Grow tent ventilation; which fan?

Innerorbit

Well-Known Member
Hello,

I am currently growing in a Vivosun 60"x60"x80" grow tent and still need to figure out ventilation for it and am looking for some advice before I make the purchase.

I've been thinking of going with 6" fan and carbon filter and I'm likely going to have the fan hooked up directly to a 6" diameter carbon filter inside the tent and have it exhausted directly into the room that I have the tent in. I'll leave one or both of the flaps open on the bottom of the tent open for passive airflow into the tent and temp won't be a problem since my house is quite cold this time of year. I may eventually use ducting to exhaust the air somewhere else at a later date but it won't be necessary anytime soon.

These are the units I've been looking at so far.

1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EV10FI0/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01EV10FI0&pd_rd_w=Oyqgv&pf_rd_p=f0dedbe2-13c8-4136-a746-4398ed93cf0f&pd_rd_wg=51lnC&pf_rd_r=J7M1R88VGK0XBFT1P46R&pd_rd_r=1d44e7a5-1861-11e9-a5cf-b183fdaf236c

2) https://www.amazon.com/GROWNEER-Controller-Australia-Charcoal-Ventilation/dp/B075NLHQ75/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1547515585&sr=8-3&keywords=growneer+6+inch&th=1

3) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWYJQYA/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

The first two are appealing because they seem to come with everything I'll need and are reasonably priced. I'm a little concerned though after reading some reviews that suggested they are cheaply made and might not really hold up well over time. They seem about the same quality although the Vivosun unit is $20 more but reading the reviews people said they have great customer service and replace any defective units or refund the purchase price if any issues arise so it is probably worth it.

With the Active Air unit I'd have to buy the controller and carbon filter separate and spend a little more in total but the fan seems like it's a much more robust and I saw almost zero negative reviews on that aspect like with the others but my concern is that it is a lot heavier and doesn't seem easy to mount in the tent and I'm unsure if my Vivosun tent poles could even support it.

What do you think? It honestly seems like #3 is the best fan for the money but if the others would work fine they seem a lot easier to set up given my circumstances.
 

StareCase

Well-Known Member
Not sure if you have made your choice yet - but I have the Vivosun 4" - 190 CFM exhaust fan. It's been running 24 x 7 for 7 months and no issues. Doesn't even rattle. I wager that their 6" is just as reliable.

To conserve space, my fan & carbon filter are outside the tent which help create good exchange of air. And there is no stink even on the day of harvest. If you are worried about the poles and top supports holding any extra weight, could you put the fan & carbon filter on the outside of your tent?
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
My tent poles support a 40 lb carbon filter and a 60 lb xxl hood. I'd assume you'll he fine, my tent was just a cheap random name off amazon.
 

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
Hello,

I am currently growing in a Vivosun 60"x60"x80" grow tent and still need to figure out ventilation for it and am looking for some advice before I make the purchase.

I've been thinking of going with 6" fan and carbon filter and I'm likely going to have the fan hooked up directly to a 6" diameter carbon filter inside the tent and have it exhausted directly into the room that I have the tent in. I'll leave one or both of the flaps open on the bottom of the tent open for passive airflow into the tent and temp won't be a problem since my house is quite cold this time of year. I may eventually use ducting to exhaust the air somewhere else at a later date but it won't be necessary anytime soon.

These are the units I've been looking at so far.

1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EV10FI0/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01EV10FI0&pd_rd_w=Oyqgv&pf_rd_p=f0dedbe2-13c8-4136-a746-4398ed93cf0f&pd_rd_wg=51lnC&pf_rd_r=J7M1R88VGK0XBFT1P46R&pd_rd_r=1d44e7a5-1861-11e9-a5cf-b183fdaf236c

2) https://www.amazon.com/GROWNEER-Controller-Australia-Charcoal-Ventilation/dp/B075NLHQ75/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1547515585&sr=8-3&keywords=growneer+6+inch&th=1

3) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWYJQYA/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

The first two are appealing because they seem to come with everything I'll need and are reasonably priced. I'm a little concerned though after reading some reviews that suggested they are cheaply made and might not really hold up well over time. They seem about the same quality although the Vivosun unit is $20 more but reading the reviews people said they have great customer service and replace any defective units or refund the purchase price if any issues arise so it is probably worth it.

With the Active Air unit I'd have to buy the controller and carbon filter separate and spend a little more in total but the fan seems like it's a much more robust and I saw almost zero negative reviews on that aspect like with the others but my concern is that it is a lot heavier and doesn't seem easy to mount in the tent and I'm unsure if my Vivosun tent poles could even support it.

What do you think? It honestly seems like #3 is the best fan for the money but if the others would work fine they seem a lot easier to set up given my circumstances.

Dont know if you got a fan yet but my a rive air 4” and 6” fans and speed controllers have been running 24/7 for 4 years.

