Intake Options

Having major issues with my intake.

My grow room (roughly 12x12x9) is in my garage.

My exhaust is not a problem, I will dump that into the attic. And neither are my cool tubes (I will just pull air from inside my garage and shoot that up into the attic as well)...

BUT pulling fresh air in is an issue.

I have a 550cfm fan on the exhaust and was hoping to have a passive intake set up. I was thinking to pull from the crawl space under the house, since that air will be a bit warmer in the winter and a bit cooler in the summer. Problem is, the crawl space is a couple of 90 degree turns and about 20 feet away (no direct access to it from the garage). So number one, passive probably wouldnt cut it and number 2 I would rather not be cutting all those holes in the wall and floor along the way.

So, I was thinking to just pull air in from my garage.. Just set up my HEPA filter and not have any duct at all. Just a passive intake (through this filter). Which BTW - can I use a passive intake with this filter like that OR will I need an intake fan? (even if there's no duct to pull through)

So I am wondering.. Is there enough fresh air in the garage OR will I need to set up a CO2 system or something to supplement it IF I run it this way? It's a 3 car garage, but other than air being pulled in through the cracks, it will be closed at all times.

So best case for me would be to just set up both my ventilation and the cooling duct for the fans directly from the garage. Well, that would be the easiest thing to do, maybe not the BEST. Just not sure if there will be enough fresh air in there?

Maybe a CO2 generator would solve the problem? The room is sealed, so maybe I can bypass an intake entirely? Again, best case would be for me to just pull air in from my garage, but I am just not sure if that will cut it.

thank you

How about a room or window a/c?

Homegrown4203 said:

How about a room or window a/c?

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Well, like I said, the heat won't be my issue so much as the cold.

My garage has kick ass insulation though. Despite it getting to 100 outside in the summer, it's never over 80 inside AND despite it getting down to zero (and not going over 20 for a couple months) it is never under 40 in my garage.

Just don't know if I can get enough FRESH air from that closed environment.

bump.. need some answers.

thanks

can you just cut one hold and take it from under the house? or can you run a fan and ducting from your attic (not where you are exhausting but another side outside where there is an access port) to your grow show?

regardless cutting holes isn't a big deal just keep the pieces

InkJockey said:

can you just cut one hold and take it from under the house? or can you run a fan and ducting from your attic (not where you are exhausting but another side outside where there is an access port) to your grow show?

regardless cutting holes isn't a big deal just keep the pieces

Click to expand...

Yeah.. I could. but its a long way away with either of those options. I was hoping to avoid it if at all possible.

Hoping that pulling air from my garage and supplementing with CO2 would be sufficient.

Bump.. I'd like another opinion or two

air from the garage will be fine unless you run a car inside often. if the garage is sealed very well & you dont go in often,a passive vent to outside may help. as for CO2, keep a cat (or 2) in the garage,not the grow rm.-bastards have to be good for something even if its only CO2 output.

mrmadcow said:

air from the garage will be fine unless you run a car inside often. if the garage is sealed very well & you dont go in often,a passive vent to outside may help. as for CO2, keep a cat (or 2) in the garage,not the grow rm.-bastards have to be good for something even if its only CO2 output.

Click to expand...

I can leave my car outside if need be. I only use it a couple times a week, but maybe bringing it in and out at all might not be a good idea. I'll just scrape the ice off the windows I guess. lol And if I did this, then I would take out my 4wheeler, gas tanks, etc... Don't want any of that getting sucked into my grow room. BUT keep in mind, I will have a HEPA filter hooked up to the intake.

All that being said, it would still be easier than cutting my way through to my crawl space. So IF this is OK, then I am going to try and pull from the garage.

The garage is sealed OTHER than the 2 doors. One being a double. So air CAN get in. Is that a bad thing? Maybe enough fresh air would seep through that I wouldnt need a vent to outside?

lol I hate cats.

thanks for your input.. I REALLY appreciate it.

