Grow Room Floorplans. Here to help.

phillipchristian

New Member
Looks like that room needs another 1k :bigjoint:
You have no IDEA! I've told this guy a 100 times that is not enough light; 3 600's or 4 400's would be better coverage, more economical, and easier to cool. Especially since he's only vegging for 1 week. He keeps telling me about Al B. Fuct and his methods and what he says and how he did it. I finally said dude I'll draw it up anyway you want and just let you learn from experience. He's dead set on following Al's gameplan so I'm just gonna give him what he asks for.
 

Strankon

Active Member
OK Phillip. this is what I have to work with, (1) closet approx. 19 1/2 inch's x approx. 96 inches x 96 inches tall. I intend to use this space for veg. and clone room.
I found that the Quantum badboy 4 foot 6 bulb florescent fixtures will fit perfectly in this space, placing 2 fixtures end to end.
(2) closet, 64 inches x 64 inches x 96 inches tall. this space will be used as a flowering room, I intend to use 1 600 watt HPS in this space.
What are your thoughts on maximizing productivity in the space I have to work with?
 

Sencha

Active Member
Hey Sencha, I'd be real careful with that. Looks like a knockoff. Try calling some of the bigger hydro stores or Lumatek themselves. Don't think they have a 400/600/1000w ballast. Not sure but that thing looks fake.

I didn't even think about that. I know the design is different. I sent an email out to Lumatek today. I already ordered it though, couldn't pass up the deal. Fuck!

Edit: Have not heard back from Lumatek but I've found multiple shops selling it. Including Hydrofarms own website. It's new to the mark, from what I can tell. I'll post back when I hear from Lumatek.

Until then. Can someone recommend a bulb for it? I think I'll be putting it in a C.A.P. Luminaire 8" reflector.
 

phillipchristian

New Member
OK Phillip. this is what I have to work with, (1) closet approx. 19 1/2 inch's x approx. 96 inches x 96 inches tall. I intend to use this space for veg. and clone room.
I found that the Quantum badboy 4 foot 6 bulb florescent fixtures will fit perfectly in this space, placing 2 fixtures end to end.
(2) closet, 64 inches x 64 inches x 96 inches tall. this space will be used as a flowering room, I intend to use 1 600 watt HPS in this space.
What are your thoughts on maximizing productivity in the space I have to work with?
Hey bud, thanks for stopping by. Well, i've never designed anything that small but what the hell.

What style grow do you do? How many plants do you want? A 600w light has a footprint of 4x4 basically so you'll have a little room to play with on either side. Where are you exhausting your light to? What about cooling; what are your plans? Are you hydro or soil? I think a SOG or maybe SCROG would be a good option for you. If not you could probably get 4 nice sized trees (4-5') under that light. Your ceiling is 8ft. so you have plenty of room there.
 

phillipchristian

New Member
I didn't even think about that. I know the design is different. I sent an email out to Lumatek today. I already ordered it though, couldn't pass up the deal. Fuck!

Edit: Have not heard back from Lumatek but I've found multiple shops selling it. Including Hydrofarms own website. It's new to the mark, from what I can tell. I'll post back when I hear from Lumatek.

Until then. Can someone recommend a bulb for it? I think I'll be putting it in a C.A.P. Luminaire 8" reflector.
Yea, just checked it out on the Hydrofarm website. Wow. That's the first time I've seen that ballast. Very cool.

For bulbs I think you're fine with any of the major brands; Hortilux, Digilux, etc... I personally use Sunmaster bulbs most of the time because they are great bulbs; I've never had a problem with them; and they are a lot cheaper than the others.
 

Strankon

Active Member
Hey bud, thanks for stopping by. Well, i've never designed anything that small but what the hell.

What style grow do you do? How many plants do you want? A 600w light has a footprint of 4x4 basically so you'll have a little room to play with on either side. Where are you exhausting your light to? What about cooling; what are your plans? Are you hydro or soil? I think a SOG or maybe SCROG would be a good option for you. If not you could probably get 4 nice sized trees (4-5') under that light. Your ceiling is 8ft. so you have plenty of room there.
Thanks for that warm welcome.
As far as "style", I prefer to grow in a soilless mix, and stick to a prescribed nutrient plan, per stage of development, I also prefer to top my plants to produce more tops and maybe some LST to keep the tops level.
I plan to have a passive intake allowing cool air from my air conditioned house to cool the room, and a 6'' air cooled hood exausting through the ceiling into the attic.
I'd like to grow plant big enough to produce around 8 oz's of bud apiece. 4 8 oz. plants would be awesome!
 

Sencha

Active Member
I couldn't believe the price on it. I had been considering the Harvest Pro E, Magnetic, so I could spend some extra on a big ass reflector. I just couldn't pass up the 1000 watt lumatek, so I'll be buying a cheap reflector.

