Apartment Grow Room, Venting Help...

I'm planning on growing in the extra bedroom in my apartment. I want to setup a 2x1000 or 3x600 soil grow. One problem, I don't know how to exhaust the room. I don't want to use the window because of the noise from the fan. I am going to be using an A/C unit for intake. Any advice will be appreciated.

are you on the top floor i have vented in to the wall before or ceiling but i know how to do sheetrock work so i can fix it after im done

I'm on the first floor.

crow499 said:

are you on the top floor i have vented in to the wall before or ceiling but i know how to do sheetrock work so i can fix it after im done

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is there a return air vent in the room

No but there is an old school electric heater in the wall. 2x3. I didn't think about this 'til now but could I vent into it?

crow499 said:

is there a return air vent in the room

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does it vent out of the room or is it just sitting in the room if it vents out then i would use it if not cut a hole in the dry way and vent in to the wall if you dont know how to fix it when you move just make it look like some put a hole in the wall may take some money out of your deposit

I just took a look at it. It's got a fan built into it. So I suspect it does. I'm going to take the cover off of it. If it does then I could use it to exhaust, right?

crow499 said:

does it vent out of the room or is it just sitting in the room if it vents out then i would use it if not cut a hole in the dry way and vent in to the wall if you dont know how to fix it when you move just make it look like some put a hole in the wall may take some money out of your deposit

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So, I removed the heater from the wall. The heater was resting in a metal case. I've got a 1x2 foot hole in the wall. Can I vent into the wall?

Id be careful, that hot air is gonna travel upwards and bring the smell w/ it. Using a carbon filter?

Yeah, I will be using a Carbon Filter. Is it ok for me to vent the heat into the wall without it passing into another room?

i have done it before just watch the smell

I have grown in three different apartments and I always used the closet and just vented hot air out the door and used another fan hooked up right next to an a/c vent and they stayed cool.

I am thinking of just going with 2x600 and my AC.

An A/C is not going to supply fresh air to your grow room. They recirculate the air already in the room. If your exhaust fan is big enough, it will create negative pressure in that case you can use the gap under the door as your passive intake. Then use your A/C to keep the room cool.

Thanks Redi Jedi. How big of a fan should I use? Do I need to do anything to the door? Would you go with 600's or 1000's? Thanks!

redi jedi said:

An A/C is not going to supply fresh air to your grow room. They recirculate the air already in the room. If your exhaust fan is big enough, it will create negative pressure in that case you can use the gap under the door as your passive intake. Then use your A/C to keep the room cool.

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The size of the fan depends on the volume of your growspace. Calculate the volume of your room then divide that number by 5. This will give you the minimum cfm required to properly vent the room. Geta carbon filter...you will need it...thats rated for the same cfm (or a bit bigger) as your fan.

As for the door, if you got at least a 1/2" gap between the bottom and the floor you should be ok. But you could also trim off a 1/4"-1/2" just to make sure. Maybe install a lock? Other than that your good to go.

Something I'd like to point out is that it's cheaper in terms of energy consumption to air cool your lights than to air condition the room. Even a small window unit will use about the same amount of power as a 1000w light. So you may want to buy another fan or one big enough to vent your room and cool the lights.

Tag on roughly 200cfm for each light if you go with one fan.

As to 600's or 1000's, well......you would yield more with 1000's but produce more heat and cost more to power...some people say you can get a 600 closer to your plants which makes up for the lack of wattage. I'm a "no replacement for displacement" kinda guy so I lean towards 1000's.....

Why does everyone think that once you get past sheetrock, air will travel outside somehow? Venting into a wall cavity will do NOTHING. There is a 2x4 along the floor in every wall, and (2) 2x4s along the ceiling. they're called plates, and your air will NOT travel past them.

Regarding your situation...i see you're on the first floor...does your Apt. have washer/dryer hookups? If so, you can tie into the dryer vent with a smaller inline fan. What about an exhaust fan above the stove? That's another possibility. A bathroom exhaust fan? <----careful here...sometimes, the simply exhaust into a cavity. Old chimney? Gas Furnace/Water Heater Flue?<-----Again, this can be tricky. Other than these, you'll be hard pressed to actually make it outside. If the exhaust air is filtered, why not exhaust near a window? If it's nice outside, the window can be opened. If it's cold out, keep the window closed and the extra heat from your room will help warm the rest of the apt. If it's hot outside then, chances are, an A/C vent exists just below that window and will temper that air before it makes too large an impact on climate feel.

Thanks KitchenKhemist and Redi Jedi! I've decided to go with a grow tent with 2x600. I am going to use the window and A/C unit to control the temps. All the info has really helped!