Another somewhat oddball idea just popped into my head but I would bet it would work. If you could find a slightly older used side by side refrigerator/freezer that is reliable and someone is selling cheap, say because they are moving and do not want to take it with them and the new home owners do not want it, you could adapt it to be your cool/cold air supply.
　
Older, and not as in really old but just a few years old, side by side refrigerator/freezers had a small opening between the freezer compartment and the refrigerator side with a sliding door that depending on if you wanted more or less cold air in your refrigerator side you could slide open the little door and that allowed below freezing air to then mix with the normal refrigerated air making the freezer side slightly warmer and the refrigerator side colder.
　
If you could find such a refrigerator and cut an opening in the freezer door and leave the small opening between the two different sides of the refrigerator open (actually depending on how cold you set your refrigerator/freezer to run you may have to enlarge the hole somewhat to gain enough air flow but maybe not if you set the temperatures to run the refrigerator/freezer at low enough) you could draw in air, possibly even hot garage air, through the refrigerator/freezer (both sides) and then exit it through a second opening in the refrigerator door and then into your grow room.

Depending on how cold you would set the refrigerator/freezer to run and how much airflow you could get you might also be able to split the cool air line to your grow room into two lines with a "Y" connection and also run cold air through your CoolTube and the air it would then exhaust would be much cooler than it otherwise would be so there would be much less heat buildup in the garage.
　
Doing something like that could allow you to not need to insulate the garage or add a passive ventilation system to your garage.

Hey... I have read many of your posts and am very happy to see that you have come along my little thread to help out. Thanks! I really appreciate your taking the time to help.

But let me clear up a couple of things 1st...

Brick Top said:

Let me see if I fully understand your situation. You will grow in a room built inside a stand-alone (unattached) garage. You will vet your hot grow room air into the garage and you need a way to draw in cool air to keep your grow room temperatures down. Is that correct?

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It is NOT a stand alone garage. It's a 3 car attached garage.

I am going to ventilate the hot air from my lamps AND the exhaust from the room up into the attic.

As for keeping my temps down, that will not be a problem where I live. Keeping it warm will be for much of the year. BUT my garage is insulated quite well. In the summer it is never about 80 (even when it is 100 outside) and in the winter it never drops below 40 (even when it is 5 degrees outside)... So my garage is a good buffer from the weather, either way.

But yes, I need to find a way to pull air IN.. that is my main priority/concern here.
　

If so think about it a moment. Most if not all stand-alone garages are not insulated and tend to build up a rather large amount of heat if the garage door is left closed. By venting into the attic space of the garage you are only going to increase the inside temperature of your garage that will contain your grow room where you need to find a way to lower temperatures. Venting hot grow room air into the attic space of the garage will only increase your problem making it more difficult to solve.
　

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Again, this does not apply, since it is not a stand alone and since high temps will only be a concern for me at most 3 months out of the year.

And my attic is pretty big as well BTW. 8' tall for the most part.

Might it be wise to heavily insulate your garage, both walls and attic space, and vent your hot grow room air out of the garage so it does not build up inside? That will put you in a better position to begin with because you then will have lower temperatures in your garage than you would otherwise have based on the way you presently are considering doing things. Fiberglass insulation is inexpensive so it might be worth considering.

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Good idea. And even though my garage was already well insulated, I made sure to insulate my room quite well also. So I am not too worried about temps, especially high heat.
　

Also insulating your grow room itself would be a further buffer to keep built up heat in the garage out of your grow room meaing it would be easier to maintian a proper temperature range in the grow room itself.

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lol opps I shoulda read this 1st.. but yeah, we think alike.
　



OK read the rest and it is all GREAT advice. However, not much of it applies in my case.

I already did much of what you suggested. And I am well insulated.

Humidity should not be a problem either, I live in a cold desert climate.

