First grow in attic

[calverton]

Hello everyone,

I built(wood) a 4ft tall x 27 inch Width X 31 inch Depth box in my attic. It's pretty hot in there and i can easily exhaust to one of my bathroom vents using a Y connector(so the bathroom fan can also work and my box can exhaust) and i have A/C ducting up there(not sure the size) for intake. I will be using a carbon filter inside my box and a fan (190 CFM based on 300 watts of CFL's actual watts and Size of box) to suck the air out.

Plants:3 Lemon haze
Lights:About (6) 45Watts
I will have a carbon filter


1- Will the Y connector to my bathroom fan work?(not using the fan in the bathroom, just using it to vent outside)
2- Will i need a fan on the intake when I tap into one of my A/C duct? So it forces air into the box.
3-Size of carbon filter ?

Any suggestions and advice well be appreciated.

 

[Banana444]

I have never seen anyone able to grow plants in an attic and post it on here, good luck.

 

[bluntmassa1]

your going to need a A/c in that attic winter you may be fine though

 

[calverton]

Well I can tap off one of my ducts for ac. I live in the south And the temp was 80 degrees in the attic,spray insulation on the ceiling.

 

[justugh]

Hello everyone,

I built(wood) a 4ft tall x 27 inch Width X 31 inch Depth box in my attic. It's pretty hot in there and i can easily exhaust to one of my bathroom vents using a Y connector(so the bathroom fan can also work and my box can exhaust) and i have A/C ducting up there(not sure the size) for intake. I will be using a carbon filter inside my box and a fan (190 CFM based on 300 watts of CFL's actual watts and Size of box) to suck the air out.

Plants:3 Lemon haze
Lights:About (6) 45Watts
I will have a carbon filter


1- Will the Y connector to my bathroom fan work?(not using the fan in the bathroom, just using it to vent outside)
2- Will i need a fan on the intake when I tap into one of my A/C duct? So it forces air into the box.
3-Size of carbon filter ?

Any suggestions and advice well be appreciated.

your doomed the way u have it

the area that u are using for the growth u need to encapsulate it so a AC can control the heat .......summer time attic u can hit temps of 130/140 easy
and to counter that amount of heat u are talking a 6000 btu or 10000 btu ac for a small area a 4x4x6

as for running from the bathroom vent that is a no no too ......the vent in the bathroom has stinky wet air the ducting has not been cleaned in god knows how long the amount of mold and other things built up in there will be huge and u want to use that air in the system

to be honest u will spend more money on controlling the heat then u will produce in buds to off set the cost ..........u should move out of the attic into a closet in a bed room or to the basement (use the basement or the lowest point in the house u will have better plants do to the fact Co2 is a heavy gas and sinks ....my own is 500ppm with 2 ppl living in house)

it is the truth man sorry the attic is not a good place unless u are willing to fork out a good bit of cash for equipment and power

 

[calverton]

Today was 100 degrees attic didn't get past 85 it's well insulated..I was going venting (exhaust) the hot air in the box to the bathroom vent..My intake was coming from an a/c duct.

 

[justugh]

Today was 100 degrees attic didn't get past 85 it's well insulated..I was going venting (exhaust) the hot air in the box to the bathroom vent..My intake was coming from an a/c duct.

not to be a ass man but u do not understand this is the start of the end of spring start of summer the temps at night still drop down and do not stay at 80s

heat raises by u dumping the air in the house it is only going to come back up to warm the attic ........u need to dump USED HOT air outside the air flow path for the growth (your are already in a little trouble with your plants being up so high your ppm will be very low in Co2 ) u do not want to recycle that hot air back into the system where the fresh air is pulled from it lowers the ppm even lower

85 degrees is pushing it ......u can run those temps with high lvls of CO2 but with out it not smart the THC degrades faster at temps above 80f .........i keep my area in the range of 75 78 lights on 68 lights off

 

[calverton]

I'm not dumping it in my house it's going to be vented outside using a Y connector that's hooked to my bathroom fan vent (which is 10 ft away in attic) it was 85 in my attic without any fans or a/c in my box. I guess I'll hook everything up fans, a/c, exhaust, lights no plants and see what the temp is for a couple days

