This is my first grow & grow box, which was originally a lager fermenter. Right now its small for vegging 4-6 plants. (4 atm) I'm using a 1000watt MH light for vegging and a 1000watt HPS for flowering (later). It's about 4ft x 2ft and 3ft tall (height adjustable in the future.) The box is made out of thick reflective insulation board. For some reason, the design isn't working the way I want it. The insulated box is not perfectly sealed, but I figure the large fan power should be pushing the heat out the upper T-Joint air duct vent, along with the bulb heat being pushed out by the small fan meeting up with the T-Joint as well. But it seems that the little fan is pushing the hot air down into the box with the T-Joint. Temps will go over 102F... What should I do to re-design? This took a lot of time to build, and the plants need light.
get an air cooled hood and an actual inline fan that will sufficiently cool your lamp it's a 1000 watts, what did you expect
It is an air cooled hood, just didn't come with a fan. So I bought a 9" fan and hooked it up to a very short duct and connected it to the housing. Is it the small fan that isn't efficient enough to blow the air out of the housing? Or is it the reflective material/insulation in the box that makes it continuously heat up regardless of the fan blowing the air out?
http://www.amazon.com/Active-Air-720-Inline-8-Inch/dp/B002JQ4K1I/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1425003860&sr=8-12&keywords=centrifugal+fan
You need a fan to suck the air out of your box. It will also pull fresh air in. Having a fan just inside your intake isn't going to be effective in forcing air out the exhaust. The link The Answer showed is a great example of what you need. You either want it blowing directly into the ducting, or attached to a carbon filter and blowing into the ducting. It would be really great if you had actual photos of your whole setup so we could give you more precise advice.
just seen these new fans while browsing amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vortex-S-Line-Ultra-Quiet-Fan/dp/B00EIRU2YU/ref=pd_sim_hg_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0YP3AG6HWXM7JDJZ04B0 these things are a bit pricey, but if they work, every bit worth it
1000w for 4x2x3???? That's over kill ... A 400w would have been fine .. A 4' 8bulb t5 would have been perfect... But 1000w is pumping too much heat and wasting luminens .. Cooling the box by venting will help and circulating fans to strengthen stems and move stale air... But in a box that small you should be running led or t5 .. Which puts off less heat meaning less stress...
Also let me add that fans that aren't in a sealed line don't pull at all, they agitate ... And a intake hole that size wouldn't do anything. And a t joint after a fan would blow air out not in.. A light fixture that can't be moved is going to stretch your plants .. Make them weak.. And overheat them all in one swift mistake... The hole box is designed wrong... You can get a tent that size for like $100 I would just fork it over and roll with it
Can you turn down the ballast. That's a shit ton of wattage in a small grow space. Even a 1000 watt ballast dialed down to 50% is going to be hard to control in such a small place with inadequate ventilation. Maybe raise the ceiling now to allow the heat to rise. Get some yo yos for your light. Your still going to need a real inline fan, no way around it.
A 1000 in 24 cubic feet of space? You would probably need ambients of like 65-70 even with a 6" fan. The light is going to heat up the box no matter what in such a small space.
I run a 600 watt hid with an enclosed hood and a 400 watt led, 6" 440 cfm inline w/ speed controller in a 2x4x5 and I got to stay on top of the heat. Your probably putting out more heat and have a way less powerful exhaust set up. I keep my ambient temps in the low 70's to keep my tent around 77f. Its going to be a pig controlling the temps with your current set up
Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate it. I decided to take the advice (if you haven't already noticed) and got some real fans & built a large pvc tent with panda film. Anyway, now I'm curious on how to properly ventilate. You'll find my topic; if you can help out there, that would be great! Here's the link: http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-designsetup/1360265-grow-tent-ventilation-help-please.html