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Grow Room HVACD: A Smarter Climate Control Solution for Commercial Growers

Updated: Nov. 3, 2025 · 6 min read

HVAC systems are not unfamiliar to most people. As the name suggests, they refer to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Commercial HVAC systems are often used in large buildings such as hotels and office towers. Over time, these proven systems have also been applied to new fields like commercial cannabis cultivation.

Although traditional HVAC systems usually include a dehumidification function, they cannot meet the crucial dehumidification needs required to keep plants healthy in indoor grow spaces. To emphasize the importance of dehumidification when selecting HVAC systems, more climate experts and growers now use the term HVACD, which stands for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and dehumidification.

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Forum Discussion about HVAC System Suggestions

On social platforms like Reddit, we often see growers asking questions such as:

“My father-in-law owns an indoor cannabis farm and is expanding into a new 4000 sq ft building. Each grow room will have around 180k BTU load. We need to remove the moisture, offset the heat from the lights, and bring in fresh air. The current setup uses two turbine fans for fresh air, three mini-splits for cooling, and separate dehumidifiers. Are there better options for the new building?”

Some users replied:

“If this is a ‘hobby’ Mini-Splits will be ‘fine’. If this is anything professional I'd recommend trying one of those small units from Agronomic IQ. The more I read up about this, the more I realize just how crazy sensitive the environment is for these plants.”

“Look up Cultvia systems, indoor agricultural HVAC systems. I'm sure there are more types of these businesses out there, but I'm a bit familiar with this one.”

From these discussions, we can see that most growers initially think of traditional solutions for environmental control, such as mini-splits combined with separate dehumidifiers. But when the grow scale increases or the demand for stable temperature and humidity grows, they begin to realize the limits of traditional setups. This is why grow room HVACD is gaining attention. They integrate the functions of traditional HVAC while significantly improving dehumidification, energy efficiency, and climate balance control.

In other words, we do not deny that mini-splits or separate dehumidifiers can work. But if the goal is to create a high-yield, controllable, and energy-efficient grow environment, choosing a grow room HVACD is clearly the better option.

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Traditional HVAC Systems & Integrated HVACD Systems Compared

In the previous section, we mentioned that many growers gradually realize the limits of traditional HVAC setups in grow spaces. This view is further supported by a report titled The Cultivation HVACD System Comparison Study, conducted by Anvil Agronomics, Zartarian Engineering, and Anderson Porter Design.

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The study compared three systems in terms of energy efficiency, control level, and temperature and humidity stability:

System 1: Eight 4-ton ductless ceiling-hung evaporators with remote condensers for sensible load, plus seven 706-pint standalone dehumidifiers (82°F / 58% RH) for latent load removal.

System 2: Four 8-ton VRF Split Fan coils with matching remote condensers for the sensible load and seven 710-pint dehumidifiers to control the latent load.

System 3: Two 20-ton package Integrated HVACD units with full reheat coils and the ability to vary the sensible heat ratio.

The results show that the VRF split system uses the most energy, about 626,836 kWh per year. The integrated HVACD system uses the least energy, about 14% less than the ductless split system and 16% less than the VRF system. Even though VRF and small ductless systems are more efficient by themselves, they rely on less efficient standalone dehumidifiers, which increases overall energy consumption.

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The study also compared performance in two real grow rooms.

1, One 720 sq ft grow room used mini-splits with standalone dehumidifiers. Temperature fluctuated ±2.5°F, and humidity fluctuated ±10% RH. The system cycled frequently, and temperature and humidity control interfered with each other. Plants grew unevenly, were prone to powdery mildew, and yield and quality decreased significantly.
2, Another 3,456 sq ft grow room used a single integrated HVACD unit. Temperature fluctuated less than ±1°F, and humidity fluctuated about ±2.5% RH. The environment was stable, plants grew healthier, and yield and profit increased significantly. The system was also easier to control and required fewer units.

These results provide data to support growers’ experiences and scientific evidence for the advantages of grow room HVACD. HVACD meets the high-precision environmental needs of modern commercial grow rooms and aligns with energy efficiency and sustainability trends.

Based on these findings, the next section will analyze in more detail how grow room HVACD outperforms traditional systems in temperature, humidity control, and energy efficiency.

