i just joined the forum although ive been lurking here for awhile. im running into some extra annoying problems this cycle and could really use some advice on lighting and ventilation. here's my situation my box is 27" deep, 6' wide and 6' tall. i was running one 400w switchable mh/hps in a ventilated hood. the cfm of my fan is unknown. appliance tech here that used a microwave exhaust fan. with a well sealed box it was creating enough neg pressure to make opening the door quite a bit harder. this cycle i wanted to try scrogging so i bought a second(basically) identical ballast and rigged a hood to be air cooled. when you're on a budget... i got a splitter and am ventilating both hoods with the one fan. since my diy air cooled hood didnt leave enough room for a mh bulb i am vegging with both hps. i have some fresh air intake though it could certainly be improved on. now with all that said... my problem here is(you guessed it) temps are up there and growth is slow! the temp with the door shut is 85-86 even a little higher sometimes. i have my thermometer probe near the top of the plant out of direct light. by leaving the door hanging several inches open, leaving my window open(not the fresh air intake btw), and freezing my a$$ off i can get the temp to like 78 but thats not goingg to work for long and summers just getting warmed up. even a 5000 btu ac unit is more juice than i want to run, so i don't like that option. a swamp cooler adds more humidity and takes up valuable realestate, and with the door open the air flow through my outside exhaust is getting noticeable. my goal here is stealth and that vent is 2' off the ground 7' from my backdoor. not good. a bigger fan will only make that worse, unless maybe a muffler or reworking the faceplate of the exhaust will quiet things down? the only thing i can think of is getting more effecient hoods like cooltubes or what about switching to one 600w on a light rail mover? anything i havent considered? my walls are lined with foil shiny side out btw. how much could that be raising the temps? my lights are 12" or so from the tips and i have a large fan circulating air down by the plants.
New Here w/ Temp Probs. Got Advice?
- Thread starter kc7655
- Start date
NoGutsGrower
Well-Known Member
paint the walls flat white it reflects better than foil ( https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/145941-more-reflective-tin-foil-flat-2.html ) If your fan is causing that much vacuum in the room your air flow isn't that good. you need more intakes or an intake fan. Also if that fan is causing that much vacuum in the room you should be able to hook it to the hood and have it draw enough heat off the lights. If you manage it right the plants can handle the heat! think of all the outdoor growers in cali, texas, arizona and other places that have temps above 100.
bigger intakes would probably help some. i should also go from 4" to at least 6 maybe 8. both hoods are air cooled. i have a pvc splitter connecting them to the fans intake. how much of a difference could i expect from painting. not sure if i want to do it if were talking about one or two degrees. any more though and it'd be worth it. should i have a passive intake or run another fan?
RobbieP
Well-Known Member
also stick 2 or 3 4inch pc fans in ur cab , they run almost silent and it will help with your airflow and vaccum probs , they cost nothing , i got a few off ebay , chopped the end off a old nokia phone charger and wired them into that . they run silent and are quite efficiant.
joe dollar
Well-Known Member
if ur tight on money and dont want to paint go grab a couple space blankets. they r about 3 bucks each at walmart and lots of people use them
i already have about 20' of ducting from the fan to the exhaust. wouldnt have a prob adding but i think that most of the noise comes from air rushing through the slots on the plastic exhaust faceplate
NoGutsGrower
Well-Known Member
space blankets are designed to reflect the heat back, i dont know about those. a gallon of white paint is free to 5 dollars and covers more space than a few blankets.
DinafemHazeAuto
Active Member
those temps arent to bad...Just water and feed alittle more often like 2xtimes a day small amounts but enough to keep them nice and moist and ull have no probs...Exp if u worried about stealth i wouldnt add a big loud fan just work with what u have...