Is there a better way to heat my grow shed?

ttystikk said:

Bad move; kerosene makes all kinds of nasty byproducts of combustion- and you should be running that room sealed. If you need a burner, use propane; it's much safer and produces plenty of CO².

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modern ones are fine. Seeing as everyone in Japan uses them for heat they can't be that bad.
http://www.facingtherisingsun.com/japan-travel-tips-homes/no-central-heat-in-japanese-homes

ttystikk said:

No, the only thing plants need from the outside is CO². If you add that, the room can- and should- be sealed.

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Really, are you certain about this, I never thought of that before but it does make sense, that would solve everything.

ttystikk said:

The radiator, pump and water barrel thing will do more than you might give it credit for. Scuba training taught me that water is some 900 more thermally dense than air, so you can store a lot of heat (or cold) in 55 gallons.

Run the day cycle from ten pm to ten am, while it's coldest out. Daytime temps will be warmer, you'll get a bit of solar heating and the water drum/fan will keep temps much more stable. If leaks are few and small and insulation is good, the only thing you'd want a burner for is CO² supplementation.

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Ya I think that's what I'm gonna go with, thanks a bunch

Next question, does that increase my risk of bud rot and mold.

texasjack said:

modern ones are fine. Seeing as everyone in Japan uses them for heat they can't be that bad.
http://www.facingtherisingsun.com/japan-travel-tips-homes/no-central-heat-in-japanese-homes

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They still make particulate pollution- bad for stomata- and carbon monoxide- bad for everyone, plants included.

Propane is much better and not much more expensive. And cleaner.

New Age United said:

Ya I think that's what I'm gonna go with, thanks a bunch

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You're very welcome! For more energy saving tips, visit my threads. Today's installment? Unlimited cooling of my water chilling system for just forty watts.

Glad everyone was able to help you out!! @New Age United

I didnt realize how big your shed was haha. I was like "whats wrong? just get a little space heater" lol. The air conditioner was a better idea in that sense then haha. The radiator sounds like an awesome idea.

@ttystikk maybe you can help me figure out something with my heat issues. Im trying to avoid buying a larger fan/filter to solve this but I have a 600watt cooltube in a tiny 2'x3'x5' tent. I have passive fresh air intake and its getting pretty cold out so it should be more beneficial in a couple weeks but im having a hard time maintaining a proper canopy temperature. Im using a 4" 190 cfm fan/filter for exhaust. I would cool my light seperately but I am too worried about the humidity building up and damaging everything.

So my best option in my mind is to buy a 6" 440cfm fan/filter then use my 4" 190cfm fan for intake.. again, trying to avoid spending another $200.00 after everything ive already spent. I have a 400watt that i was originally using but wanted to push it further with the 600 for more yield.

Ive also thought about mayb bringing my direct intake ducting up into the grow space where the canopy is and have an oscilating fan flowing it across the canopy.

ideas?

Cheers

Bring in cool air low in the grow, blow it around and then exhaust hot air from the top with a somewhat larger fan.

What's wrong with a desk fan? They're cheap and move a lot of air.

This is how I'm doing it.

Insulated the building, foam and R13. The whole building is also covered with panda poly. I did a subfloor with 1 1/2 poly foam with heat reflective facing. This will keep as much heat in during the day when I run the electric heat.

So heres the trick:.. I run a very simple flip outlet, when the lights are on it switches the heater off. When the lights are off it switches the heater on.

So when the lights are on I have a thermostat trigger to go on at 85F. It simply exhausts hot air out of the building, since the door is kinda leaky, I just left it at that, and thats my passive intake, I also have a curtain in front of the door, anways. I've had no problems maintaining an environment of 72-88F with outside temps of 31 to 25F outside.

If it gets really cold I'll just fire up the Co2 burner.
If it gets really really cold I have a propane heater and the co2 burner.

ttystikk said:

Bad move; kerosene makes all kinds of nasty byproducts of combustion-.

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Naw.. kerosene is very clean... I've used it alot over the years to heat a supplement the propane heat of a house I was in.. I never felt suffocated by the fumes. What sucks is the cost of the fuel its like 40-50 bucks for 5 gallons and the tanks are not designed for extended operation like a propane heater, at least the one I was using.

What makes it bad is the ammount of light it puts off. Tons and tons of heat and light, the little viewing area so you can see the wick.. its bright.