More money but electronic speed controller included i have 2 hyper fans running even longer.
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
The hood is likely only 30 lbs. i think its bad advice to suggest hanging 100# from a cheap tent frame.
I'm happy you know what my equipment weighs. It weighs a lot more than my carbon filter that's 40 lbs and more than a #50 bag of ice melt.

And I'm not advising him to hang 100# from his tent, I'm saying I have, and his 6 inch filter will be fine.
 

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
I'm happy you know what my equipment weighs. It weighs a lot more than my carbon filter that's 40 lbs and more than a #50 bag of ice melt.

And I'm not advising him to hang 100# from his tent, I'm saying I have, and his 6 inch filter will be fine.

I was hoping you mis printed. I was just cautioning the weight on cheap tent poles.

A sun system xxl hood weighs 30 lbs. My 6”x16” phresh filter weighs 25 lbs.

If yours weighs double. Then so be it.
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
I was hoping you mis printed. I was just cautioning the weight on cheap tent poles.

A sun system xxl hood weighs 30 lbs. My 6”x16” phresh filter weighs 25 lbs.

If yours weighs double. Then so be it.
It's a phresh filter 8inch x 36 inch filter and it's a magnum xxl from 5 years ago style. Dunno why you assumed you knew.. or why I have to fully explain it...
Again... his 6 inch filter will he fine. No idea why your even assuming I'm saying he should hang 100lbs, when I've clearly not said that. I'm saying he will be fine because I hang much more with no issues.
 

Innerorbit

Well-Known Member
Thanks, I went for the Vivosun 6" setup and it just arrived. I spent some time this morning setting it up in the tent and got it positioned well until I fired it up and realized I installed the fan the wrong direction and was it was blowing air into the tent :roll:
 

Justinsbudzzz

Well-Known Member
Not sure if you have made your choice yet - but I have the Vivosun 4" - 190 CFM exhaust fan. It's been running 24 x 7 for 7 months and no issues. Doesn't even rattle. I wager that their 6" is just as reliable.

To conserve space, my fan & carbon filter are outside the tent which help create good exchange of air. And there is no stink even on the day of harvest. If you are worried about the poles and top supports holding any extra weight, could you put the fan & carbon filter on the outside of your tent?
I am buying a 4x2x5 tent as well quick question what lights do u run I'm planning on running a315 cmh in mine would ur 4inch fan setup work with the heat from this light .I normally grow outdoors or in a regualer bedroom so just curious about ur setup so I can get a idea how many cfm fan I'll need thanks
 

V256.420

Well-Known Member
I keep the fan and filter outside the tent. I hook up the ducting to one side of my hood. I chop about 8 feet of duct and pull it thru the side of the tent thru the 8" hole. I then connect it to my fan which sits right on top of the filter and pushes air thru. Much more room for my big hood.

A 440 cfm fan will do nicely from 1k watts and down.
 

StareCase

Well-Known Member
I am buying a 4x2x5 tent as well quick question what lights do u run I'm planning on running a315 cmh in mine would ur 4inch fan setup work with the heat from this light .I normally grow outdoors or in a regualer bedroom so just curious about ur setup so I can get a idea how many cfm fan I'll need thanks
CMH heat output is about the same as the LED's. Both run cooler than the HID lighting. I am running 2 600W Viparspectra Reflector LED's with four 4' 2700K warm white florescent tube side lights - 2 on each side of the canopy - to provide some extra red spectrum during the flowering. I had the 4' florescent fixtures already and they fit lengthwise into the tent - so I thought why not use 'em.

While LED/LEC/CMH run cooler than HID's, they still produce some heat which will need to be removed. The 4" 190 CFM Vivosun exhaust fan does a good job pulling the heat out of the top right of the tent, sucking new air in from the lower left via a 4" PVC elbow joint and blowing the stinky air through the filter. The small internal tent fans on the inside draw up then circulate the new air around the canopy.

As the girls get bigger, the exhaust fan speed is stepped up since the plants transpiration rate is also stepping up. I need to exchange the spent air with clean air at a little higher rate with the increase in foliage. Once in full flower, the exhaust fan is running between 75% and 100%. When I feel some good suction of new air from the intake elbow into the tent, that's when I know I have the right speed. The exhaust fan and the internal tent fans are going 24 x 7 which should keep your mildew/mold in check.

Like V256.420, the exhaust fan sits directly on top of the carbon filter and both are outside of the tent. The 4" ducting comes out of the very top right opening of the tent. Even the smaller 4" filter was too large to work with on the inside of the tent. It limited what I could do with all the stuff that I needed on the inside - the lights, SCROG nets, fans ... and oh yeah ... the girls.
 

LoraMoser

New Member
I wouldn't draw air from outside you have a good chance of getting pests/ mold and temp fluctuations.
As for dispersing, if smell is an issue I would recommend a carbon filter. No need to vent outside if you do that.
You wont need a very strong vent fan if you are running LEDs, i would just make sure there is good circulation in the tent with an oscillating fan.
House air is plenty fine for plants
 
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