 

[justugh]

I'm not dumping it in my house it's going to be vented outside using a Y connector that's hooked to my bathroom fan vent (which is 10 ft away in attic) it was 85 in my attic without any fans or a/c in my box. I guess I'll hook everything up fans, a/c, exhaust, lights no plants and see what the temp is for a couple days

if u are going to use the bathroom venting to dump out u lose the bathroom vent ........the air is going to travel the path of least effort .....so it will dump out end of it outside and in the bathroom...... u need a back flow dampner for the bathroom side...with strong fan to push the sping up so that works

it is not the next few days it is what the temps are going to be in 6 weeks that is when it counts the most plants into flowering 2 weeks the strech stopped and u are getting 110 readings with wilting plants

even if u do move them the heat stress has been done and limited your returns

 

[ButchyBoy]

Oh my!!!


The attic is a terrible place to grow in the summer. Using the bathroom vent in any way shape or form is a terrible Idea!!
I grew in a loft in a garage. Not exactly an attic but close! I maintained rentals along with remodeling houses and again I say the attic is a bad choice during summer!!!

You will have heat issues!!! You need to control the growing area with it's own system. Using the houses A/C system just wont work unless you move the thermostat into your grow room.
As said, the bathroom vent issue is with the least resistance, you will have odor in the bathroom if you install a fan in the grow room or you will have damp bathroom air going into your grow causing Powdery Mildew!

Post up what you do. I am curious to see if you take the advice given to you..

 

[calverton]

thanks for the help....looks like I'm going to move this somewhere ughhh back to crawling for a day lol

 

[calverton]

I just noticed my thermostat housing box in right near my grow box 5 ft away. It would be easy to put a thermostat right in my box

 

[ButchyBoy]

I just noticed my thermostat housing box in right near my grow box 5 ft away. It would be easy to put a thermostat right in my box

Does you house have damper controlled zones???

If you put a thermostat in there will it be controlling the entire house?

I see insulation under the roof. How hot does it get up there in the summer?

 

[calverton]

Does you house have damper controlled zones???

If you put a thermostat in there will it be controlling the entire house?

I see insulation under the roof. How hot does it get up there in the summer?

Yes pretty sure it had 2 damper zones.

Yes it will be controlling my top floor of my house.. My grow is only 4ft tall x 27 inch Width X 31 inch, would it really take a lot to cool my box off? I am first going to just add the line and leave the thermostat connected where it is and see my temps.

summer outside temp reach around 100. Attic will be around 85 ish..

I actually found an 4 inch A/C line right next to my box(2 ft) that is connected only to my laundry room which is 15 ft by 10. I will be disconnecting that and just going to add it my box. I did a small test and with lights on and my grow door open with the a/c line inside the door and the temp got to 74 degree,(no exhaust is hooked up yet). This might be to cold so i will have to tamper with everything, maybe an adjustable vent so i can open and close?

Any ideas on where to exhaust? Should i just exhaust in my attic or tap into my bathroom vent with back flow dampner for the bathroom side?

I ordered this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181379661233?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&var=480369223580&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

and

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130981216904?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT for inside.

 

[calverton]

http://www.amazon.com/Fantech-9800000-RSK-4-Backdraft-Damper/dp/B000CDAFE6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433282362&sr=8-1&keywords=4+Backdraft+Damper,+4" blackflow damper

 

[justugh]

http://www.amazon.com/Fantech-9800000-RSK-4-Backdraft-Damper/dp/B000CDAFE6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433282362&sr=8-1&keywords=4 Backdraft Damper, 4" blackflow damper

hey buddy just to tell u CFLs are only good for about 10 to 12 inches of useable light for the plant after that it is to defused to be any good ......and u need to keep them at least 3/4 inches away from the plant leaving u only about 9/8 inches of light

u really should change over to a LED ......the light will get deeper (36 inches) gives u 28/30 inches to grow the plant in .......plus the heat from a led is equaled to about 3/4 cfls

reduce the heat u have and increase the useable area


i am telling u this from EXP i started with CFLs .....as the plant grows u instinct will be to add more CFLs to cover the plants (lower branching ) as u add more CFLs the heat they make increases around 16-20 CFLs the heat is just to much

 

[ButchyBoy]

Yes pretty sure it had 2 damper zones.

