Hey so I'll be growing soon and have begun collecting my equipment and building things. I have a pretty good idea of how I want the box setup, so I attached a couple images of the sketchup model. Anyone with experience growing please critique my setup. It'll be a box inside a bedroom which I'd prefer to be as stealthy and quiet as possible since I spend a lot of time in the room. There are a couple simply hinged doors to make it easy to water, etc. The yellow boxes are 70cfm computer fans for intake at the bottom (2 on each side), and the red/orange boxes with the cylinder between are my exhaust filters. They consist of a 134cfm computer fan (red box) Scythe Ulta Kaze 120 x 38mm Case Fan (45.90dBa, 133.6CFM) at Xoxide!pushing through a couple inches of activated carbon with a 88cfm computer fan (orange box) Yate Loon High Speed 120mm Fan (40dBa, 88CFM) at Xoxide!pulling. How obstructive is activated carbon? I mean will I only realistically be able to push air (322cfm combined) through a 1/4" of the stuff? I also don't want the carbon to slow it down too much since the exhaust fans are placed to cool the light and expel it's hot air from the box. The smell isn't a huge concern since this won't be illegal and the exhaust filters will be pointed straight out a window but I wanted to filter it as much as I can while keeping it quiet. The lights are: 150watt HPS for top light with switchable ballast and MH bulb for veg. 5 30-42watt CFL's (only modeled as the hoods) of varying temperatures to complement the HID spectrum range for mid-lower lighting total lumens: 23,250 for veg 26,720 for flowering total wattage: 286 for veg 310 for flowering My main concern: is this light going to be too hot for the box? I'll keep the plants short and far enough away from it but I don't want it roasting the whole inside. I'll mount all the lights in a way that allows them to be raised and lowered easily as the plant grows. Any feedback greatly appreciated, planning on using this box for several grows so I wanna get it right!
I would recommend you to go with grow tent. Grow Tents - Greners.com This site has big selection and review videos, so you can compare different brands.If you still want to build your own make sure that box is non toxic. Some of the brands of plywood(pressed,glued) wooden panels will produce toxic gasses when exposed to heat. I do not think it would be a good idea to have it in the bedroom...Cheap e-bay tents are strait up trash, people complaine about bad zippers and light leaks.
Part of the reason I'm building a box is because I have access to high quality wood (I'm using solid pieces even though it looks like ply) and so that I can easily make it look like something else (dresser, cabinet etc). I also want to be ale to mount things to the inside of it.