My main question is as to whether or not I can use the garage air OR would I need to pull directly from outside? I am just not sure if the air in my garage will be able to replenish at such a high rate (that of my exhaust fan) and worried as to whether it would be "fresh" enough?


Using my garage as a buffer from the cold/hot outside air sounds like a plus, but I want to make sure it is fresh enough as well. The garage is sealed TIGHT other than the cracks in the garage doors. I could open the door that connects to my house from time to time, but don't think that would be a good idea to leave it open at all times (it would suck all the conditioned air right out of my house).

Also, as previously mentioned, I have a HEPA filter for the intake, so perhaps that would eliminate some of my concerns of pulling in"dirty" garage air directly into my grow room. I have cleared all of my stored fuel and the like from my garage, but I still have a lawnmower and an ATV in there.. And it sure would be nice to still be able to park my car in there as well. Think that would be an issue?

thanks again! And sorry if I wasn't clear initially. Stll GREAT advice though.

Brick Top said:

Another somewhat oddball idea just popped into my head but I would bet it would work. If you could find a slightly older used side by side refrigerator/freezer that is reliable and someone is selling cheap, say because they are moving and do not want to take it with them and the new home owners do not want it, you could adapt it to be your cool/cold air supply.
　
Older, and not as in really old but just a few years old, side by side refrigerator/freezers had a small opening between the freezer compartment and the refrigerator side with a sliding door that depending on if you wanted more or less cold air in your refrigerator side you could slide open the little door and that allowed below freezing air to then mix with the normal refrigerated air making the freezer side slightly warmer and the refrigerator side colder.
　
If you could find such a refrigerator and cut an opening in the freezer door and leave the small opening between the two different sides of the refrigerator open (actually depending on how cold you set your refrigerator/freezer to run you may have to enlarge the hole somewhat to gain enough air flow but maybe not if you set the temperatures to run the refrigerator/freezer at low enough) you could draw in air, possibly even hot garage air, through the refrigerator/freezer (both sides) and then exit it through a second opening in the refrigerator door and then into your grow room.

Depending on how cold you would set the refrigerator/freezer to run and how much airflow you could get you might also be able to split the cool air line to your grow room into two lines with a "Y" connection and also run cold air through your CoolTube and the air it would then exhaust would be much cooler than it otherwise would be so there would be much less heat buildup in the garage.
　
Doing something like that could allow you to not need to insulate the garage or add a passive ventilation system to your garage.

Click to expand...

Another GREAT idea. I will definitely think about doing this come next summer. As for now though, by the time I am all set up, it will be late fall and heat will be a NON issue for me (until at least May/June). But great idea.

Again though.. Temperature is NOT my concern.. The degree of fresh air that I can pull in IS. As well as the possibility of polluting the air with my automobile being in there (although I am willing to park it outside if need be).

wow....i am in the same situation...i was planning on exhausting to the attic......or i mite run it through my attic all the way to my furnace to hide the heat exhaust....but i dont know where i can pull air in for my intake...

i heard its bad to draw air outside if the temp is hot and your room is cool ( mines has ac)....is this true?

i was planning on making a hole on the floor n use my crawl space under the house as intake....but i also heard that it is dampy and smelly down there and it would effect my grow.......is this true also?

Good thread

vinhdiesel said:

wow....i am in the same situation...i was planning on exhausting to the attic......or i mite run it through my attic all the way to my furnace to hide the heat exhaust....but i dont know where i can pull air in for my intake...

i heard its bad to draw air outside if the temp is hot and your room is cool ( mines has ac)....is this true?

i was planning on making a hole on the floor n use my crawl space under the house as intake....but i also heard that it is dampy and smelly down there and it would effect my grow.......is this true also?

Good thread

Click to expand...

lol wow.. sounds like we have the same house.

my crawl space would work, but it's too damn far away. thats my main issue. even so, you might be right and maybe the air down there is not so fresh after all.

i am really hoping that a couple of vets come along and give me the green light with just pulling from my garage. that would make life so much easier.

