I am hoping to get some serious and solid advice for my first grow. Here are the details: I have 2X250w HPS lamps and am planning on using up 4X4ft square on the floor in a locked, vacant room inside my place . The room itself is 11x12ft w/ 10 foot ceilings. Other than the entry door, the room itself s air tight and light tight. I intend to get the entry door as light and air tight as possible. For odor control I have a carbon air filter and a 250CFM inline fan, ozone lightbulbs, and i'll probably run a 80CFM thru a light duty paper filter. Re: security Is there a benefit to making my relatively small grow space in the larger room air tight to run exhaust directly out thru the carbon filter? Or would having the entire space open using the same equipment keep the scent down better? Re: Saftey The room has two outlets and neither are grounded so I have been using adapters until this point to power things like tvs, fans, a computer (I dont know if this makes a difference). One of the 250w lamps is a dual use model with an internal ballast that is pretty old, the other has a separate ballast and is brand new. I will also be running somewhere around 200w of fluorescent light for cloing, vegging in another part of the room and a total of four fans. Do I have to be concerned about overloading? Should something overload, is there a way to keep the short contained and eliminate the risk of an electrical fire? I am using the highest rated amperage cords I can find for any strips, cords etc. Would there be less risk if I staggered when the big lamps came on by say an hour or so? Your feedback is appreciated. I have put considerable time and thought into this and want to do it right or not at all.
Re: Safety I'm new myself, but I would get some one to help me get a ground installed on the electrical plugs and maybe change the actual plugs to GFIs to be sure. Ground Fault devices kick out quickly when a short, like from water happens. Either 220 or 120 VAC is one hell of a ride!!! Good luck chucky!
drop cords are not the only issue,u need to know what size the breaker is feeding that rm. Next, if there isnt a ground in the elec. outlet, take it out (with the power to that rm off) andsee if there is a ground wire, (bare copper), if so put in a new grounded outlet, if not, you may need more indepth work done.
Thanks. Please keep advice coming. After your responses and additional research, I am going to switch to a GI/GFCI on my own or get a professional to handle it as a side-job. Any feedback regarding odor control in a large space? With so many cubic feet or air, would an exhaust fan still be a must have?
check the wiring, is your house older? is it up to code generally? GFCI outlet is the smartest thing you can do to protect yourself. I believe they make new GFCI adapters so all you ahve to do is plug it in and it acts as a GFCI something like this http://www.drillspot.com/products/161122/Hubbell_Kellems_GFP5266CY_Gfci_Plug you dont' need the second ground (the third prong) all electrical devices have a positive and a negative lead (the two main prongs) one is where the power comes from and the other is a ground which completes the circuit. the third prong is a redundant safety feature that is now being slowly phased out because it is unnecessary. see what your other options are, can you easily bring power in from another outlet / circuit? and finally wherever you get power from make sure you do it in a safe manner. dont' overload a socket, an HPS and a Blower fan on one socket is ok. 2 HPS's several flouros and multiple fans on one socket is not ok. have your power cords neatly arranged. I have Metal brackets that I used to secure my power cords in a simple layout. Just be very methodical about your creating setup, which is pretty easy to do when its something so personal as your own grow... Spend some time to work things out, set it up and then change it if you find a way that it works better you might need centrifugal fan to push the carbon scrubber, and use the other one to vent your light. best of luck
thanks for that great and specific info. plumbing is not up to code so i am not confident that the wiring in my place wouldn't be different. if i didnt have a landlord who was a ghost that only cares if my rent is paid on time, i wouldnt consider a project like this. the breaker box in the basement is about 5 years old, so that is a good sign. i have two sockets on the adjacent wall and only use one to run a coffee maker and toaster. considering rerouting it into the (empty) grow room with the help of a pro, sound like a viable way to reduce risk of overload? is an intake/exhaust setup required with that much air speace?
it may not be necessary in the beginning. But you do need to vent your HPS lights. At my house I use the exhaust of my 1000 Watt to heat my basement in the winter which keeps me from using my heater. You don't want your HPS lights heating your grow, they just need to light it, your grow should stay between 65-75 degrees during the whole grow cycle. just turning your HPS's on will increase the temp in your room even if your lights are vented. This is why I suggest that you find a way to bring cooler air into the room. At my house we have washer dryer hookups but no appliances, So I cleaned all of the lint out of the dryer exhaust vent put a 240CFM inline fan in and made that my air intake for my grow room. You can't have too many thermometers, keep an eye on temps everywhere. I have a thermometer in my intake tube so that I can make sure I'm not pumping hot air into my room, or air too cold for my babies. I have two thermometers in my grow room, one on the floor by the plants near the fresh air intake, and one taped to the wall by the exhaust port that pulls through my HPS. I would like to get a thermostat for my intake so that it only clicks on when the ambient temp outside is between 60-70 but thats farther down the line. heres some picts of my room to help clarify things. The exhaust is the tube on the top above the entrance to the room. This is looking though the darkroom into the grow chamber. This is a picture of the HPS exhaust, its what keeps us warm in the winter. Intake with the fan, and thermometer. The grow room is completely insulated and air tight. air intake w/ mister, my pretty "red flowers" in the starter box and my babies in front. HPS + Room Exhaust top of the room thermometer closed room. Of course I have not added my Carbon filter yet, and the darkroom has not been finished. We will be putting up tapestries on the ceiling as well as some of the walls to conceal the duct and fan systems as well as concert posters everywhere to complete the feel. With what your running I dont think you are risking an overload, but having extra power outlets put in that room is a wise choice. hope this helps some, let me know if you need anymore info peace