How to heat up my grow room!

ok so i need to figure out a way to keep the room warm enough for plants to grow. there is no heat in the shed some insulation stays outdoor temp mostly got it up to 70 with 400 watt hps but it hasn't gotten real cold yet either. also want to keep power consumption to a minimum as well

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Is the shed connected to the house?

How far north are you?

Can you run electricity to the shed?

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First, the walls of the grow area should be sealed and insulated. A small amount of fresh air needs to constantly move into the area but I'd get it warm first and then slowly introduce a little fresh air. If the entire shed isn't filled with plants, the parts that have none should be walled off, including any unused vertical space. Next, get a quality heater that will keep a steady temp. Keep the receipt and replace if it doesn't. You should be prepared to spend a little extra on the heater if you want an efficient one with low monthly costs. Running intake air through the heater will minimize cold drafts in the winter. Also, ducting that channels lamp-cooling exhaust air from the ceiling to the floor level will move warm air that rises to the plants' level. Good internal air circulation will keep the warmth from gathering at the ceiling as well.

Get the area prepared for slightly lower temps than you have now. As winter sets in, you can slowly add extra insulation to prepare the room for even lower temps. That might help keep initial costs down.

Well it depends on how much room you have to spare, you can add some polystyrene from inside to the walls, that would keep higher temp inside. But If you have small space its gonna be hard. I would agree on a heater, its simple and it does the job.

I've wondered about the sheet insulation, the kind you can get at Home Despot, it comes in like 8' x 4' stiff sheets. Anybody ever try that?

yes there is electricity but i'm not looking to use alot on heating as it's costly and want to run lights for power and heat more than a heater you dig? also it's a BIG shed double story few rooms now should i just heat the whole thing up or just my room also anyone know of a good cheap electrical heater let me know please and thanks. making some dank hash right now from this years outdoor crop so gotta go peace.

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As the people above suggested, you need to build a very well insulated growing cage. Stupid thick insulation if you live where there's snow.

You have a 400 watt HPS, your flower cage will be 36" x 30".

The 400w will only give you 12" penetration into your canopy, learn stem training and keep your plants short. Keep your cage fairly short.

Closed loop circulation with a water trap (one for a clothes dryer will do great). Use the light's heat, feed the hot air through the bottom of the cage, build an air floor.

The heater will go in the chamber below the air floor, heating air before it passes through the canopy.

Oil filled radiant heaters are very energy efficient.

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Now the apt question - can you grow in a room in your house?

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No unfortunately not it was 32 degrees last night and my room inside the shed stayed at 60 degrees. So the light keeps it that warm at night. I don't mind using a heater when lights are off but, when they are on I rather use lights. If I upgraded to a 1000w light would this be good enough, or would it raise my temps to much? I'm not using ventilation and don't have equipment too, nor the money to get it right now. maybe a 600 watt light would get me the temps I want? I will get back with room measurements but, it is a slanted ceiling so floor space is bigger than air space but it's like a 9'x5 maybe 6' room in the shed. also my room is the two main walls and two stud walls. the shed walls have insulation and the ceiling but the two outer walls the stud walls are just studs no sheetrock and i put up black plastic on the inside and outside of the walls to keep light in there, there is air leaks so i know it's getting fresh air and retaining enough heated air to stay at 60 degrees

So i got a small oscillating fan with a heater core on it 750watts-1000watts with digital temperature settings so I hope this does the trick. The thing is should I be worried about my humidity dropping to much? Also fan has tip-over protection and overheating shutoff. So any feed back is appreciated thanks.

You don't have to worry about making it too hot since you can always bring in more fresh, cold air. You should look into covering the grow area walls with a reflective material. Whatever you use will add to the insulation as well. Hopefully you can just set the heater and it will keep the room the proper temperature whether the lights are on or off. If you get a chance in the future, buy a few sheets of drywall. It could be a later upgrade to the grow.

I wouldn't worry about the humidity. You can always water a little more and/or spray them once in awhile.

we will see how this new heater works out i'm going to try get some insulation board as well

ok so i found this stuff mabe i can use it? but it is$129 for this and it 4'x50' roll or i could go get some space blankets for hunting? they are made to hold heat aren't they?

bump.............

that seems way too expensive, I'm sure you'll find something better.
The growroom is made from what material?

ok i'll explain again and try to make sense of this it's a big shed two stories loft type. in the loft there is a room thats just a stud wall nothing else only on two sides. the other two sides and ceiling have insulation but the stud walls have just plastic hung on the outside then a layer inside the room. the room stayed at 60 degrees the other night with the temperature getting down to 32 degrees outside but it will get colder, average temp outdoors in the winter are 25-30 degree's. Also how bout a co2 generator the propane ones for heat and i'll get co2. how much propane do these things use in a month period, and do they have some sort of regulator system so they don't burn propane all day?

You need to completely insulate and seal as best you can. This is also the cheapest solution. Everything else you have suggested, bigger lights, CO2 generator, etc, are much more expensive. Simple batt insulation and a few tubes of caulk should solve your problem. It's actually pretty simple. Hang cheap plastic sheeting over the insulation, then if you can afford it, the foil backed styro panels. Cut a few holes for intake and exhaust, install some cheap dampers and you're done. What could be easier?
Hope this helps,
Fred

well i actually might have some regular insulation laying around thats a good idea putting it in between the plastic but i did just buy some of the bubble foil just a roll 4'x10' for the bottom half of the room maybe use some reg insulation of the top half. got that heater going at 750w doing an ok job in the day time but temps are still good in the day round here so waiting to see the results of the temps tonight and how it all works out the room is holding the heat alright when i go to the loft it is substantially warmer but in the ceiling and upper wall about a area of 20x15 in the shed that isn't insulated its the corner of the shed both side of the corner and the slanted ceiling make up the area im talking about. you can outside through the cracks of the boards. other than that it is insulated well everywhere else with the black tarpaper stuff on the wood underneath the insulation that is up on the outer walls

oh and too monther's finest yes it does keep the tempature when it reaches set tempature it kicks off and just uses the fan than on again when it get two degrees below the set level so what should i set it at 75 degrees?

If you have limited batts, the ceiling is the best place for them.
Good luck,
Fred

the ceiling in the room is completley insulated and outside walls. The walls inside the shed then stud walls are not. So i will insulate the top with the few batts i have and the bottom with that foil bubble wrap for reflection it will raise 4' from floor and is foil so the should work out great now the other question is ventilation for fresh air can i just put a PVC pipe at the bottom of one side and another one high on opposite side of room and get enough convection air for co2 for the plants don't need to vent heat alot? shouldn't need fan because air in the shed will be outside temp like 20 degrees or so let me know thanks