It all depends on how well sealed your garage is to the outside air. It sounds like it is well insulated and sealed, so you will need a way for the outside air to get into the garage, so it can then get into your room. Such as opening the garage window, garage door, install a dryer vent, fake window a/c, etc so it has somewhere to pull air in from. The air has to come from somewhere.

ForbiddenFruit said:

Hey... I have read many of your posts and am very happy to see that you have come along my little thread to help out. Thanks! I really appreciate your taking the time to help.

But let me clear up a couple of things 1st...



It is NOT a stand alone garage. It's a 3 car attached garage.

I am going to ventilate the hot air from my lamps AND the exhaust from the room up into the attic.

As for keeping my temps down, that will not be a problem where I live. Keeping it warm will be for much of the year. BUT my garage is insulated quite well. In the summer it is never about 80 (even when it is 100 outside) and in the winter it never drops below 40 (even when it is 5 degrees outside)... So my garage is a good buffer from the weather, either way.

But yes, I need to find a way to pull air IN.. that is my main priority/concern here.
　


Again, this does not apply, since it is not a stand alone and since high temps will only be a concern for me at most 3 months out of the year.

And my attic is pretty big as well BTW. 8' tall for the most part.



Good idea. And even though my garage was already well insulated, I made sure to insulate my room quite well also. So I am not too worried about temps, especially high heat.
　


lol opps I shoulda read this 1st.. but yeah, we think alike.
　



OK read the rest and it is all GREAT advice. However, not much of it applies in my case.

I already did much of what you suggested. And I am well insulated.

Humidity should not be a problem either, I live in a cold desert climate.

My main question is as to whether or not I can use the garage air OR would I need to pull directly from outside? I am just not sure if the air in my garage will be able to replenish at such a high rate (that of my exhaust fan) and worried as to whether it would be "fresh" enough?


Using my garage as a buffer from the cold/hot outside air sounds like a plus, but I want to make sure it is fresh enough as well. The garage is sealed TIGHT other than the cracks in the garage doors. I could open the door that connects to my house from time to time, but don't think that would be a good idea to leave it open at all times (it would suck all the conditioned air right out of my house).

Also, as previously mentioned, I have a HEPA filter for the intake, so perhaps that would eliminate some of my concerns of pulling in"dirty" garage air directly into my grow room. I have cleared all of my stored fuel and the like from my garage, but I still have a lawnmower and an ATV in there.. And it sure would be nice to still be able to park my car in there as well. Think that would be an issue?

thanks again! And sorry if I wasn't clear initially. Stll GREAT advice though.

Click to expand...

I had popped into your thread a few times but didn’t say anything because the only idea I had that seemed to be fool proof and that would work great is just one that is impractical for most unless it were a situation like they were building a home/garage or adding on a garage and wanted to incorporate a fresh air cooling system for a great grow room when they built and were willing to spend the extra or if they were builders themselves and had the equipment and know how to do it. I figured that likely is not the case but nothing simpler or practical, things most people would consider or could do came to mind before.
　
I took the distance issue or running a line from under your home to the garage as meaning the garage was a stand-alone garage. I assumed too much. That is also why I assumed the garage was not insulated because while attached garages normally are ones that are not attached usually aren’t. Again .. how does is go .. assumption is the mother of all …well, you know.
　
If your attic space is well insulated, as in from the lower garage portion then I hope it is also well ventilated. You said you live in a dry climate but the warm moist air from a grow room will be just that, moist, so it would be best if there were adequate ventilation or else moisture problems may occur over time.

Another problem exhausting into the attic space if it is not ventilated at least half well is one of airflow.

Basically without vents, and enough area of them, it would be like wrapping your lips around the mouth of a bottle and trying to blow into it.

Well it wouldn’t be exactly like that but it would be along the same principal.

