Is this a good design?

In.The.Basement

In.The.Basement

Well-Known Member
I built a grow box a couple of years ago, and am finally getting it started again. I want to upgrade it from CFL's and a crappy, home depot bathroom exhaust fan, to a 400-600watt HPS and a 400-700cfm inline fan.

My grow box is 3x3x5.5. Its in a basement so in the winter has the cold on its side and stays cooler in the summer. there is a dehumidifier for the whole basement, and it works well. There are two small windows near my growbox close to the ceiling(which is only about 6ft to the beams). I'm low on funds so I was thinking about making my own cool tube and scrubber, which from all the DIY's on hear i think i can manage, and going with a fan like this http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/valueline-inch-745-cfm-centrifugal-inline-fan-p-2261.html.

I guess i am posting this to ask if my design will work well, all in all. I struggled a bit figuring out the best way to do the ventilation with the cooltube and scrubber. Hell i didn't even know if i wanted a cooltube, but i think im going to go with it.

I have a few concerns.
1. Will the COLD air from the intake be a problem to the light/cooltube/plant? I live in zone 7 so doesn't get too bad but chilly nonetheless. I was afraid it could crack the glass on the bulb or the tube, or damage the plant. I guess as long as I dont run it when the light is off i'll be ok.

2. I was wondering whether or not that fan or one like it with the 400 watter will be able to scrub the box and exhaust the light, as far as airflow, obviously I won't know about heat untill I set it up but with outside air i'm not too worried.

I drew up some simple plans, i think its pretty self explanatory. If anyone has any questions please ask, and if anyone has any comments please tell.
View attachment 1229422

Thanks,
-ITB
 
In.The.Basement

In.The.Basement

Well-Known Member
You should read my whole post, I go over everything, i live in zone 7. I was thinking about the fan favoring one of the two sides, so yeah i might just get 2 lower cfm fans. But as far as the intake i can't see why it would be better to get stale, stagnant air from the floor compared to cool fresh outdoor air. and i have the ability to run 2 completely seperate ducting lines and fans.
 
Civil.Dis0bedience

Civil.Dis0bedience

Active Member
i seen a study some dude did and it said we got alot more co2s in our homes then outside..so taking the intake from the outside wont give you a huge co2 boost at all. plants dont need fresh air they need co2 though. if you have the air always changing in your grow area thee will always have fresh co2 comming in. sorry i read your post then drew my picture and forgot what i read LOL but yea if you can use one fan the way i showed you and then use your other fan for intake. i recomend getting fan controllers too..theyre only 20 bucks and let you controll fan speed to control temp
 
Civil.Dis0bedience

Civil.Dis0bedience

Active Member
yea your grow area is small..i think you'll do fine with one fan for cool tube/exhaust and having the intake just come in from outside. its good to have a fan inside oscilating to move the air around the leaves to make sure theyre always surrounded by fresh co2
 
LetricBud

LetricBud

Active Member
I have a 3x3 grow area.

I use a 400w HPS with an econowing reflector, and i use a 177 cfm Vortex 4" inline for exhaust/air.

In a room temp of 70f, it stays below 80 in the area.

Ive gotten good results so far with a 400w in a 3x3 area. Its a good wattage.
 
In.The.Basement

In.The.Basement

Well-Known Member
Civil.Dis0bedience said:
yea your grow area is small..i think you'll do fine with one fan for cool tube/exhaust and having the intake just come in from outside. its good to have a fan inside oscilating to move the air around the leaves to make sure theyre always surrounded by fresh co2
Click to expand...
wait, so are you taking back everything you said? And yeah I definitely will have a fan blowing on them.
 
In.The.Basement

In.The.Basement

Well-Known Member
LetricBud said:
I have a 3x3 grow area.

I use a 400w HPS with an econowing reflector, and i use a 177 cfm Vortex 4" inline for exhaust/air.

In a room temp of 70f, it stays below 80 in the area.

Ive gotten good results so far with a 400w in a 3x3 area. Its a good wattage.
Click to expand...
Nice, good to know its possible. What kind of grow do you have going? if you don't mind me asking.
 
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