Hi, I have a 8 foot by 6 foot area in my garage that I am setting up. It is in the corner so two of the walls are made of the garage walls, and the other 2 walls I made using sheet rock and 2 X 4's as the foundation. I bought the following equipment: - (1) 1,000W light (Lumenaire 6") - (1) Remote Ballast (Budget Gro II 1,000W HPS) - (1) Can Filter 75 (10") - (1) Valueline 10 Inch 780 CFM Centrifugal Inline Fan - (1) Ultragrow 10 inch ducting - (1) Can-Filter 33 - (1) Valueline 6 Inch 435 CFM Centrifugal Inline Fan - (1) Ultragrow PVC 6" Ducting - (1) 6" In-line duct fan - (1) 6" Flange Kit I have the light set up in the middle of the room. I have the Can-Filter 75 in a corner standing up with the Valueline 10 Inch 780 CFM Centrifugal Inline Fan attached to it with the 10 inch ducting as well. I made a 10 inch hole in one of the walls by the corner up and it is at the top of the wall. I am having a hard time with what to do next. I have the Can-Filter 33 for the air intake system. Should I make a 6" hole at the bottom of the other wall (opposite the 10" hole) and have the can-filter 33 outside of the room? I know I am supposed to use the Valueline 6 Inch 435 CFM Centrifugal Inline Fan and have it attached to the light and attach the Ultragrow PVC 6" Ducting to the fan and have it extend out to another 6" hole that I would make on top of the same wall that I would make the 6" hole on the bottom for the air intake system. Also, what I really just want to know IF i can set everything up with what I have and what the first few steps would be. I am kind of at an impasse now and would like to get it done, and would REALLY appreciate any type of help. I'm also attaching pics of what my room looks like Thanks
First off you need at least 50 watts per sq ft. 6x8' chamber you will need at least 2400 watts to properly light that area.. The carbon scrubber should be hooked to the exhaust fan.. So the fan sucks the chamber's air through the filter which scrubbs the bad oder and exhausts it... Unless the lamp is going to make the room too hot to fast, you really do not need to remove the lamp heat.. A rule of thumb I personally use is; if I can keep the chamber's temp between 75-78F for at least 3hrs without having to exhaust the heat, I do not use a fan to cool the lamp.. You should exhaust the room around every 3hrs to bring in fresh air (Co2).. So if the exhaust fan comes on say every hour, then I would suggest a lamp cooling fan.. I would suggest setting the room up and testing all systems for 24hrs before you even start the seeds.. You want to keep the chamber's temp around 75-78F (no Co2) and humidity around 60%...
^ Exhaust the room every three hours?! I have my exhaust and desk fans running permanently in my 7x5 room with 5 plants. Enough plants will use a room full of carbon dioxide in 10 or 15 minutes. I figure the more fresh air the better, I'd definitely never only exhaust every three hours.
Well I guess everyone's area is different, because they say normal atmospheric Co2 is 300ppm, and the plants grow FINE outdoors!!! Now when I have tested my tents right after a venting, I get 1100ppm and right before the exhaust (usually around 3hrs) the chamber(s) are still around 600-700ppm. Of course the tents are in a basement which I heat with a propane heater (in winter) and the hot water tank also in the basement running on propane... Thus the 1100ppm.. But when I test the upper level of the house, it is still will into the 800s ppm... So ya, I would say a 3hr dump would be fine... Running the fans all the time just creates unwanted noise, and wear and tare on the fans, and also adds cost to the grow as far as electric consumption...
But how big is your grow area and how many plants do you have in it? Also, most people aren't drawing from an air supply with 1,100ppm CO2. You're right that it's not strictly necessary to keep them running permanently. The only reason I have mine on is because I haven't been able to find a timer that can operate in less than 15 minute intervals. I have a 240m^3/h (141cfm) in a 3.51m^3 (124ft^3) room, drawing from and venting outdoors. I'd probably have this running 3 minutes on 10 minutes off, if I had a timer that could do it. There's also the fact that you need to vent hot humid air out of the room. A 1000W bulb will heat that room within minutes without ventilation.