Also if the attic space does not have enough ventilation heat will build up and unless it is heavily insulated and at least fairly tightly sealed as that heat builds up it will radiate down and eventually heat the space below.
　
Maybe in your case none of that applies but just be sure you have adequate ventilation if you will only exhaust into the attic space and not out through it.
　
I keep going back and forth on the issue of intake, should it be from the outside or should it be interior garage air used?

I could make a case for both but I think overall an intake drawing in outside air would be better overall. That may raise questions as to where best to position it and how to do it but I think fresh outside air would be the better option.

I would still filter it. Maybe not going so far as to use a HEPA filter but still some decent to higher quality filter.
　
While watching a movie late last night I did have another idea. Again like the one I never mentioned it may not be practical, if for no other reasons that possible budgetary constraints, but if that is not a problem or if you can find some do it yourself plans online and are handy you might be able to do it cheap enough to be worth it and it would be a great answer for all possible heat issues.
　
Would I be wrong to assume that you know what a "swamp cooler" (an evaporative cooler) is?

One can lower your temperatures 20 degrees so if you can build one, or throw the bucks for one, you’re in like Flynn.
　
I Googled build your own swamp cooler and found sites that sell plans for DIY swamp coolers that range in size from ones that will cool a small room to an entire house.

You may want to research more and see if you can find some free plans, and if they would be ones you could build yourselves, or contact a site or three that sell plans and first ask how much it would cost to build one that would handle your needs and if it sounded good and if they plan price is not to high (one I saw the instructions plan price was only $19.98 + S.H) it may be the way to go especially since the cooling system is very popular in climates like the southwestern U.S. were it is both hot and dry.
　
Again it may be totally impractical but it may turn out not to be so a little research on your part might be worth your time.
　
Good luck.

ForbiddenFruit said:

I can leave my car outside if need be. I only use it a couple times a week, but maybe bringing it in and out at all might not be a good idea..... I would take out my 4wheeler, gas tanks, etc... Don't want any of that getting sucked into my grow room. BUT keep in mind, I will have a HEPA filter hooked up to the intake.

Click to expand...

having a car,4 wheeler,ect in the garage wont be a problem,I was more worried about running the car in the garage to warm it up. starting and pulling in/out a couple times a week wont be a problem

ForbiddenFruit said:

The garage is sealed OTHER than the 2 doors. One being a double. So air CAN get in. Is that a bad thing? Maybe enough fresh air would seep through that I wouldnt need a vent to outside?

Click to expand...

you want fresh air in/out of the garage.like Bricktop suggested, a vent from the attic would be a good idea. if you are in/out of the garage at least once a day, intake should not be a problem but still wont hurt.

Great advice again.

As for the attic, It has 5 vents along the top and all around the edge is vented to the outside as well. Would it be OK to just release it up into the attic and let it finds it own way out (figure it might disperse a bit better and help control odor) OR should I take the duct and run it directly to one of the vents (or at least very near)? The top of my roof is at least 20' off the ground.

I also considered pulling my intake from one of these holes, but was concerned about the rain and snow being sucked in as well, along with anything else that might just happen to be up on my roof. Plus there would not be a buffer and I would be pulling in super cold air at times, whereas the garage can buffer that.

thanks

mrmadcow said:

having a car,4 wheeler,ect in the garage wont be a problem,I was more worried about running the car in the garage to warm it up. starting and pulling in/out a couple times a week wont be a problem


you want fresh air in/out of the garage.like Bricktop suggested, a vent from the attic would be a good idea. if you are in/out of the garage at least once a day, intake should not be a problem but still wont hurt.

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yeah.. I work from home. So i dont go in and out all that often.. and when i do, i just get in and go. i never let the car run.

as for the intake.. I could pull air in from the roof top vent I suppose.. let that into my garage and then pull that into my room.. that way it doesnt go directly into the room... but i could always leave the garage door cracked open on the bottom and open the door from my house here and there. I think that would be the easiest solution and should be enough fresh air.. hmm