2nd Grow... Better equipeed and educated... Seeking input...

NewGrower2011 said:

Any tips/tricks on hanging the film? I'm thinking to avoid a million staple holes in my walls using some type of think wood strips (got them already)
and use small trim nails here & there on the strips... then stapling the film to the strips... at least running the strips along the top and perhaps
another horizontal strip mid-way along the wall...

Click to expand...

Bunch of threads here on material reflectivity you can check out. Some ppl say white is better if it's a flat others think ppanda. If your hanging panda you could try heavy duty Velcro. Squares on the corners. The adhesive backing is really strong.

Beta420 said:

Except you continued with "then just vent your bathroom into your attic" ... which is flat out really bad idea. Any doubts as to why just google attic mold or follow the link:
http://www.americanverified.com/portfolio/329/
my way tied grow room exhaust to the existing bath exhaust and ran both out the roof vent. You're just telling him to swop one source of moist stinky air with another and dump it into his attic.

Click to expand...

i guess you didnt read what i put becuase thats NOT what i put sorry....... wasnt ONE idea it was multipal ideas, I gave him 3 different ideas to use and you are trying to say it was one stupid idea...... Like i said above i already suggest he remove his bathroom 4" ducting and replace it with 6" ducting then redirct that vent to his growroom exhaust this way hes NOT venting ANYTHING into his attic........ Ok second idea, i said he can just vent into his attic directly ... Ok third idea, i said he can extend some ducting into his attic to reach to his passive attic vent holes.......thats 3 different ideas not one like you are suggesting......and i know what venting into an attic can do... i live in an apartment i dont give a shit about mold in the attic my apartments are slum lords fuc them and there attic i could care less......

So once again thats three different options and please dont respond saying i only gave one idea and that was to just exhaust directly into the attic because that is false and its all in english just read the posts starting from the begining,,,,,,

NewGrower2011 said:

Also - perhaps (if done well) using the film along with taping all the seams would give better odor control? That is of a big concern and
if it really presented any advantage I'd just go for it on that basis alone I believe...

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panda and velcro sounds like a good idea but IMO Flat white paint with mold and titanium additive makes for the best and easyest to work with..... I put up reflective bubble insulation once on my walls and in the end it created an envirnment for mold to run rampid... The area between the back of the insulation and the drywall was real bad with mold so now i never put anything on my walls since then and its worked out better for me......Although that was a grow room dis-attatched from main house so that has alot to do with it aswell...But just be aware of the possibilty

FootClan said:

i guess you didnt read what i put becuase thats NOT what i put sorry....... wasnt ONE idea it was multipal ideas, I gave him 3 different ideas to use and you are trying to say it was one stupid idea...... Like i said above i already suggest he remove his bathroom 4" ducting and replace it with 6" ducting then redirct that vent to his growroom exhaust this way hes NOT venting ANYTHING into his attic........ Ok second idea, i said he can just vent into his attic directly ... Ok third idea, i said he can extend some ducting into his attic to reach to his passive attic vent holes.......thats 3 different ideas not one like you are suggesting......and i know what venting into an attic can do... i live in an apartment i dont give a shit about mold in the attic my apartments are slum lords fuc them and there attic i could care less......

So once again thats three different options and please dont respond saying i only gave one idea and that was to just exhaust directly into the attic because that is false and its all in english just read the posts starting from the begining,,,,,,

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I'm not gonna get into a pissing match with you about it. When I read someone saying "just vent your bathroom into your attic" i read that as he's telling him to ahhh... "just vent your bathroom into your attic". But it's cool I think new grower gets the basic idea. Ima just say one more thing then I'm off this thread: based on your avatar and edged responses you might consider hitting an indica dominant strain once in a while.
Peace and happy new year all!

So, in the scenario of 'tying in' to the existing bathroom exhaust... how do you prevent the grow room
exhaust from coming back in via the bathroom? A back-draft damper if I follow correctly?

And wouldn't I need to upsize to a combined diameter that could handle my 6" fan PLUS the pre-existing
volume of air being moved when the bathroom fan is on (rarely but I still have to cover my bases)...

So in theory, I'd have a Y coming from the outside - upsized to the new diameter whatever that may be -
and coming off each Y you would place a back-draft damper so neither can feed into the other - ever...

Correct? HVAC 101 stuff I'm guessing...

I think I'm going to hang the panda film only on the wall that has the window covering... and ensure it is
easily removed/checked for mold... then tape it well... to ensure a good seal to address a little concern of odour.

I already siliconed all around the new floor before putting down the rubber moulding for the bottom...
I think I'll also run a bead of silicon around both the top and bottom (it's cheap) and be pro-active as possible
and make a good seal for both odour and any accidental spillage. Better to over-engineer than to under-engineer...

