hey guys .. I am building a supplemental grow cabinet to house mothers, do some occasional flowering / seeding , and cloning ... attached in the pics is a basic workshop table with 3 divisions underneath. both the sides and back and bottom are insulated panels ) I will have ducting running top and bottom at the back for air intake / exhaust ( I will be cutting into the duct in each of the flower and veg room and attaching computer fans. the ducts will end at the inside of the wall on the left (3rd) room where 2 more computer fans will be mounted (six fans total, two per room, out/in) >>> all this ducting leads to the right side of the cabinet where it is fed in and exhusted (two more fans ... I will strictly be using CFL's and floros and each room will have its own electrical outlet. I was hoping someone will be able to guide me in methods of tapping into the duct with whatever attachment that might also assist in directional airflow (should I angle these offshoots?) or would a small squirrel fan on both intake and outtake ducts do the job completely . . yes i know about temperature differences and was thinking on maybe switching top for intake and bottom for outtake.. ALSo .. and more importantly though is I need ideas on providing any amount heat safely or at least helping in getting me temps to a satisfactory level. I am a few days away from testing to see what the base temperature willl be unaided, but FYI the garage is definitely at freezing or thereabouts currently (ontario canada) I am open to any ideas that are fire safe.... thank you very much.
Do you mean the red bulbs...well a 150 watt heat bulb can warm a typical hotel bathroom in a couple minutes...so I think it would torch the hell out of your plants....maybe try a electric heat blanket Also...make sure the fiberglass fibers dont get on your buds...it can ruin your smoke
hi there fellow canadian! 60 or 100 watts white bulbs are great but the best is to experience. Definetly put a socket in there somewhere and test witch bulb is right for you. Think about air flow between the 3 rooms of your cabinet to ensure even dispersion of heat. Finally, prevent your plant from getting in contact with the hot bulb. i used to heat a 4x3x6 feet grow room with 400 watts of fluorescent and one 100 watt bulb. the growroom was in the basement of my quebec home so you guess it was very cold... no more than 10 in the basement and way below 0 outside! You really should use an air bubble plastic sheet with an aluminium reflective side to insulate the interior of your rooms. the alu side will reflect the light and the heat to limit dispersion in the wood. remember that wood is a competitor to your plants... it eats the light and the humidity that you want your plants to have. Feed your plants, not your cabinet as far as ventilation goes, you can use only one fan to exhaust the dirty air and a hole covered with a grill for air intake. A squirrel fan is ideal since it gives you more air movement for the same energy cost and it can also be powerful enough to make your plants move with the air flow witch helps them grow stronger, but it sucks your heat out way faster. experimentation is the key i guess... good luck and keep in touch!
This is a good topic. I've seen a number of folks asking about this here and on ICmag lately. Glad I'm not the only one trying to engineer for cold temps. I'm experimenting with an intake using a 6"x10" register box that can fit a small space heater that vents into my grow chambers. Not too different from your layout actually. Check out my grow box thread: http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-design-setup/320304-odor-free-growbox-cfls.html I'm in the process of lining the whole cabinet with reflectix to try to keep as much heat inside, but balancing airflow against heat is going to be tough. With no exhaust fan temps read 165F/74C at the grow chamber intakes, but once I'm running 5 air exchanges per minute who knows what it will look like. I'll be running an enviro test this week to see what happens. I'll post results in my thread. GL and let us know how you fare.
Thanks guys ... all great advice ... the finishing details are also important i think i'll try the 75watt bulb in socket - i have socket plugs already. And throw in a bowl of water also for the humidity issues. The intake fan being substituted for just a vent i think is brillient - kinda avoids the blowing of cold air onto my girls - yes i know the rules of air dispersement ..but it just seems to be a gentler intake method. My water is not freezing yet so it's probably just a bit above freezing ... Funny how this heat issue is the exact opposite to my other setup where I am 2 weeks away from moving my girls into my flowering room and i can't get the temps down to satisfactory levels. 2.5 x 3 x 7 enclosed room, 400W air cooled reflector with attached diy carbon filter. A 120 cfm inline vortex was first exhaust attemp, and a stanley blower was second atempt. i'm thinking maybe the intakes are insufficient. ALso I have about 20 ft of duct to vent through until it goes to the register outside. I Modded a stanley blower like so many people have graciously posted ... the only difference was i used sheet metal shears to cut the floor register duct so i could mold the opening to the exact size on the stanley. and attach with duct tape ... no spray foam required,
question concerning utilization of a 75w incandescent bulb for heating up my individual compartments .... will that light throw off the 12/12 or 18/6 cycles that the plants are on or should i use a green bulb or something else? thx.
whoa ... sweet .... it's like these things are custom made to each man's problem ..lol I've read that marijuana plants cannot see the green spectrum of light thus using green party lights to see in the dark should also work for us in heating our rooms for alot cheaper? no? just wondering...