defeating flyover FLIR

Is there any material that I can use to line the top of my grow with so that a FLIR flyover won't see a hotspot?

idk wat ur askin

I read somewhere legislation banned the use of evidence from FLIR in court, yes...no?

keep your grow in a inner room with no windows and vent into your area dispersing the heat? because I saw a show and it said they busted most people through huge heat signatures coming from basement windows/leaks

Other than insulation that would somehow keep the heat from reaching exterior surfaces there aren't many options.

I know what you're asking and while there's no guaranteed method for protecting yourself from detection, if you take the nature of thermal imaging and electromagnetic radiation imaging technology into account, what you end up with is an issue of insulation. Since what you are trying to protect yourself from is the detection of hotspots given off by HID lighting, what you need to do is introduce a thermally insulated barrier between your hotspot and the detection device. At Home DePot in the building materials section you will find an assortment of insulation materials. What you are looking for is anything with a high 'R' factor, which represents the material's resistance to heat transfer. The easiest thing I think you'll find to work with is a foil lined, foam board that comes in 4'X8' sheets and can be worked pretty easily with a sharp knife. There's other stuff there as well that might better suit your needs, just make sure that there aren't any gaps in whatever you use, however you install it. Also, R factors add proportionally, so, the thicker you layer it, the more you're insulated.

extracrispy90 said:

I read somewhere legislation banned the use of evidence from FLIR in court, yes...no?

keep your grow in a inner room with no windows and vent into your area dispersing the heat? because I saw a show and it said they busted most people through huge heat signatures coming from basement windows/leaks

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read the same thing. basically what i got from it is that they are considered an invasion of privacy. the guys in the national park that were busted recently should have read the same article, it emphasized the now "increased" use of drones over national parks.

FLIR does not spot your grow lights!


FLIR cannot look through walls!


What FLIR does do is spots excessive heat coming from the OUTSIDE of your house or building. So basically they fly around and look at houses (even though it is illegal) and look for a lot of heat coming off a house. Then they pressure a CI to pretend he bought dope from the house and they get an illegal warrent.

The only way is to cool the air before it gets outside, I read somewhere that some people vent into their sewer line, not sure what kind of problems that would cause.

BadDog40 said:

The only way is to cool the air before it gets outside, I read somewhere that some people vent into their sewer line, not sure what kind of problems that would cause.

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y not let it heat up another room? esp in da winter u can grow n heat ya other room next to it.

mane2008 said:

y not let it heat up another room? esp in da winter u can grow n heat ya other room next to it.

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Yes or use the heat to keep your whole house warm. Just be sure to use dehumidifiers also so that your windows don't fog up as that's another indicator.

That foam board insulation the other guy mentioned is great shit btw...

Or you can vent it into your attic.

BadDog40 said:

The only way is to cool the air before it gets outside, I read somewhere that some people vent into their sewer line, not sure what kind of problems that would cause.

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I read that too. And after weighing in all the details, I can't find any problems. In fact, it makes perfect sense. As long as air is flowing into the sewage pipe, nothing can come out, It's pretty much invisible to FLIR, and any BUD odor that might survive amid all that shit is gonna be detectable too far away from the source to identify where it came from. Likely a mile or more away. I'm gonna do it right after this harvest.
On your main sewer line, there is a Y that forks up at a 45deg angle. Thats your inlet!

They CAN use FLIR as evidence in SUPPORT of other, more damning, evidence to obtain a warrant. Just remember, 'copters are expensive to operate, FLIR is expensive (most local jurisdictions aint got it), and it needs a thermal imaging EXPERT to interpret it before it can be used as evidence

if you ventilate into another part inside your house it shouldnt get hot enough to notice but you can go buy a small flit camera from ab hunting store and figure oput a way to disipate it

bigtittymilf said:

if you ventilate into another part inside your house it shouldnt get hot enough to notice but you can go buy a small flit camera from ab hunting store and figure oput a way to disipate it