Also -from what I've shared so far... do you think a 6" fan/filter will handle the 9'x5' room
and the heat from the 2 x 8 T5 fixtures? I'm thinking there would ultimately be
possibly 2 more fixtures long-term.

Already wondering if I shouldn't be planning on upsizing the fan/filter setup...
which sucks since I bought the 6" gear already.

NewGrower2011 said:

So in theory, I'd have a Y coming from the outside - upsized to the new diameter whatever that may be -
and coming off each Y you would place a back-draft damper so neither can feed into the other - ever...

Click to expand...

To clarify - there would be one 'hole' from the outside... the existing bathroom vent... it is then upsided
and ran to a 'Y'... each leg of the 'Y' would lead to its respective room - bathroom/grow room... w
ith each 'leg' being protected by it own independent back-draft damper...

NewGrower2011 said:

So, in the scenario of 'tying in' to the existing bathroom exhaust... how do you prevent the grow room
exhaust from coming back in via the bathroom? A back-draft damper if I follow correctly?

And wouldn't I need to upsize to a combined diameter that could handle my 6" fan PLUS the pre-existing
volume of air being moved when the bathroom fan is on (rarely but I still have to cover my bases)...

So in theory, I'd have a Y coming from the outside - upsized to the new diameter whatever that may be -
and coming off each Y you would place a back-draft damper so neither can feed into the other - ever...

Correct? HVAC 101 stuff I'm guessing...

I think I'm going to hang the panda film only on the wall that has the window covering... and ensure it is
easily removed/checked for mold... then tape it well... to ensure a good seal to address a little concern of odour.

I already siliconed all around the new floor before putting down the rubber moulding for the bottom...
I think I'll also run a bead of silicon around both the top and bottom (it's cheap) and be pro-active as possible
and make a good seal for both odour and any accidental spillage. Better to over-engineer than to under-engineer...

Click to expand...

Hard to say without knowing more - how long your runs are, etc. You may need more pull than just a booster.I suspect that's prob the case. The key is having negative pressure and the fan *above* the junction. Then you won't have to worry about backdraft down the bath vent to your bathroom. In which case, a back damper wouldn't be necessary anyway. T5's don't give off much heat (vs. HIDs) so likely not an issue assuming you'll have fans in the room for circulating air on the plants anyway.

Will post a rough-up once I find an Exif wiper for the image.

Again, all this dependent on your particular set-up. If you're using this set-up, you won't need a filter anyway since everything will vent outside above your roof, not recycled into your space. Follow?

Following. All except having the fan pulling from both legs... so it's vacating air from the bathroom
whenever it's running? That's not desirable in my case at all.

So I still follow... and I do have a 6" Vortex fan... matching 6" carbon filter... Already bought & used
previously as an "air scrubber" in the room...

So I think I could do this... Come from my exterior opening, put a Y in place. Put a back-draft damper
on each leg of the Y. On one leg, after the damper, run to the existing bathroom exhaust.

On the other leg of the Y, after the damper, I could put my 6" fan so it's pulling - not pushing - and then
run ducting to the grow room. In the grow room, hang the 6" carbon filter and attach ducting.

So the biggest variable left in my mind, is what size the new exhaust should be to accomodate the combined
volume of air flow from both sources. Would going 8" be enough? The bathroom fan obviously won't be
running that often... When it does, it won't push very hard especially against a competing 6" inline fan...

So if the grow-room fan is blasting away and pushing air hard, would that force the bathroom back-damper to close?

I've just talked myself into keeping them seperate I think. The exhausts up to the ridge-line vents sounds better & better.

NewGrower2011 said:

Following. All except having the fan pulling from both legs... so it's vacating air from the bathroom
whenever it's running? That's not desirable in my case at all.

So I still follow... and I do have a 6" Vortex fan... matching 6" carbon filter... Already bought & used
previously as an "air scrubber" in the room...

So I think I could do this... Come from my exterior opening, put a Y in place. Put a back-draft damper
on each leg of the Y. On one leg, after the damper, run to the existing bathroom exhaust.

On the other leg of the Y, after the damper, I could put my 6" fan so it's pulling - not pushing - and then
run ducting to the grow room. In the grow room, hang the 6" carbon filter and attach ducting.

So the biggest variable left in my mind, is what size the new exhaust should be to accomodate the combined
volume of air flow from both sources. Would going 8" be enough? The bathroom fan obviously won't be
running that often... When it does, it won't push very hard especially against a competing 6" inline fan...

So if the grow-room fan is blasting away and pushing air hard, would that force the bathroom back-damper to close?

I've just talked myself into keeping them seperate I think. The exhausts up to the ridge-line vents sounds better & better.

Click to expand...

ya sounds like more work then needed........ Just make it simple if you really want to use your bathroom fan then just keep it seperate from your exhaust fan...I still think your best bet is extending your ducting to your passive attic vents and let it flow out right at the vents...... you can even make a cardboard or wooden or sheetmetal box and tape it around your passive attic vent from the inside then cut a 6" hole in the back and attach your ducting to that box this way you are sure to not let any humid air back into your attic and you wont have to mess with any dampers or Y's .......