Sorry to derail the thread. No work on the room tonight. My real job is kicking my ass this week.
 

phillipchristian

New Member
Thanks for that warm welcome.
As far as "style", I prefer to grow in a soilless mix, and stick to a prescribed nutrient plan, per stage of development, I also prefer to top my plants to produce more tops and maybe some LST to keep the tops level.
I plan to have a passive intake allowing cool air from my air conditioned house to cool the room, and a 6'' air cooled hood exausting through the ceiling into the attic.
I'd like to grow plant big enough to produce around 8 oz's of bud apiece. 4 8 oz. plants would be awesome!
If you top and LST your plants then you should be able to fit 4 under that light. Figuring 2sq.ft. per plant. Just don't LST too much. LOL. Even then 8oz. per plant might be pushing it. That would require bigger plants I think. 4-5oz. per plant would be a safer bet. Smaller plants give you better yields per space anyway.
 

phillipchristian

New Member
Do you help with tiny grow systems? I have a 2x5x6.5 closet and a lot of ideas but really need some direction.
Post away buddy! I don't have much experience with small grows so I don't know all the tricks to cooling and lighting but I'm here to help in anyway that I can.
 

kamie

Active Member
hey phillip, when using a/c with an intake and outake fans, do i keep my fans on the high setting? i usually have them on the high setting except when its really cold i have it either on medium or low.... also do i keep the A/C on 24/7? its about 80 degrees here. good thing i have them sleeping during the day and awake at night.
 

phillipchristian

New Member
hey phillip, when using a/c with an intake and outake fans, do i keep my fans on the high setting? i usually have them on the high setting except when its really cold i have it either on medium or low.... also do i keep the A/C on 24/7? its about 80 degrees here. good thing i have them sleeping during the day and awake at night.
Hey Kamie, if you have an a/c in the room you shouldn't need intake and exhaust fans.. if you are trying to bring fresh air and C02 into the room then just run the intake fan on low speed when the lights are on. This will create positive pressure in your room which will force air out through the cracks and under doors. If you are worried about smell then seal your room or get a good carbon filter. In my opinion you should just seal the room anyway. Get a good carbon filter and close up those vents. Will help eliminate possible future problems like bugs, mold, and mildew. Your plants don't need elevated Co2 levels to produce nice buds. Plenty of really good growers don't even use Co2. You can get a generator later on when you have your grow dialed in. Get you setup and nutes on point through a few grows then look at adding Co2.

Your a/c should have a thermostat on it. It should be left on all the time. When it hits the set temperature usually the fans and display will stay on but the compressor will shut off. The compressor is what uses most of the electricity. Set the a/c to the temperature you want. Always measure temps on your plant canopy (under the lights at tops of plants) for a true reading of their temps. 75 for rooms with no Co2. 84 for rooms with Co2. Those are the temps you want to shoot for. If your a/c doesn't have a thermostat then you need to get a thermostat fan controller with a temperature probe. Any hydro store has them. You plug the controller into the outlet and the a/c into the controller. You'll have to play with it for a while to get your temps dialed in. They aren't always totally accurate. You may have to set it 2-3 degrees in wither direction to get the temps you want. Try and get one with day and night dials. Your plants actually like a temperature drop during daark cycle (5-10 degrees). Something like this:

Thermostat Controller.JPG


Another thing to remember is that when your a/c is not running it cannot dehumidify your room. A/C's are heat pumps essentially and the compressor needs to be running in order for them to dehumidify. This usually isn't a problem when the lights are on but when they go off and your a/c isn't on that often it can be an issue. If you have humidity issues then look for a small (30 pint) portable dehumidifier. Just leave it on 24/7. It is like the a/c and will only run when needed. If you have somewhere to drain it then get one that has a drain to waste hose (Danby, Sunpentown, DeLonghi). Another thing you could do is stick it on a stand and drain it to a reservoir. The runoff from dehumidifiers is VERY clean. You can use it to feed your plants. It's basicallly distilled water and has a pppm usually around 15-20.

Best of luck man.
 

HydroDawg421

Well-Known Member
I've completed 2 grows with some amazing results. I am now in the process of tweaking my 13' x 7' x 7' grow room and would love a floor plan and some assistance on how to layout my lights for max lumens/coverage. I currently have (2) Magnum XXXL 1,000W lights and may need to add another for a total of (3) Magnum XXXL's.

I haven't had issues with heat since I grew in the fall & winter of 2011. With the summer fast approaching the outside temps will be 95+ degrees. So there is no way I can grow without an a/c in that room. I'm going to do the following upgrades:

  • Install 24,000 BTU mini split a/c system
  • pull a 100amp sub panel off of my 200amp main panel
  • mount my (2) 1,000w ballasts outside the room and put them on dedicated 20amp breakers
  • locate everything that I can that generates heat outside the room
  • pull some additional outlets from the sub panel so I can have power, power and more power without worrying about tripping breakers. All on dedicated circuits.


