Indoor growing becomes a challenge when you get 8” of snow overnight. 21F more snow today. Fortunately it’s a Mediterranean climate inside. What’s inside Blue’s Small Shed Grow 3 strains grafted Bonsai Mom
still love your set up. I know I asked you this before, but how do you cool that shed? mini split or wall ac or portable ac. I cant remember sorry. Also what are the max temps outdoors do you experience? Does it break 100F anytime?
The cooling is via a window mount AC, 500wts. Currently it is winterized with a cover wrapped around the outside of the unit, inside the is a 1” rigid foam cover to prevent unwanted intake and add additional insulation. The AC is framed into the wall. Coincidentally the little room heater is 500wt and so is the dehumidifier. My electric service for the shed is 30 amps. Yes, we can get to 100F 2-3 times a year. So it’s rare. A common temp during a warm spell is in the 90s. Summer average is in the 80s, summer lows are 50s. Winter coldest, -15F, rare. Winter average 20s to low 40s Last night low was 21F with 9” snow on 10/29. In the shed the low was 70F. The space heater is set to come on at 66F. It’s important to have good insulation and tight control of air leaks when dealing with extreme outside temperatures.
In the old days you could let your secret be know on a morning like this. In the 1970s and 80s you could get busted by the cops just by have an obvious heat signature on a snowy roof. Now I consider burglars the main threat. Cops/Courts don’t care about legal grows in Colorado, our State Constitution protect us.
Not that I’ve noticed. I don’t grow flower during July though October any longer. When the AC is used it’s mostly in the afternoon and early evening. I have the exhaust calibrated to run mostly in the mornings and evenings, the room may have an aroma but not outside.
Of course I have a carbon filter canister for my exhaust filtration. There really is no odor outside the shed, even during harvest and drying.
just checking again. you said 500 watt a/c? That seems a little small (5000 BTU)for sq ft plus lights plus fans etc. How well does it perform? Do you wish you used a bigger a/c? I guess with your moderate summers and well insulated shed it gets the job done. Last question....do you have the a/c on a thermal switch or are you using the a/c thermostat?
Yes, 500wt. I rely on the unit’s thermostat not a wall remote. It works well with all the other components and keeps the shed within the range of plant tolerances. The shed is well insulated and I worked to install efficient well built equipment. When I was finishing the reconstruction I was concerned that the 500wt AC wouldn’t be enough. The systems work to keep everything in range, forget about “textbook environments”. The 2 plant sites in the bloom room produce top shelf flower, total yields each grow is 24-32 ounces of flower. This is my third growroom. Portland, OR then Astoria on the Oregon coast. Neither of those need AC, ever. Both were in basements. When I moved to Colorado I thought the summers in the shed would be difficult. 10 flower crops in 3.5 years, each resulted in spectacular results.
When I finished the reconstruction in early 2020 the lights that I used was 2 HIDs 400wts each. That 800wts produced much more waste heat than the 4 Spider Farmer 1000s at a total of 400wts. The AC performed well with the older “hot” lights too. Hope all this info helps.
Also keeps out my 2 house cats. Way less cat hair! No smell in the house, except when a container gets opened, or packing up after the dry, or when vaping with a Pax. I guess I should say no grow smell in the house or cat hair in the flowers.