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I am currently venting ino the crawlspace under the house, and it cools the exhaust nicely. My real concern is odor, an so far that really hasn't been a problem. But if I vent down the sewer, and smell DOES become an issue, at least the Jehovahs witnesses coming to my door won't smell it

Interesting, I wonder about homes on septic tanks. I think AgentX summed it all up nicely, but there is also the issue of heat dissipation (the warm air's gotta move, too, right?) that's now being touched on. If it's warm outside (as it's been for us), then the sewer line venting (not sure how that would work, gotta see it), if it really works, sounds perfect. I'm just accustomed to venting warm air up, so... it's hard to wrap my head around (at least, thinking about how something like that could work for my house).

Seamaiden said:

Interesting, I wonder about homes on septic tanks. I think AgentX summed it all up nicely, but there is also the issue of heat dissipation (the warm air's gotta move, too, right?) that's now being touched on. If it's warm outside (as it's been for us), then the sewer line venting (not sure how that would work, gotta see it), if it really works, sounds perfect. I'm just accustomed to venting warm air up, so... it's hard to wrap my head around (at least, thinking about how something like that could work for my house).

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If you're on septic, I doubt it would work. Air has to flow. But if you're on city sewer, you will be forcing air to flow INTO the system with a fan (Hopefully a good one). It's forced airflow, not a "natural" venting from convection, or suction. I know that I am on city sewer, and the pipes within a couple of miles of me will not accommodate a large dog, let alone a sewer worker. So any odor could only be detected well away from me. Too far to identify the source.
It's pretty hot here in N Ga, but the crawlspace under the house is a constant 50 or so degrees, and it definitely cools the air. But with FLIR, a variation of 1 degree can be seen as a warmer air "current". So IF they were to look at my house, they MIGHT detect that differential. Down the sewer pipe eliminates that chance.

Venting into the sewer line will not work. First of all, every sewer /drainage system has vents that are required for each plumbing fixture. These vent pipes terminate on the roof of your home. Any air blown into the line will simply escape at the closest vent.Not to mention the biggest line in your home is only 4" diameter. (even the line in your front yard too) Now for the best part....
Sewer lines contain methane gas which is explosive.

* Methane gas is used to heat and cool many commercial buildings. CBS Television city is one of many that uses it exclusively.

using a quality carbon filter & NOT venting the hot air directly outside eliminates those issuse. i also read another thing they look for is heat from the basement walls so leaving some space between the wall & your grow room wall with a fan blowing some cool air in there would be a good idea but you won't have to worry about heating up walls unless you have a really serious grow going on.

Thermal imaging your home is, in the eyes of the law, a search. Which means they need a warrant first, *before* they thermally image your home. That's only in the US, Canada and the UK are not so protective of the sanctity of privacy in one's own home. If you're in the US, it's not really an issue anymore, as long as you don't give them a reason to get a warrant in the first place. In other words, they can't thermally image your home, see the heat of 20,000 watts of lights, and get a warrant. They have to get the warrant first.

And once they have a warrant, they won't bother thermally imaging your home; they'll arrive with a pile of squad cars, ram open your door, and tear your home apart. Much cheaper for them, and probably loads more fun too.

So the key is, don't provide them any reason whatsoever for a warrant. No smells, nothing visible by human eyes (even from above), and especially nothing in your trash. It's also wise to keep foot traffic to a minimum, and don't let your phone records indicate any type of pattern of potentially illegal activity. If you have neighbors, they'd best not be suspicious, because if they are, you're in danger.

I think the question here is .... how many lights you planning on running? If you are keeping it small and running 1 light (from 400 to 1000 w) then there is no need to worry about heat as it would not show as out of the ordinary.

Now.... if you are growing 80+ plants under say 20 1000 watters then yes... you are going to have a problem and I'm not sure some foiled insulation board is going to help.


IMO if you are not in a mj friendly state then it's probably best to keep it small and only grow enough to keep yourself in smoke.