Here is what I'm concerned with and would love some input


During flowering my whole damn house and depending on the wind direction, some of my yard smells like weed. BIG TIME!

I'm going to line the floor, walls & ceiling with 20Mil heavy duty vapor barrier ($550 a roll & used in construction to prevent Radon gas from entering crawl spaces, etc!) and install a BIG can filter and HO fan to scrub the air in the room and hopefully eliminate seepage in to the rest of the house and the yard.

It is my intentions to have a sealed grow. I can pull cool air from INSIDE the room across my lights and just exhaust inside the room since I have a 24k BTU a/c. I do NOT want to intake or exhaust any air outside of the room. I want this bitch sealed 100%.

I'm not really worried about the heat. EVERYTHING that generates heat will be outside the room except the lights themselves. I'll have a HUGE 24k BTU a/c in a relatively small space so even with (2) 1,000w lights I should be able to hang meat in there! I also run a water chiller so I'm not worried about res temps. I also run CO2 @ 1500ppm.

This room is VERY stealth . . . Right up to the part where it smells like a dead skunk in the house/yard!!!

  • Am I being naive to think I can COMPLETELY kill the smell of Cannabis flowering?
  • Can you tell me about positive & negative air pressure and how it may affect my ability to hide the smells in this scenario?
  • How should my lights be arranged? I have (2) Magnum XXXL's that are 32.5"L x 26.25"W x 7.75"H
  • Do I need to add a 3rd Magnum XXXL
  • I'm looking to maximize my space and grow as much as I can in an RDWC setup. Probably 18 buckets total.
  • The total length of my RDWC setup from the heart cell (reservoir) to the last bucket will be about 100" total.
  • The DWC buckets are in rows of 2 buckets. So 9 rows of 2 buckets = 18 total.
  • I can easily adjust the width of the buckets.

Screen Shot 2012-04-20 at 8.17.56 PM.jpg
 

kamie

Active Member
Hey Kamie, if you have an a/c in the room you shouldn't need intake and exhaust fans.. if you are trying to bring fresh air and C02 into the room then just run the intake fan on low speed when the lights are on. This will create positive pressure in your room which will force air out through the cracks and under doors. If you are worried about smell then seal your room or get a good carbon filter. In my opinion you should just seal the room anyway. Get a good carbon filter and close up those vents. Will help eliminate possible future problems like bugs, mold, and mildew. Your plants don't need elevated Co2 levels to produce nice buds. Plenty of really good growers don't even use Co2. You can get a generator later on when you have your grow dialed in. Get you setup and nutes on point through a few grows then look at adding Co2.

Your a/c should have a thermostat on it. It should be left on all the time. When it hits the set temperature usually the fans and display will stay on but the compressor will shut off. The compressor is what uses most of the electricity. Set the a/c to the temperature you want. Always measure temps on your plant canopy (under the lights at tops of plants) for a true reading of their temps. 75 for rooms with no Co2. 84 for rooms with Co2. Those are the temps you want to shoot for. If your a/c doesn't have a thermostat then you need to get a thermostat fan controller with a temperature probe. Any hydro store has them. You plug the controller into the outlet and the a/c into the controller. You'll have to play with it for a while to get your temps dialed in. They aren't always totally accurate. You may have to set it 2-3 degrees in wither direction to get the temps you want. Try and get one with day and night dials. Your plants actually like a temperature drop during daark cycle (5-10 degrees). Something like this:

View attachment 2130491


Another thing to remember is that when your a/c is not running it cannot dehumidify your room. A/C's are heat pumps essentially and the compressor needs to be running in order for them to dehumidify. This usually isn't a problem when the lights are on but when they go off and your a/c isn't on that often it can be an issue. If you have humidity issues then look for a small (30 pint) portable dehumidifier. Just leave it on 24/7. It is like the a/c and will only run when needed. If you have somewhere to drain it then get one that has a drain to waste hose (Danby, Sunpentown, DeLonghi). Another thing you could do is stick it on a stand and drain it to a reservoir. The runoff from dehumidifiers is VERY clean. You can use it to feed your plants. It's basicallly distilled water and has a pppm usually around 15-20.