Yes it will be controlling my top floor of my house.. My grow is only 4ft tall x 27 inch Width X 31 inch, would it really take a lot to cool my box off? I am first going to just add the line and leave the thermostat connected where it is and see my temps.

summer outside temp reach around 100. Attic will be around 85 ish..

I actually found an 4 inch A/C line right next to my box(2 ft) that is connected only to my laundry room which is 15 ft by 10. I will be disconnecting that and just going to add it my box. I did a small test and with lights on and my grow door open with the a/c line inside the door and the temp got to 74 degree,(no exhaust is hooked up yet). This might be to cold so i will have to tamper with everything, maybe an adjustable vent so i can open and close?

Any ideas on where to exhaust? Should i just exhaust in my attic or tap into my bathroom vent with back flow dampner for the bathroom side?

I ordered this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181379661233?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&var=480369223580&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

and

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130981216904?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT for inside.

I think if you used that fan and carbon filter to pull air from your box and vent it into the attic you will be fine. That 4" duct from the laundry room could be used as a semi passive intake. You would be pulling air from within your house through your unit and filter.
The added cooling or heating depending on the time of year might be an issue and might not. you also have to think about temps when your A/C is not running. I don't think you would like the thermostat for the upper floor in your box as it might want to run the entire time your light is on.
In the cooler months you could run the duct from the carbon filter to the laundry room as it would help to heat that room.

 

[calverton]

Yeah this is my fi

hey buddy just to tell u CFLs are only good for about 10 to 12 inches of useable light for the plant after that it is to defused to be any good ......and u need to keep them at least 3/4 inches away from the plant leaving u only about 9/8 inches of light

u really should change over to a LED ......the light will get deeper (36 inches) gives u 28/30 inches to grow the plant in .......plus the heat from a led is equaled to about 3/4 cfls

reduce the heat u have and increase the useable area


i am telling u this from EXP i started with CFLs .....as the plant grows u instinct will be to add more CFLs to cover the plants (lower branching ) as u add more CFLs the heat they make increases around 16-20 CFLs the heat is just to much

This is my first grow and I plan of changing lighting when i get something under my belt. My cfl fixture is actually on chains and can be adjusted up and down. I was going to do LED but first want to try this out

 

[calverton]

I think if you used that fan and carbon filter to pull air from your box and vent it into the attic you will be fine. That 4" duct from the laundry room could be used as a semi passive intake. You would be pulling air from within your house through your unit and filter.
The added cooling or heating depending on the time of year might be an issue and might not. you also have to think about temps when your A/C is not running. I don't think you would like the thermostat for the upper floor in your box as it might want to run the entire time your light is on.
In the cooler months you could run the duct from the carbon filter to the laundry room as it would help to heat that room.

I didn't even think of passive intake and it pulling from my unit. Anything i can do to not make this happen? Really my attic is only about a 10 degree temps without lights on. today was 90 degrees and I registered a low of 74 and high was 81 on my temp gauge. That was a 24hr period could have been at night for the low. Winter here is around 55 60's

 

[ButchyBoy]

I didn't even think of passive intake and it pulling from my unit. Anything i can do to not make this happen? Really my attic is only about a 10 degree temps without lights on. today was 90 degrees and I registered a low of 74 and high was 81 on my temp gauge. That was a 24hr period could have been at night for the low. Winter here is around 55 60's

Having a passive intake is not a terrible thing to have. The air needs to come from somewhere and I would think the air in the house is cooler than outside or in the attic.
Running between 74 and 81 is not bad at all! I currently run between 72 and 89 degrees. I run my lights at night and have a 240 cfm pulling outside air into my room and a 440 cfm pulling air out of the room and exhausting into my attic. During the winter I exhaust back into the rooms.