Exactly what I was thinking... Now ponder this...

Another thread on here has another member talking about negative pressure causing him to pull Monoxide back into the house. I have a detector (monitored by alarm company even) right near my furnace... a gas furnace...

So now I'm a little concerned because my passive inlets drawing from inside the house would do the same as this member is experiencing - right? Basic suction on the one side will cause a vacuum on the other... so now I'm
also thinking along the lines of having two boxes at these ridge vents... one as an inlet... the other as an outlet...

The only complications I see... sucking in air from the top of the roof.... all that air in the summer will NOT be cool air... making cooling of the room difficult potentially... The next best option would be to make an inlet on the
side of the house... but agian - I want to avoid any visible modifications... plus avoid the effort/work/cost if at all possible... Even the cold winter air may present a challenge - especially at night - if the air coming in is so cold
that it drops the room temperature... Presenting a new challenge in temperature regulation.... Which I'm not sure what range of temperature 'swing' is considered tolerable/ideal... 10 degrees from low to high? 20? 5?

So any further thoughts from the crowd on these intake considerations?

All right. What you need is a 6" flange and 6" hole saw and install that in your bathroom vent. Connect a 25' box of 6" ducting to the flanged and run it into your inline fan in your grow area. You can also install 2 6" flanges into your bathroom vent and run another inline fan to increase your intake but I would recommend using nearby fresh air for that if possible.

Also your running t5 bulbs which put out aLOT less heat than ballasts and hid bulbs so your ventilation requirements would be less. That's nice gear you got. The ebb and flo's no joke.

I'm thinking my clones will go into rockwool/coco or whatever to set me up for the next round to go ebb/flow perhaps. I was all gung'ho to try out DWC and even
have a slew of tubs (rubbermaid/brute/whatever) I was going to use for the modules/resevoir. But I'm thinking ebb/flow sounds better at this time. Not sold yet.

With all this discussion, when I drag the ladder over to the attic entrance and get another gander up there... I'm almost thinking of trying to just fabricate a small
area up there and avoid all the intake stuff.. .just passive intake vents in a little room cobbled together up there to make things light-tite and odour controllable
and then the ridge vent thing would be all that would be required... if even that... that's just "to be damn sure" the humidity is out and not recirculating up there.

Well screw me...

So I went to leave for dinner last night and notice something in the window that was covered looks odd.... it's nighttime so I can't quite tell. Will have to inspect in the morning...

Well guess what looked odd? My mini-blinds were lying half-cocked in the window and you could see the 1/4" insulation (the shiny metallic/mylar covered stuff)... DAMN IT!
The way I have things there is 1 piece which is sized to fit within the window casement... I put the mylar side facing outwards towards the window/blinds. Then there is a full
sheet (4'x8') that is simply pushed up against the wall/window and held in place with some 1"x1" framing as runners ceiling to floor on each side... easily removed luckily...

Well we initially figured the blinds might have gotten knocked loose somehow. I had to return the first pair I bought to the store because I needed one that was 1" longer so it would
sit in the little plastic cradles they use on these cheap plastic mini-blinds. So perhaps they had fallen. When my woman looked this morning she said they looked 'melted'...

DAMN... Could it be?

The answer is yes. They fucking melted and warped to the point of falling out of their clips. I have a window that faces due East and catches the afternoon through evening sun.
So I guess having the blinds mushroomed between the glass and the 2 pieces of insulation with the room inside hovering around high 70's must have made it an oven. There were
a couple times I had tried running both lights and it was in the 82 range then... so who knows when/what was the critical point...

I've only seen this happen once before in my life and that involved brewing beer in a buddy's trailer - we improvised the burner from a propane job site heater he had. It was middle
of the winter and we were without shirt and doors wide open... his blinds in the kitchen where we were brewing started drooping from the heat... Deja Vu!

So now I'm thinking of how to keep the outward appearance of that window 'normal' since I thought I had that pretty damn well covered. If something is just plain flat black or perhaps
cover the piece of styrofoam insluation that fits -inside- the window framing with some thin white cloth... so it looks like blind backing material... but plastic mini-blinds are out...

I despise the thought of putting cloth or anything similiar in there ( where it might get some moisture built up and go moldy )... that's why I thought the plastic mini-blinds were a good choice.
Maybe the thicker wooden mini-blinds would hold up better?

Picked up some of the 'faux wood' blinds. More expensive, but the key here... metal brackets and the entire header is metal. And it included metal 'middle' brackets - two of 'em - even for a 36" window.

So I think the original outward appearance can be preserved. I'm now contemplating rebuilding an enclosure around the window. Obviously it needs to be vented for some minimal air transfer...