Best of luck man.
hey phillip i have the single hose ac unit. would that mean i can't seal everything up and leave the a/c on? if not I'm okay with buying the dual hose one. with the dual hose i'd pull air in through one hose and then vent the other right? also the run off from dehumidifiers can i save it in a 5 gal water bottle with the lid closed for another day or would i have to use it during a certain period? i have a dehumidifier and when the bucket is full i usually just pour it out. didn't know i can reuse it. thanks phillip
 
Wondering if you can help me out I have a room with 1 window it 10x10x8. I have 3 600w hps, 2 exhaust fans(1 has carbon filter with it, 1 blower fan. How would you set this up? Any lldesigns would be greatly appreciated.
 

phillipchristian

New Member
hey phillip i have the single hose ac unit. would that mean i can't seal everything up and leave the a/c on? if not I'm okay with buying the dual hose one. with the dual hose i'd pull air in through one hose and then vent the other right? also the run off from dehumidifiers can i save it in a 5 gal water bottle with the lid closed for another day or would i have to use it during a certain period? i have a dehumidifier and when the bucket is full i usually just pour it out. didn't know i can reuse it. thanks phillip
Hey Kamie, go ahead and seal the room. You a/c will exhaust air out of the room creating a slight negative pressure in there. That is fine as it will help you keep smells in. Just make sure not to seal it up too tight. Have a crack under the door or something. No need to get a dual hose unit. You can save the dehumidifier water as long as you want. Just make sure you clean the air filter every couple weeks.
 

phillipchristian

New Member
Wondering if you can help me out I have a room with 1 window it 10x10x8. I have 3 600w hps, 2 exhaust fans(1 has carbon filter with it, 1 blower fan. How would you set this up? Any lldesigns would be greatly appreciated.
Hey bud, thanks for stopping by.

Can youl let me know wha wall the window and the door are on? Like north, east, etc... Also, what grow style do you use? Soil or hydro? And generally speaking, how tall do you grow your plants?
 

phillipchristian

New Member
I've completed 2 grows with some amazing results. I am now in the process of tweaking my 13' x 7' x 7' grow room and would love a floor plan and some assistance on how to layout my lights for max lumens/coverage. I currently have (2) Magnum XXXL 1,000W lights and may need to add another for a total of (3) Magnum XXXL's.

I haven't had issues with heat since I grew in the fall & winter of 2011. With the summer fast approaching the outside temps will be 95+ degrees. So there is no way I can grow without an a/c in that room. I'm going to do the following upgrades:

  • Install 24,000 BTU mini split a/c system
  • pull a 100amp sub panel off of my 200amp main panel
  • mount my (2) 1,000w ballasts outside the room and put them on dedicated 20amp breakers
  • locate everything that I can that generates heat outside the room
  • pull some additional outlets from the sub panel so I can have power, power and more power without worrying about tripping breakers. All on dedicated circuits.


Here is what I'm concerned with and would love some input


During flowering my whole damn house and depending on the wind direction, some of my yard smells like weed. BIG TIME!

I'm going to line the floor, walls & ceiling with 20Mil heavy duty vapor barrier ($550 a roll & used in construction to prevent Radon gas from entering crawl spaces, etc!) and install a BIG can filter and HO fan to scrub the air in the room and hopefully eliminate seepage in to the rest of the house and the yard.

It is my intentions to have a sealed grow. I can pull cool air from INSIDE the room across my lights and just exhaust inside the room since I have a 24k BTU a/c. I do NOT want to intake or exhaust any air outside of the room. I want this bitch sealed 100%.

I'm not really worried about the heat. EVERYTHING that generates heat will be outside the room except the lights themselves. I'll have a HUGE 24k BTU a/c in a relatively small space so even with (2) 1,000w lights I should be able to hang meat in there! I also run a water chiller so I'm not worried about res temps. I also run CO2 @ 1500ppm.

This room is VERY stealth . . . Right up to the part where it smells like a dead skunk in the house/yard!!!

  • Am I being naive to think I can COMPLETELY kill the smell of Cannabis flowering?
  • Can you tell me about positive & negative air pressure and how it may affect my ability to hide the smells in this scenario?
  • How should my lights be arranged? I have (2) Magnum XXXL's that are 32.5"L x 26.25"W x 7.75"H
  • Do I need to add a 3rd Magnum XXXL
  • I'm looking to maximize my space and grow as much as I can in an RDWC setup. Probably 18 buckets total.
  • The total length of my RDWC setup from the heart cell (reservoir) to the last bucket will be about 100" total.
  • The DWC buckets are in rows of 2 buckets. So 9 rows of 2 buckets = 18 total.
  • I can easily adjust the width of the buckets.

View attachment 2130645
Hey HydroDawg. Thanks for stopping by. Glad to help. Sounds like you are ready to step it up a notch. Congrats man. Always fun when you grow BIG!!! :lol: Just a couple suggestions and feedback and then i'll get working on a plan depending on your answers.

Is there anyway you could mount that minisplit on the North or East walls? You can put the coondensor anywhere outside but I think that West wall is you best bet for plants and lighting. Would be ideal if you could have the a/c on the East wall blowing at the plants. Also more efficient. Let me know.

I'm gonna make some suggestions in regards to your lighting. First off, you have plenty of cooling with a 2 ton a/c unit for 3 lights. It's up to you but I would get a 3rd light ad maybe a 4th in the future. If you have no electrical issues and are looking to expand then you have plenty of room in there for up to 4; an possibly 5; lights. For now I would get the 3rd light if you are thinking about it anyway. If you are going to get the 3rd light then let me know so that I can make the plan accordingly.

