). If the storm window were mounted correctly I would have to actually remove both panes from the frame to do this. Upside down I don't do anything but slide it down and up!

If you increase the Chamber beyond 4 ft x 4 ft x 4ft in size or you live in a much warmer climate than me (about USDA zone 3a or 4a I think, West Central Minnesota) you may need a bigger air conditioner than 5000 BTUs or a larger/higer speed fan and a reducer duct. You will have to experiment with that based on your local climate.

Lighting: I use power compacts on this tank because it is 4 feet deep and the light must be punched down with intensity far enough to be effective. I also grow orchids and things like that under my Nep bench so there must be enough light getting to them too.

Good luck kiddies!
 
swords thats a great idea!!!

I just saw some of the A/C units at wally world for 69.99 I'll have to pick one up and see how well they work in the cali climate....

You're just a typing load of information.. what great help!
 
  • #10
Yeah he's a load...er, I mean yes he's very informative!
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We have these split, sideways-open-with-a-crank windows here that don't appear to have been made with a window AC unit in mind. You do need access to the outside to run one, right?


Joe
 
  • #11
You can run an AC indoors .. however. You need to deal with the heat output which is quite a bit.. and the water dripping from the unit.


T
 
  • #12
Tony,

A little off subject, but do you know if that water as pure as some people say it is? I was thinking of Darlingtonia sitting below....

Joe
 
  • #13
If the unit is kept fairly clean, I would expect the condensation water to be quite pure. While it may have a little dust in it and perhaps a trace of the metal the tubes are made of, it won't have any of the dissolved minerals found in ground water.

T
 
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