Planning to post my closet grow tent and duct/ventilation setup later. Everything I do I try to use what's around the house or available for cheap since I'm pretty broke. These are usually the product of a little herb induced thinking. Bear these things in mind when it comes to any criticisms. Rigged/Cheap Light Array- Grabbed the guts from a 4 socket vanity at a used house supply place for $2.00, then took the short cord (from block to wall) on an old broken laptop charger and wired a plug for it. I spliced the cord and peeled back the coating on the wires about 1/4". To wire the white/black power to the three cords (no colors) of the laptop cable I matched white to the ribbed strand and black to the smooth strand. I believe the middle strand is a ground or is related to the laptop needing a company branded laptop charger. Used electrical tape and duct tape to finish the splice. Tested it with about 200 watts of incandescent and CFL since I don't have all my bulbs yet. Total cost: $2.00 for the lighting array.
I'm all about the DIY myself buddy, it's really fun (not to mention cheap). Yeah that third wire is your ground. Incandescent bulbs are only going to provide heat for your grow space so chuck 'em. If you get a few 42 watt cfls and rig up a nice reflector you'll be ready in no time. I'd definitely suggest investing in some wire nuts, they make wire splicing much easier and safer. Make sure those wires are taped down or some such, don't want loose wires touching hot bulbs.
Thanks for the feedback bro. I've got four 26w 6,500k CFL for sprouting some seedlings, I didn't pop them on the rig for the picture because I didn't want to risk those bulbs. I'm thinking about taking the sockets off of the metal plate to rig up in some reflectors. Definitely will add those wire nuts though, have someone that is going to hook me up for free. Thanks again for the feedback!
Cheap Ventilation and Duct - Here's a cheap ventilation and duct I'm putting together. The cone part is from an old, broken lamp; I'm going to rig up a PC fan in it and put it up against my grow tent. The duct is secured with duct tape and the duct itself is made from small sized redbull cans. Just clipped out the top and bottom and pressed it flat. I'm going to run the other end into a coffee-can carbon filter I'm building. Planning to take pictures of that setup once I finish building it. I've tested air flow using a small fan and it seems to conduct it well. Total Cost: $0 technically since I used all left over stuff. $2.00 per redbull can (I had them laying around anyway).
I am a huge diy fanatic. I love your ideas, they're great!Here's a temporary carbon filter I made recently. I was working on another one and just hadn't finished it yet, but then my girl started to stink up more than I had expected. So I just found stuff around the house and whipped one up in about five minutes. I used a wooden cross-stitch frame, cut two circles in the mesh from an old strainer, and activated carbon from my fish tank. I layered the carbon between the steel mesh, and secured it with the wooden frame, tightening it to fit. Then I taped it to my exhaust and hooooly crap, it made a difference almost immediately.