Something to think about...with only a 7' ceiling you have very limited plant height to work with using those 1000w lights. Your light will take up a foot and then you can't have plants any closer than a foot. Plus you DWC buckets will use 14-18". So you are looking at 3'6" plants max I think. You could add 6" to that by running your ballasts dimmed to 600w. If you have dimmable ballasts then you always run the appropriate bulb for the setting. Don't dim a 1000w bulb; dim your ballast and run a 600w bulb. Just something to think about.

How tall do you normally grow your plants? Do you make them bushy as well? Just trying to get a general idea as to the footprint you will need for that system. Sounds like you grow fairly large plants and I think you might need a 3rd light to cover the distance of 9 plants.

If you are bringing a subpanel into that room then I would make some changes to your electrical setup. Are you running the a/c off that subpanel? What kind of ballasts do you have? I imagine that the a/c runs on 240v. If you have ballasts that can be wired for 240v as well then I would get the cords and wire then that way. The amount of money you'll save on cable and the subpanel will more than pay for the 240v cords. If you go that route you won't need a 100amp subpanel anymore. You will be fine with a 60amp panel as your lights will only be drawing about 10-15amps total and your a/c would draw another 10amps. That would leave you safely 20amps for other equipment. Either way, when you get into 3-4 light grows Irecommend light controller boxes. They are the safest way to run multiple lights. Basically you would hardwire the box directly from your subpanel. Then you would plug the ballasts into the box. You can get the box with a built in timer or just use any timer that you have. The box runs the power for the lights on a seperate circuit that is hardwired to your subpanel. You still need to power the relays of the box and the timer. This is why the boxes have a "trigger cord" which it a 120v plug that does't use any more electricity than it takes to flip a relay. You would then plug this trigger cord into a High Temp/Hot Strike box which is plugged into the wall outlet or into your timmer if you choose to use that. These high temp boxes basically prevent your lights from Hot Restrikes after a power failure or surge.The box will make your lights wait 10 minutes before coming back on. Will save your bulbs and increase their lifespan. They also have thermostates and probes to shut your lights off in the event that something happens and your room reaches a temperature setpoint. Usually 90-95 degrees and you want to shut it down. As soon as temps drop back down the box with then flip the relays on your light controller and turn the lamps back on. These boxes ar well worth the $70 they cost. Also; having a light controller is very efficient and safe.

If you set it up this way then all you would need were 4 outlets in the room on 2 20amp breakers. 20amps for 2 outlets is more than enough. You won't need anymore power than that for the additional equipment you will put in there. A dehumidifier or a chiller is only going to use 5 amps.

I would recommend a small dehumidifier. Minisplit units are great at dehumidifying but like all a/c's they have to be cooling to actually dehumidify. During the dark cycle most a/c units don't work as often and therefore do not dehumidify as much. Sometimes this can lead to humidity spikes. Something to think about. Although, if you are running your lights at night and during the day it gets to 90+ outside maybe your a/c will be running enough to keep the humidity in check. I would keep an eye on it.

$550 a roll? Damn bro. I would save your money man. Get some silicone and caulk and seal the room up nicely. If you have exposed joists or framing then hang some plywood or drywall. Then put duct insulation wrap on all of the walls (http://www.ecofoil.com/Applications/Residential-Insulation/R-8-HVAC-Duct-Wrap-Insulation). Not only is it a great reflective material but also acts as insulation for your room which will make your a/c much more efficient. That with a good carbon filter and you will be fine. I promise. Plus it will save you a ton of money. I would recommend the CAN 75 filter and a good 8" high output fan. Buy CAN or Vortex cause most of the other fans don't come close to their advertised CFM ratings.

I'm all for sealed grow environments. You can still seal your room but exhaust your lights though. If it get's hot outside I think you'll be surprised how much your a/c is going to be running; especially with 3,000w of lighting. 1000w lights can create a need for 8,000btu of cooling all by themselves if they are not vented from the room. So you could easily find yourself in a situation where your a/c is running the whole time the lights are on. If it is a possibility I would just create a closed loop on your lights. Pull air from outside of the room through the lights and then exhaust it back out of the room. You can seal this loop by using insulated ducting and flashing tape or foil tape to completely seal your hoods. You won't have any odor issues with the exhausting air this way. The other option would be to pull air from your room through a carbon filter and then exhaust that outside. I would still use the CAN 75 to scrub the air in the room and just get a small CAN 33 for the intake side of your lights. Either way you aren't going to have ANY issues with odor. Plus your a/c will work much more efficiently and last a lot longer. I know you said "NO" vents but I just wanted to throw that out there.

Just a suggestin but try and put your ballasts in a room that is cooled by the house or with a wall fan mounted to blow on them. Electronics like to run in cool temps. They can heat up really fast (especially if that chiller is in the room with them) and this can lead to shortened usage times and other problems.

