400 Watt Closet Design Question

M

micropteruspro

Member

Experienced Growers,

I have been stumped for weeks on what to do about my ventilation situation:

-I have a small 6x2x7 closet that has double doors that I want to grow 2-6 plants in under a 400 watt mh/hps. i want to have heathy plants without a fire hazard. i could leave the doors open to the closet if I have to.

-The closet is inside an approximately 15 x 18 foot room with a single window and door. The window is right in the front of the house in plain view. I plan to cover it in blinds and then black plastic.

- There are two central air/heat vents on opposite sides of the room. One vent ,might be a return vent-not sure.

Can I effectively cool the closet by leaving the doors open and circulating air out of the closet and around the room using fans (this is what i prefer to do-it seems easy and inexpensive)? I can also open that room door to supply fresh air as needed, since stealth might only be essential when i have an occasional guest. It is very hot outside the house and can be quite cold in winter. I could cut holes in the roof of the closet for intake and exhaust from the attic above, but that air is really hot already and I'm concerned with mold. I've thought out these scenarios, but I'm just not sure what to do. Could you guys please advise me? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
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amnooneoo

amnooneoo

Active Member
can you exhaust into the attic? that would be better, and force fresh air into the room even if the door is closed.

also, i wouldn't think that other vent would be a return, but it could be.
 
amnooneoo

amnooneoo

Active Member
not trying to get off subject, but it concerns venting. if your not going to use a carbon filter, your guest will, EASILY know your growing or smoking some weed. It will fill your home profusely depending on the strain................ Your ventilation setup would probably work, but your entire home will smell like stinky fresh dope, 24/7.....
 
M

micropteruspro

Member
I'm not really concerned with smell. I'm concerned with heat. Like I said, exhausting into the attic worries me because of mold. Also if i exhaust into the attic, don't i need intake air from outside as well? If i do then I would be sucking in 95+ degree air which kinda defeats the purpose of bringing in air for cooling. I forgot to mention that I keep my house at 68 degrees year round. Can anyone tell me if central air conditioning, combined with fan air movement will be enough to cool this small closet and the room it occupies? If not what other options do I have?
 
trainwreckz

trainwreckz

Member
if you have central air conditioning and you dont mind using the money you dont need any fans...just turn on the AC
 
M

micropteruspro

Member
Thanks for the reply guys. Maybe I will just test run the light for a couple days with a/c and see if it stays cool enough in there.

If that doesnt work, what livehigh has going is what I imagined doing myself.
 
M

micropteruspro

Member
Livehigh,

Checked out your setup. Nice! I see the duct going from the left side of your light up into the attic via an inline fan. Where does the ducting run after it enters the attic? I was originally going to just exhaust into the attic, but then came across a thread about mold and humidity rotting the attic. I'm assuming you exhaust through a vent in the roof maybe? Also, on the right side of the light what is going on there? is there more ducting leading somewhere or is it just open? Thanks for the help.
 
LiveHigh

LiveHigh

Well-Known Member
Mmm, well, there isn't a lot of humidity here, and the attic has nothing going on up there, so I just vent it straight up into it. There is probably 8 inches or so worth of ducting that just pokes up into my attic. On the right side of the hood, there's just a filter to prevent particles from being sucked through the light and up into the attic. I have one little fan from home depot mounted on my wall and then another taller fan standing up on the ground. So they have the squirrel cage sucking hot air from the light, and then two fans blowing on them. My temperatures stay around 78-80 when the light is on.

I've also read that CMH lights generate less heat. And you could get a cooltube for further cooling. Just something to think about if you're still having heat troubles.
 
amnooneoo

amnooneoo

Active Member
micropteruspro said:
I'm not really concerned with smell. I'm concerned with heat. Like I said, exhausting into the attic worries me because of mold. Also if i exhaust into the attic, don't i need intake air from outside as well? If i do then I would be sucking in 95+ degree air which kinda defeats the purpose of bringing in air for cooling. I forgot to mention that I keep my house at 68 degrees year round. Can anyone tell me if central air conditioning, combined with fan air movement will be enough to cool this small closet and the room it occupies? If not what other options do I have?
Click to expand...
When exhausting into the attic, it will create a - pressure in the room, air must enter from somewhere in the home, nice chilly a/c air would be nice. Just run the blower on your heat pump 24/7, I always have, keeps the entire house more comfortable. Whilst doing that, it should keeps your temps lower. If you have a crawlspace to access the duct work, just move one of the 2 vents into that room/closet and just keep a vent cover over the old one for the future. Or, Put a Tee in. I would just move it depending on what that adjacent room if for.......

HAVE FUN!!
 
M

micropteruspro

Member
Thanks for the help guys. I think I will incorporate both your ideas. The only thing I might do different is run the duct work all the way to an attic vent, or at least really close to it.

Live High, one thing i forgot to ask is, what did you use to cut your hole in the ceiling and what was the diameter of the hole? I was thinking maybe six inch?
 
LiveHigh

LiveHigh

Well-Known Member
I just measured it and it looks to be about 6 to 6.5 inches. I measured it, outlined it with a pencil, and then cut it with a saw. It causes a decent bit of mess with the paint falling and stuff, so I'd do it before you set anything else up, so that you can easily clean afterwards.
 
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