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Level of Temperature and Humidity Control

Traditional HVAC systems were originally designed for residential and commercial buildings. Their main goal is to provide a comfortable indoor environment for people, so they focus on temperature control and only assist with humidity. In residential spaces, moderate temperature or humidity changes do not cause major problems. In commercial grow spaces, this type of control cannot meet plants’ sensitive environmental needs.

In grow rooms, plants’ heat and moisture load changes with the light cycle. During the day, grow lights and equipment produce large amounts of heat. The HVAC system runs continuously to cool and dehumidify. At night, when the lights turn off and the heat load drops, traditional systems stop running once the set temperature is reached. The temperature is fine, but plants still transpire and release water, causing humidity to rise quickly. Since air conditioner is off, dehumidification stops, and humidity cannot be controlled effectively. This leads to frequent temperature and humidity fluctuations.

These fluctuations disrupt VPD balance. They reduce transpiration and nutrient uptake, which lowers photosynthesis efficiency, crop quality, and yield consistency.

In contrast, HVACD systems are all-in-one solutions designed for commercial cultivation. They integrate cooling, heating, ventilation, and dehumidification, with dehumidification as the priority.

The system can run 24/7 and automatically switch modes for different growth stages. During the day, it focuses on cooling and dehumidification. At night, it maintains climate balance with dehumidification and temperature adjustment.

This precise control keeps temperature and humidity stable, ensures optimal VPD at all stages, and achieves higher yield, better quality, and more consistent profits.

Energy Consumption

In grow rooms, energy consumption is always the largest part of operating costs. For most growers, electricity costs, especially for HVAC systems, are usually second only to labor. Traditional HVAC systems are not designed for grow environments. They often need to work with standalone dehumidifiers to control both temperature and humidity.

This combination is often inefficient. Split air conditioner lowers air humidity while cooling. The standalone dehumidifier releases heat while running, which offsets the cooling effect. The constant energy conflict between the two wastes power and causes frequent temperature and humidity fluctuations. This increases operating load and energy costs.

Grow room HVACD have a natural advantage in energy efficiency. When the system dehumidifies, the evaporator absorbs heat from the air. This heat transfers to the refrigerant and is not wasted. The system can reuse this heat based on the grow room’s needs. It can distribute the heat indoors or outdoors, partly recycle it inside, or partly exhaust it. This helps maintain temperature balance and achieves cooling, heating, and temperature adjustment.

In addition, HVACD heating is “free.” It comes from the extra heat generated during dehumidification and reduces the need for additional heating energy. Using hot gas reheat, the system provides precise climate control while significantly lowering energy use and operating costs. This gives growers higher energy efficiency and sustainability benefits.

Conclusion

From the analysis above, it is clear that grow room HVACD is superior to traditional HVAC systems. They follow plant growth patterns more closely and use energy more efficiently. With all-in-one design and smart control strategies, they provide precise temperature and humidity regulation, efficient energy recovery, and stable operation. This offers commercial growers a more controllable, economical, and reliable climate solution.

FAQ 1: What is the difference between traditional HVAC and HVACD in grow rooms?

Traditional HVAC systems are designed for human comfort and mainly focus on temperature control, offering only limited humidity regulation. In grow rooms, humidity can rise quickly when lights turn off, and traditional systems stop running once temperature is satisfied — leading to unstable VPD, mold risks, and inconsistent yields.

HVACD systems integrate cooling, heating, ventilation, and dedicated dehumidification. They can run continuously and automatically balance temperature and humidity day and night, providing the precision needed for commercial plant cultivation.

FAQ 2: Why do growers upgrade from mini-splits and standalone dehumidifiers to HVACD systems?

Mini-splits + standalone dehumidifiers can work for small or hobby grows, but they struggle with larger, commercial-scale operations. Separate systems often fight each other — AC cools and removes moisture, while dehumidifiers release heat, increasing energy waste and causing climate swings.

HVACD systems deliver tighter climate stability, higher energy efficiency, and smoother automation, resulting in healthier plants, better yields, lower operating costs, and fewer equipment units to manage.

FAQ 3: Are HVACD systems more energy-efficient than VRF or split systems?

Yes. Studies show integrated HVACD systems can use 14%–16% less energy than ductless split and VRF systems in commercial cultivation settings.

That’s because HVACD units recover heat generated during dehumidification and reuse it for reheating or temperature balancing. This reduces compressor workload and avoids the energy conflict seen in setups using separate AC and dehumidification equipment.