Your specific questions:

1. You are not being naive. You ould fill that room with 4-5 lights and all the plants you want. If it is sealed correctly (vented hoods or not) and you have an appropriate filter/fan then you won't have any issues with odor outside.
2. You either create positive, negative, or neutral air pressure in your room with the ventilation setup that you have. If you are bringing air into your room from outside of that space then you hav positive pressure in the room and the air will look for places to get out as new air comes in; usually under doors or through cracks and windows. If you are pulling air out of the room (like i described with the filter on your lights and exhausting the air outside) then you have created negative pressure in your room. This is ideal for most growers because you are controlling the odor of the exhausting air and by creating negative pressure all of the places where air can move in and out are sucking air into the room. That way no air is escaping that is not passed over a filter. Keeps smells from pouring out cracks and under doors. The way you have it setup is neutral air pressure. You are neither exhausting air from anywhere or intaking air. The problem with neutral pressure is that you can not control the intake or exhaust of the air. That will be determined by the airflow and the pressure of the rooms around you. If the other side of your door has negative pressure than it will pull air from your room.
3. I really think you are going to need another light. If at all possible I would run them at 600w with 600w bulbs. If not I just don't see how you can fit 9 plants in a row under a 10' span. A 1000w lights basically has a 5x5 footprint; even with those hoods. Maybe 6-12" more if they are side by side. Still, that would mean you really only have about 14" width for each plant. I would put them on the West wall. At 13' long that would be perfect for 3 lights and would also keep them in a straight line which is always more efficient for ducting. If that is a problem then I would do an "L" shape between the West & North walls or the North & East walls. If you go with 2 lights fo now then you can put them on either the East or the West wall. I just don't like having my lights right in front of the door to the room.
4. I think so. You could get more grow sites if you add another light. You say that your system is only 100" long but that must mean you are growing some SMALL plants man. With that length you are only giving your plants like 8" of width. A 12" plant needs that much width. Your bucketsa have to be bigger than that? If so then you could definitely get away with 18 under the 2 lights. I would say go with 3 and maximize the amount of buckets that you can fit in there. Maybe 22-26. Grow some bushy plants. Maybe LST and TOP them in veg. Keep them short but with multiple colas.
5. If you wanna grow "as much as you can" then get 2 600w ballasts nd create and "L" shape between the West & North walls. You can fit maybe 26-30 buckets in that space. Probably would want to get a bigger reservoir or run dual reservoirs. If you ran dual reservoirs you could do a perpetual cycle which would allow you to harvest every month instead of every other month. I'm just fantasizing for you right there. LOL!!! Shit, you could get up to 6 lights in that room no problem and still have plenty of room. Get 40-50 buckets going....no I'm getting crazy!:-P

Well, I think that's all I have to say on that. Probably just gave myself arthritis. Let me know what you think.
 

HydroDawg421

Well-Known Member
Hey HydroDawg. Thanks for stopping by. Glad to help. Sounds like you are ready to step it up a notch. Congrats man. Always fun when you grow BIG!!! :lol: Just a couple suggestions and feedback and then i'll get working on a plan depending on your answers.

Is there anyway you could mount that minisplit on the North or East walls? You can put the coondensor anywhere outside but I think that West wall is you best bet for plants and lighting. Would be ideal if you could have the a/c on the East wall blowing at the plants. Also more efficient. Let me know.

I'm gonna make some suggestions in regards to your lighting. First off, you have plenty of cooling with a 2 ton a/c unit for 3 lights. It's up to you but I would get a 3rd light ad maybe a 4th in the future. If you have no electrical issues and are looking to expand then you have plenty of room in there for up to 4; an possibly 5; lights. For now I would get the 3rd light if you are thinking about it anyway. If you are going to get the 3rd light then let me know so that I can make the plan accordingly.

Something to think about...with only a 7' ceiling you have very limited plant height to work with using those 1000w lights. Your light will take up a foot and then you can't have plants any closer than a foot. Plus you DWC buckets will use 14-18". So you are looking at 3'6" plants max I think. You could add 6" to that by running your ballasts dimmed to 600w. If you have dimmable ballasts then you always run the appropriate bulb for the setting. Don't dim a 1000w bulb; dim your ballast and run a 600w bulb. Just something to think about.

How tall do you normally grow your plants? Do you make them bushy as well? Just trying to get a general idea as to the footprint you will need for that system. Sounds like you grow fairly large plants and I think you might need a 3rd light to cover the distance of 9 plants.