Just my 2 pesos get ac be done with it.
fuck kerosene no hate intended to anyone.
Small 1000 w presonal heater can maintain an 8x8 that has been prewarmed with lights and well insulated.
witout that nasty smellin kerosene

You need to seal the room and run co2 with a dehumidifier and a sealed lighting system so you can cool the lights with outside air if they start to overheat the room. Otherwise, you will have to be constantly exchanging air and reheating the air that is brought in just to replenish co2.


What many others are suggesting, is you pay the power bill for the lights, and then a power bill to run a fan that removes the heat created by the lights, and then they say to put a fucking heater in there to warm it back up after you just sucked all the heat out?! Yeah, sounds efficient and easy to dial in...not.

And air conditioning?! ITS FUCKING WINTER, WTF?! All that cold air outside, but no, lets run an ac system. lol

New Age United said:

Can anyone think of a better way to heat my grow shed? The air has to come in at at least 15 degrees celsius, I live in Canada and we see temps as low as - 20 so I got to heat the air up quick. The only solution I've come up with is a dual hose 4 in 1 air conditioner with heat, one hose draws fresh air in and the other hose is an exhaust. Before I spend $600 on one I want to see if I can't find a better way. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

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yes fat chicks fat chicks always work they warm anything up

spandy said:

You need to seal the room and run co2 with a dehumidifier and a sealed lighting system so you can cool the lights with outside air if they start to overheat the room. Otherwise, you will have to be constantly exchanging air and reheating the air that is brought in just to replenish co2.


What many others are suggesting, is you pay the power bill for the lights, and then a power bill to run a fan that removes the heat created by the lights, and then they say to put a fucking heater in there to warm it back up after you just sucked all the heat out?! Yeah, sounds efficient and easy to dial in...not.

And air conditioning?! ITS FUCKING WINTER, WTF?! All that cold air outside, but no, lets run an ac system. lol

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I agree wit spandy. Seal it up get a dehuey and a co2 setup and let the lights do the heating for you. No need for exhausting a sealed room

Yea if its sealed the ac system keeps that shed cool even though its winter the room will still get hotter with thr lights on and When the lights are out how does it stay warm sandy?

Mini splits heat and cool

spandy said:

What many others are suggesting, is you pay the power bill for the lights, and then a power bill to run a fan that removes the heat created by the lights, and then they say to put a fucking heater in there to warm it back up after you just sucked all the heat out?! Yeah, sounds efficient and easy to dial in...not.l

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I got mine dialed in.. wasn't so hard.

Lights on, heater off, vent kicks on to push hot air out at 85F. Passive intake from outside cold air.

Lights off, heater on, dehuey on.

Just in the garden, 40RH/72F lights off.

I did get a peak of 88F but it kinda warmed up lately.. the greenhouse works best when its around the low 20's.

Cold$moke said:

Yea if its sealed the ac system keeps that shed cool even though its winter the room will still get hotter with thr lights on and When the lights are out how does it stay warm sandy?

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Lets play this game....

Inside the shed you build a room within a room with panda film and have an air space between the shed walls and the panda film. I like using wood, some guys just use pvc pipe for all the framing. Either works.

Here is the key to not needing ac....the space between the panda film and the shed (which could be a foot or ten, doesn't matter) is where you will put the intake for the lighting system. You will exhaust the heat exterior the shed, but again, your intake for cooling the lights is in the space between the panda film and the shed. This keeps the shed from building up heat and over heating the grow space without exchanging any air inside the grow space, and the thermostat on your fan controller adjust the speed of the fan and self adjusts. I would just passively pull this air without a port, most sheds aren't near sealed enough to have to cut holes for air.

Only thing is some setups do require a small heater inside the grow space. During lights off, some get too cold. But the room is sealed, so the heater only runs for a few minutes all the heat is contained.

Again, use that outside air to your advantage, but only for the lights and the space around the panda film walls. Doing all this keeps the co2 sealed in the room and keeps the environment in there consistent.


Also, I would put a scrubber on the lights intake. Panda film doesn't hold smell back too well.

Set up your environment to cool only. A 60-70 pint dehumidifier should run lights off with room sealed, and keep temps fine.

You don't NEED fresh air or CO2 all the time. Even sealed most of the time if you get a CO2 monitor you will see your CO2 levels will be well within spec.

- Jiji

GrowerGoneWild said:

I did get a peak of 88F but it kinda warmed up lately.. the greenhouse works best when its around the low 20's.

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Never fluctuates more than 3-4 degrees day/night. Humidity stays within 5-8%. Just has to be under 60F outside, didn't need a heater even when it was -12F below last winter. 20lb bottle of co2 last for 4+ weeks under 2k.

I don't get peaks.