If you are bringing a subpanel into that room then I would make some changes to your electrical setup. Are you running the a/c off that subpanel? What kind of ballasts do you have? I imagine that the a/c runs on 240v. If you have ballasts that can be wired for 240v as well then I would get the cords and wire then that way. The amount of money you'll save on cable and the subpanel will more than pay for the 240v cords. If you go that route you won't need a 100amp subpanel anymore. You will be fine with a 60amp panel as your lights will only be drawing about 10-15amps total and your a/c would draw another 10amps. That would leave you safely 20amps for other equipment. Either way, when you get into 3-4 light grows Irecommend light controller boxes. They are the safest way to run multiple lights. Basically you would hardwire the box directly from your subpanel. Then you would plug the ballasts into the box. You can get the box with a built in timer or just use any timer that you have. The box runs the power for the lights on a seperate circuit that is hardwired to your subpanel. You still need to power the relays of the box and the timer. This is why the boxes have a "trigger cord" which it a 120v plug that does't use any more electricity than it takes to flip a relay. You would then plug this trigger cord into a High Temp/Hot Strike box which is plugged into the wall outlet or into your timmer if you choose to use that. These high temp boxes basically prevent your lights from Hot Restrikes after a power failure or surge.The box will make your lights wait 10 minutes before coming back on. Will save your bulbs and increase their lifespan. They also have thermostates and probes to shut your lights off in the event that something happens and your room reaches a temperature setpoint. Usually 90-95 degrees and you want to shut it down. As soon as temps drop back down the box with then flip the relays on your light controller and turn the lamps back on. These boxes ar well worth the $70 they cost. Also; having a light controller is very efficient and safe.

If you set it up this way then all you would need were 4 outlets in the room on 2 20amp breakers. 20amps for 2 outlets is more than enough. You won't need anymore power than that for the additional equipment you will put in there. A dehumidifier or a chiller is only going to use 5 amps.

I would recommend a small dehumidifier. Minisplit units are great at dehumidifying but like all a/c's they have to be cooling to actually dehumidify. During the dark cycle most a/c units don't work as often and therefore do not dehumidify as much. Sometimes this can lead to humidity spikes. Something to think about. Although, if you are running your lights at night and during the day it gets to 90+ outside maybe your a/c will be running enough to keep the humidity in check. I would keep an eye on it.

$550 a roll? Damn bro. I would save your money man. Get some silicone and caulk and seal the room up nicely. If you have exposed joists or framing then hang some plywood or drywall. Then put duct insulation wrap on all of the walls (http://www.ecofoil.com/Applications/Residential-Insulation/R-8-HVAC-Duct-Wrap-Insulation). Not only is it a great reflective material but also acts as insulation for your room which will make your a/c much more efficient. That with a good carbon filter and you will be fine. I promise. Plus it will save you a ton of money. I would recommend the CAN 75 filter and a good 8" high output fan. Buy CAN or Vortex cause most of the other fans don't come close to their advertised CFM ratings.

I'm all for sealed grow environments. You can still seal your room but exhaust your lights though. If it get's hot outside I think you'll be surprised how much your a/c is going to be running; especially with 3,000w of lighting. 1000w lights can create a need for 8,000btu of cooling all by themselves if they are not vented from the room. So you could easily find yourself in a situation where your a/c is running the whole time the lights are on. If it is a possibility I would just create a closed loop on your lights. Pull air from outside of the room through the lights and then exhaust it back out of the room. You can seal this loop by using insulated ducting and flashing tape or foil tape to completely seal your hoods. You won't have any odor issues with the exhausting air this way. The other option would be to pull air from your room through a carbon filter and then exhaust that outside. I would still use the CAN 75 to scrub the air in the room and just get a small CAN 33 for the intake side of your lights. Either way you aren't going to have ANY issues with odor. Plus your a/c will work much more efficiently and last a lot longer. I know you said "NO" vents but I just wanted to throw that out there.

Just a suggestin but try and put your ballasts in a room that is cooled by the house or with a wall fan mounted to blow on them. Electronics like to run in cool temps. They can heat up really fast (especially if that chiller is in the room with them) and this can lead to shortened usage times and other problems.

Your specific questions:

1. You are not being naive. You ould fill that room with 4-5 lights and all the plants you want. If it is sealed correctly (vented hoods or not) and you have an appropriate filter/fan then you won't have any issues with odor outside.
2. You either create positive, negative, or neutral air pressure in your room with the ventilation setup that you have. If you are bringing air into your room from outside of that space then you hav positive pressure in the room and the air will look for places to get out as new air comes in; usually under doors or through cracks and windows. If you are pulling air out of the room (like i described with the filter on your lights and exhausting the air outside) then you have created negative pressure in your room. This is ideal for most growers because you are controlling the odor of the exhausting air and by creating negative pressure all of the places where air can move in and out are sucking air into the room. That way no air is escaping that is not passed over a filter. Keeps smells from pouring out cracks and under doors. The way you have it setup is neutral air pressure. You are neither exhausting air from anywhere or intaking air. The problem with neutral pressure is that you can not control the intake or exhaust of the air. That will be determined by the airflow and the pressure of the rooms around you. If the other side of your door has negative pressure than it will pull air from your room.
3. I really think you are going to need another light. If at all possible I would run them at 600w with 600w bulbs. If not I just don't see how you can fit 9 plants in a row under a 10' span. A 1000w lights basically has a 5x5 footprint; even with those hoods. Maybe 6-12" more if they are side by side. Still, that would mean you really only have about 14" width for each plant. I would put them on the West wall. At 13' long that would be perfect for 3 lights and would also keep them in a straight line which is always more efficient for ducting. If that is a problem then I would do an "L" shape between the West & North walls or the North & East walls. If you go with 2 lights fo now then you can put them on either the East or the West wall. I just don't like having my lights right in front of the door to the room.
4. I think so. You could get more grow sites if you add another light. You say that your system is only 100" long but that must mean you are growing some SMALL plants man. With that length you are only giving your plants like 8" of width. A 12" plant needs that much width. Your bucketsa have to be bigger than that? If so then you could definitely get away with 18 under the 2 lights. I would say go with 3 and maximize the amount of buckets that you can fit in there. Maybe 22-26. Grow some bushy plants. Maybe LST and TOP them in veg. Keep them short but with multiple colas.
5. If you wanna grow "as much as you can" then get 2 600w ballasts nd create and "L" shape between the West & North walls. You can fit maybe 26-30 buckets in that space. Probably would want to get a bigger reservoir or run dual reservoirs. If you ran dual reservoirs you could do a perpetual cycle which would allow you to harvest every month instead of every other month. I'm just fantasizing for you right there. LOL!!! Shit, you could get up to 6 lights in that room no problem and still have plenty of room. Get 40-50 buckets going....no I'm getting crazy!:-P

Well, I think that's all I have to say on that. Probably just gave myself arthritis. Let me know what you think.
WoW! This is amazing information! Thank You so MUCH!!!


  • I will definitely set this up for 240v so it draws less amps
  • The a/c will run off of 240v also
  • My ballasts will be mounted to the backside of the South wall which is actually in a very big crawlspace area. The temps are usually 65-70 degrees in this area.
  • Integrate a light controller box & hot strike box. I'm assuming these are 2 separate devices? (do you recommend any particular brands? CAP, Titan?)
  • Add a 3rd light. I think a 3 light setup will be easier with ducting & raising/lowering the lights. I'll attach 2 drawings. one for a 3 light setup & one for a 4 light setup.
  • I currently have (2) of the Quantum 1000w dimmable ballasts and can run them at 25, 50, 75 or 100% ( http://www.quantumhort.com/quantum-1000-watt-dimmable.html )
  • I currently have a 6 site DWC and can expand to 12 or 18 buckets depending on the lighting, etc. I'm not dead set on doing 18 buckets, I can consider doing just 12 buckets and growing larger plants. I don't want to crowd my room with too many plants and I want some room to move around inside the room. I need some input on this! 12 or 18 ???
  • I am concerned with the height of the room. My first grow I LST'd & topped. My 2nd grow I did a SCROG (this is a lot of work!) For this grow I was thinking about topping/fimming to get short bushy plants
  • I will find some 5 or 10MIL vapor barrier that is a lot cheaper and also caulk/seal the room. I was going overkill with the $550 a roll stuff just to be safe.
  • The room has plywood on the floor, walls & ceiling and the room is insulated with either R19 or R22 (I forget).
  • I will DEFINITELY be getting a CAN75 filter and a couple of CAN or Vortex fans.

Here are my options for cooling the lights:


  • I can intake air for the lights from the South wall which is the crawl space underneath the house. The air will always stay 65-70 degrees since it comes from under the house. I can then exhaust it outside via the foundation vent on the North wall. I'll use a CAN/Vortex fan(s) to drive this at a HIGH CFM. This option won't allow for a 'straight run' of ducting though so it WILL be less efficient.
  • I could intake air for the lights from the West wall throughout the foundation and exhaust it out the foundation vent on the North wall. However this air would be as hot as 95 degrees in the summer. I know a straight run allows for more CFM air flow but where is the trade off? Hot air in a straight run or much cooler air with a couple of bends?
  • I could intake from either the crawlspace or outside and then vent it back in to the crawlspace via the East wall. Although I don't know about blowing warm air under the house.I would worry about condensation and then mold/mildew once the outside temperatures drop in the fall/winter.

Should I mount these lights to the ceiling and not worry about raising or lowering or will my lumens drop off? I think at the beginning of the grow the lights will be 40"-48" or more from the tops of the buckets to the lights. Is this too far?

OR Should I stick with (3) lights and a 6 bucket setup and just grow some HUGE plants?

Checkout the 2 .jpg's I have attached. I like the 3 light setup for simplicity but am not opposed to a 4 light setup if it gives me distinct advantage of the 3 light setup!

Feel free to add anything that I may have missed!


3 lights setup.jpg4 light setup.jpg
 
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